If <code>x</code> is <code>nil</code>, an attempt to evaluate <code>*x</code>
will cause a <a href="#Run_time_panics">run-time panic</a>.
</p>

<pre>
&amp;x
&amp;a[f(2)]
&amp;Point{2, 3}
*p
*pf(x)

var x *int = nil
*x   // causes a run-time panic
&amp;*x  // causes a run-time panic
</pre>


<h3 id="Receive_operator">Receive operator</h3>

<p>

### Feature

- Kubeadm: generate CA certificates with a start time that is offset 5 minutes in the past relative to the current system time to workaround cases of clock desync.

- Fix memory leak in kube-apiserver when underlying time goes forth and back. ([#96266](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/96266), [@chenyw1990](https://github.com/chenyw1990)) [SIG API Machinery]

- Added a one-time random duration of up to 50% of kubelet's `nodeStatusReportFrequency` to help spread the node status update load evenly over time. ([#128640](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/128640), [@mengqiy](https://github.com/mengqiy))

* **[alpha]** New Bootstrap Token authentication and management method. Works well with kubeadm. kubeadm now supports managing tokens, including time based expiration, after the cluster is launched.  See [kubeadm reference docs](https://kubernetes.io/docs/admin/kubeadm/#manage-tokens)...

  KEPs or supporting documentation, please reference a specific commit and avoid
  linking directly to the master branch. This ensures that links reference a
  specific point in time, rather than a document that may change over time.
  
  See here for guidance on getting permanent links to files: https://help.github.com/en/articles/getting-permanent-links-to-files
  
  Please use the following format for linking documentation:

- Adds two new metrics to cronjobs, a histogram to track the time difference when a job is created and the expected time when it should be created, as well as a gauge for the missed schedules of a cronjob ([#99341](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/99341), [@alaypatel07](https://github.com/alaypatel07))

- Added `apiserver.latency.k8s.io/authentication` annotation to the audit log to record the
  time spent authenticating slow requests. Also added `apiserver.latency.k8s.io/authorization`
  annotation to record the time spent authorizing slow requests. ([#130571](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/130571), [@hakuna-matatah](https://github.com/hakuna-matatah))

* Services of type=LoadBalancer which have no endpoints will now immediately ICMP reject connections, rather than time out. ([#74394](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/74394), [@thockin](https://github.com/thockin))

- Because of the implementation logic of `time.Format` in golang, the displayed time zone is not consistent. ([#102366](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/102366), [@cndoit18](https://github.com/cndoit18))