- 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]

* Adjust batching audit webhook default parameters: increase queue size, batch size, and initial backoff. Add throttling to the batching audit webhook. Default rate limit is 10 QPS. ([#53417](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/53417), [@crassirostris](https://github.com/crassirostris))

- Added RuntimeClass restrictions and defaulting to PodSecurityPolicy. ([#73795](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/73795), [@tallclair](https://github.com/tallclair))
- Kubelet plugin registration now has retry and exponential backoff logic for when registration of plugins (such as CSI or device plugin) fail. ([#73891](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/73891), [@taragu](https://github.com/taragu))

### **Instrumentation**

#### **Audit**

*   Adjust batching audit webhook default parameters: increase queue size, batch size, and initial backoff. Add throttling to the batching audit webhook. Default rate limit is 10 QPS. ([#53417](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/53417),[ @crassirostris](https://github.com/crassirostris))

- github.com/alecthomas/kingpin/v2: [v2.3.2 → v2.4.0](https://github.com/alecthomas/kingpin/compare/v2.3.2...v2.4.0)
- github.com/cenkalti/backoff/v4: [v4.2.1 → v4.3.0](https://github.com/cenkalti/backoff/compare/v4.2.1...v4.3.0)
- github.com/cespare/xxhash/v2: [v2.2.0 → v2.3.0](https://github.com/cespare/xxhash/compare/v2.2.0...v2.3.0)

                    || status == NtStatus.NT_STATUS_BAD_NETWORK_NAME;
        }
        return false;
    }

    /**
     * Simple connection retry logic - could be enhanced with exponential backoff
     */
    private boolean shouldRetryConnection() {
        // For now, allow one retry. Could be enhanced with more sophisticated logic.
        return true;
    }

    /**
     * @param context

- Added `SchedulerPopFromBackoffQ` feature gate that is in beta and enabled by default. Improved scheduling queue behavior by popping pods from the backoffQ when the activeQ is empty. This allows to process potentially schedulable pods ASAP, eliminating a penalty effect of the backoff queue. ([#130772](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/130772), [@macsko](https://github.com/macsko)) [SIG Scheduling and Testing]

- Ensured that non-scheduling related errors (e.g., network errors) did not lengthen the Pod scheduling backoff time. ([#128748](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/128748), [@sanposhiho](https://github.com/sanposhiho)) [SIG Scheduling and Testing]

- 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. ([#115021](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/115021), [@nikhita](https://github.com/nikhita)) [SIG Apps]

 - Fixed a 1.18 regression in wait.Forever that skips the backoff period on the first repeat ([#90476](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/90476), [@zhan849](https://github.com/zhan849)) [SIG API Machinery]