diff --git a/release-tools/.github/dependabot.yaml b/release-tools/.github/dependabot.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..814a34493f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/release-tools/.github/dependabot.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+version: 2
+enable-beta-ecosystems: true
+updates:
+- package-ecosystem: "github-actions"
+  directory: "/"
+  schedule:
+      interval: "daily"
+  labels:
+    - "area/dependency"
+    - "release-note-none"
+    - "ok-to-test"
+  open-pull-requests-limit: 10
diff --git a/release-tools/.github/workflows/codespell.yml b/release-tools/.github/workflows/codespell.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e74edcef5e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/release-tools/.github/workflows/codespell.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+# GitHub Action to automate the identification of common misspellings in text files.
+# https://github.com/codespell-project/actions-codespell
+# https://github.com/codespell-project/codespell
+name: codespell
+on: [push, pull_request]
+jobs:
+  codespell:
+    name: Check for spelling errors
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      - uses: codespell-project/actions-codespell@master
+        with:
+          check_filenames: true
+          skip: "*.png,*.jpg,*.svg,*.sum,./.git,./.github/workflows/codespell.yml,./prow.sh"
diff --git a/release-tools/.github/workflows/trivy.yaml b/release-tools/.github/workflows/trivy.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..472984780a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/release-tools/.github/workflows/trivy.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+name: Run Trivy scanner for Go version vulnerabilities
+on:
+  push:
+    branches:
+      - master
+  pull_request:
+jobs:
+  trivy:
+    name: Build
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout code
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - name: Get Go version
+        id: go-version
+        run: |
+          GO_VERSION=$(cat prow.sh  | grep "configvar CSI_PROW_GO_VERSION_BUILD" | awk '{print $3}' | sed 's/"//g')
+          echo "version=$GO_VERSION" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+
+      - name: Run Trivy scanner for Go version vulnerabilities
+        uses: aquasecurity/trivy-action@master
+        with:
+          image-ref: 'golang:${{ steps.go-version.outputs.version }}'
+          format: 'table'
+          exit-code: '1'
+          ignore-unfixed: true
+          vuln-type: 'library'
+          severity: 'CRITICAL,HIGH,MEDIUM,LOW,UNKNOWN'
diff --git a/release-tools/SIDECAR_RELEASE_PROCESS.md b/release-tools/SIDECAR_RELEASE_PROCESS.md
index 647d2342ba..aab8d6e215 100644
--- a/release-tools/SIDECAR_RELEASE_PROCESS.md
+++ b/release-tools/SIDECAR_RELEASE_PROCESS.md
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ naming convention `<hostpath-deployment-version>-on-<kubernetes-version>`.
     1. Compare the generated output to the new commits for the release to check if
        any notable change missed a release note.
     1. Reword release notes as needed, ideally in the original PRs so that the
-       release notes can be regnerated. Make sure to check notes for breaking
+       release notes can be regenerated. Make sure to check notes for breaking
        changes and deprecations.
     1. If release is a new major/minor version, create a new `CHANGELOG-<major>.<minor>.md`
        file.
diff --git a/release-tools/generate-patch-release-notes.sh b/release-tools/generate-patch-release-notes.sh
index 2b9c13c387..536a149023 100755
--- a/release-tools/generate-patch-release-notes.sh
+++ b/release-tools/generate-patch-release-notes.sh
@@ -23,13 +23,17 @@
 # CSI_RELEASE_TOKEN: Github token needed for generating release notes
 # GITHUB_USER: Github username to create PRs with
 #
+# Required tools:
+# - gh
+# - release-notes (https://github.com/kubernetes/release/blob/master/cmd/release-notes/README.md)
+# 
 # Instructions:
-# 1. Login with "gh auth login"
-# 2. Copy this script to the kubernetes-csi directory (one directory above the
-# repos)
-# 3. Update the repos and versions in the $releases array
-# 4. Set environment variables
-# 5. Run script from the kubernetes-csi directory
+# 1. Install the required tools
+# 2. Login with "gh auth login"
+# 3. Copy this script to the kubernetes-csi directory (one directory above the repos)
+# 4. Update the repos and versions in the $releases array
+# 5. Set environment variables
+# 6. Run script from the kubernetes-csi directory
 #
 # Caveats:
 # - This script doesn't handle regenerating and updating existing PRs yet.
diff --git a/release-tools/prow.sh b/release-tools/prow.sh
index 049fb79afc..df8c61502f 100755
--- a/release-tools/prow.sh
+++ b/release-tools/prow.sh
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ configvar CSI_PROW_BUILD_PLATFORMS "linux amd64 amd64; linux ppc64le ppc64le -pp
 # which is disabled with GOFLAGS=-mod=vendor).
 configvar GOFLAGS_VENDOR "$( [ -d vendor ] && echo '-mod=vendor' )" "Go flags for using the vendor directory"
 
-configvar CSI_PROW_GO_VERSION_BUILD "1.22.3" "Go version for building the component" # depends on component's source code
+configvar CSI_PROW_GO_VERSION_BUILD "1.22.5" "Go version for building the component" # depends on component's source code
 configvar CSI_PROW_GO_VERSION_E2E "" "override Go version for building the Kubernetes E2E test suite" # normally doesn't need to be set, see install_e2e
 configvar CSI_PROW_GO_VERSION_SANITY "${CSI_PROW_GO_VERSION_BUILD}" "Go version for building the csi-sanity test suite" # depends on CSI_PROW_SANITY settings below
 configvar CSI_PROW_GO_VERSION_KIND "${CSI_PROW_GO_VERSION_BUILD}" "Go version for building 'kind'" # depends on CSI_PROW_KIND_VERSION below
@@ -231,8 +231,11 @@ configvar CSI_PROW_E2E_VERSION "$(version_to_git "${CSI_PROW_KUBERNETES_VERSION}
 configvar CSI_PROW_E2E_REPO "https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes" "E2E repo"
 configvar CSI_PROW_E2E_IMPORT_PATH "k8s.io/kubernetes" "E2E package"
 
-# Local path for e2e tests. Set to "none" to disable.
-configvar CSI_PROW_SIDECAR_E2E_IMPORT_PATH "none" "CSI Sidecar E2E package"
+# Local path & package path for e2e tests. Set to "none" to disable.
+# When using versioned go modules, the import path is the module path whereas the path
+# should not contain the version and be the directory where the module is checked out.
+configvar CSI_PROW_SIDECAR_E2E_IMPORT_PATH "none" "CSI Sidecar E2E package (go import path)"
+configvar CSI_PROW_SIDECAR_E2E_PATH "${CSI_PROW_SIDECAR_E2E_IMPORT_PATH}" "CSI Sidecar E2E path (directory)"
 
 # csi-sanity testing from the csi-test repo can be run against the installed
 # CSI driver. For this to work, deploying the driver must expose the Unix domain
@@ -1035,7 +1038,7 @@ run_e2e () (
     trap move_junit EXIT
 
     if [ "${name}" == "local" ]; then
-        cd "${GOPATH}/src/${CSI_PROW_SIDECAR_E2E_IMPORT_PATH}" &&
+        cd "${GOPATH}/src/${CSI_PROW_SIDECAR_E2E_PATH}" &&
         run_with_loggers env KUBECONFIG="$KUBECONFIG" KUBE_TEST_REPO_LIST="$(if [ -e "${CSI_PROW_WORK}/e2e-repo-list" ]; then echo "${CSI_PROW_WORK}/e2e-repo-list"; fi)" ginkgo --timeout="${CSI_PROW_GINKGO_TIMEOUT}" -v "$@" "${CSI_PROW_WORK}/e2e-local.test" -- -report-dir "${ARTIFACTS}" -report-prefix local
     else
         cd "${GOPATH}/src/${CSI_PROW_E2E_IMPORT_PATH}" &&