([#121461](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/121461), [@alexzielenski](https://github.com/alexzielenski))
- Scheduler now skips the `NodeAffinity Score` plugin when it has nothing to do with a Pod. You might have noticed an increase in the metric `plugin_execution_duration_seconds` for `extension_point=score` and `plugin=NodeAffinity`, because the plugin only runs when it's relevant.

### Bug or Regression

- Fixes a race condition in the iptables mode of kube-proxy in 1.27 and later
  that could result in some updates getting lost (e.g., when a service gets a
  new endpoint, the rules for the new endpoint might not be added until
  much later). ([#122815](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/122815), [@wedaly](https://github.com/wedaly)) [SIG Network]

     * Even though it's weird to pass a defaultValue that is null, some callers do so. Those who
     * pass a literal "null" should probably just use `get`, but I would expect other callers to
     * pass an expression that *might* be null. This could happen with:
     *
     * - a `getFooOrDefault(@Nullable Foo defaultValue)` method that returns
     *   `map.getOrDefault(FOO_KEY, defaultValue)`
     *

 - CSINode initialization does not crash kubelet on startup when APIServer is not reachable or kubelet has not the right credentials yet. ([#89589](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/89589), [@jsafrane](https://github.com/jsafrane)) [SIG Storage]

but in order to avoid inconsistency the Agreement is copyrighted and
may only be modified in the following manner. The Agreement Steward
reserves the right to publish new versions (including revisions) of
this Agreement from time to time. No one other than the Agreement
Steward has the right to modify this Agreement. The Eclipse Foundation
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  which the scheduler might miss some updates for the Pods rejected by NodeUnschedulable plugin and put the Pods in the queue for a longer time than needed. ([#127427](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/127427), [@sanposhiho](https://github.com/sanposhiho)) [SIG Scheduling]
- Fixes the bug in PodTopologySpread that only happens with QHint enabled, 

// ----------
// This operation is useful to determine if a bucket exists.
// The operation returns a 200 OK if the bucket exists and you
// have permission to access it. Otherwise, the operation might
// return responses such as 404 Not Found and 403 Forbidden.
func (api objectAPIHandlers) HeadBucketHandler(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
	ctx := newContext(r, w, "HeadBucket")

    * If you depended on that previous behavior, you might need to update your code. As always, make sure your tests pass before merging the upgrade.

## 0.90.1 (2023-02-09)

### Upgrades

- Failed pods associated with a job with `parallelism = 1` are recreated by the job controller honoring exponential backoff delay again. However, for jobs with `parallelism > 1`, pods might be created without exponential backoff delay. ([#115020](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/115020), [@nikhita](https://github.com/nikhita)) [SIG Apps]

image requiring credential verification is always pulled if authentication information from an image pull is not yet present, thus enforcing authentication / re-authentication. This means an image pull might be attempted even in cases where a pod requests the `IfNotPresent` image pull policy, and might lead to the pod not starting if its pull policy is `Never` and is unable to present authentication information that led to a previous successful pull of the image it is requesting. ([#128152](https:/...