- Enabled mTLS encryption between etcd and kube-apiserver in GCE ([#70144](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/70144), [@wenjiaswe](https://github.com/wenjiaswe))
- Added `ResourceVersion` as a precondition for delete in order to ensure a delete fails if an unobserved change happens to an object. ([#74040](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/74040), [@ajatprabha](https://github.com/ajatprabha))

- Fixes an issue that can result in namespaced custom resources being orphaned when their namespace is deleted, if the CRD defining the custom resource is removed concurrently with namespaces being deleted, then recreated. ([#93790](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/93790), [@liggitt](https://github.com/liggitt)) [SIG API Machinery and Apps]

- Kubectl/drain: add disable-eviction option.Force drain to use delete, even if eviction is supported. This will bypass checking PodDisruptionBudgets, and should be used with caution. ([#85571](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/85571), [@michaelgugino](https://github.com/michaelgugino)) [SIG CLI]

  - The `Node` authorization mode no longer allows kubelets to delete their Node API objects (prior to 1.11, in rare circumstances related to cloudprovider node ID changes, kubelets would attempt to delete/recreate their Node object at startup) ([#71021](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/71021), [@liggitt](https://github.com/liggitt))

* kubelets are no longer allowed to delete their own Node API object. Prior to 1.11, in rare circumstances related to cloudprovider node ID changes, kubelets would attempt to delete/recreate their Node object at startup. If a legacy kubelet encounters this situation, a cluster admin can remove the Node object: `kubectl delete node/<nodeName>` ([#62818](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/62818), [@mikedanese](https://g...

 and is deleted after 24 hours by default to limit the exposure of the
 valuable credential. You can create a new Bootstrap Token with
 `kubeadm token create` or make the default token permanently valid by specifying
 `--token-ttl 0` to `kubeadm init`. The default token can later be deleted with
 `kubeadm token delete`.

* Fixes an issue where the resourceVersion of an object in a DELETE watch event was not the resourceVersion of the delete itself, but of the last update to the object. This could disrupt the ability of clients clients to re-establish watches properly. ([#58547](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/58547), [@liggitt](https://github.com/liggitt))...

### CVE-2025-5187: Nodes can delete themselves by adding an OwnerReference

- "kubectl delete" no longer waits for dependent objects to be deleted when removing parent resources ([#65908](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/65908), [@juanvallejo](https://github.com/juanvallejo))

  1. For volumes provisioned/deleted via external provisioner/deleter, `storage_operation_duration_seconds` will NOT wait for the external operation to be done before reporting latency metric (effectively close to 0). This will be fixed by using `volume_operation_total_seconds` instead