### Bug or Regression

- An inefficient lock in EndpointSlice controller metrics cache has been reworked. Network programming latency may be significantly reduced in certain scenarios, especially in clusters with a large number of Services. ([#107169](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/107169), [@robscott](https://github.com/robscott)) [SIG Apps and Network]

### Promoted endPort in Network Policy to Stable

Promoted `endPort` in [Network Policy](https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/services-networking/network-policies/#targeting-a-range-of-ports) to GA. Network Policy providers that support `endPort` field now can use it to specify a range of ports to apply a Network Policy. Previously, each Network Policy could only target a single port.

### Other (Cleanup or Flake)

- Updates konnectivity-network-proxy to v0.0.27. This includes a memory leak fix for the network proxy ([#107037](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/107037), [@jdnurme](https://github.com/jdnurme)) [SIG API Machinery, Auth and Cloud Provider]

## Dependencies

### Added
_Nothing has changed._

### Changed
- sigs.k8s.io/apiserver-network-proxy/konnectivity-client: v0.0.25 → v0.0.27

The merged fix enforces validation against the proxying address for a Node. In some cases, the fix can break clients that depend on the `nodes/proxy` subresource, specifically if a kubelet advertises a localhost or link-local address to the Kubernetes control plane. Configuring an egress proxy for egress to the cluster network can also mitigate this vulnerability.

**Affected Versions**:

- Service session affinity timeout tests are no longer required for Kubernetes network plugin conformance due to variations in existing implementations. New conformance tests will be developed to better express conformance in future releases. ([#112806](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/112806), [@dcbw](https://github.com/dcbw)) [SIG Architecture, Network and Testing]

## Dependencies

### Added
_Nothing has changed._

  `--cluster-cidr` is IPv6.) ([#119003](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/119003), [@danwinship](https://github.com/danwinship)) [SIG Network]
- Kube-proxy: removed log warning about not using config file. ([#118115](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/118115), [@TommyStarK](https://github.com/TommyStarK)) [SIG Network]
- Made Job controller batching of syncJob invocations enabled unconditionally (it was conditional on JobReadyPods feature before).

- Fixing issue with Winkernel Proxier - IPV6 load balancer policies are missing when service is configured with ipFamilyPolicy: RequireDualStack ([#115614](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/115614), [@princepereira](https://github.com/princepereira)) [SIG Network]

- Promote PodHostIPs condition to beta. ([#121477](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/121477), [@wzshiming](https://github.com/wzshiming)) [SIG Network and Testing]

- Fixing issue with Winkernel Proxier - ClusterIP Loadbalancers are missing if the ExternalTrafficPolicy is set to Local and the available endpoints are all remoteEndpoints. ([#115919](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/115919), [@princepereira](https://github.com/princepereira)) [SIG Network and Windows]

- Kubeadm: the `bridge-nf-call-iptables=1` and `bridge-nf-call-ip6tables=1` preflight checks are removed since not all the network implementations require this setting, network plugins are responsible for setting this correctly depending on whether or not they connect containers to Linux bridges or use some other mechanism. ([#123464](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/123464), [@SataQi...