apiVersion: release-notes/v2
kind: security-fix

area: security

# issue is a list of GitHub issues resolved in this note.
# If issue is not in the current repo, specify its full URL instead.
issue: []

# releaseNotes is a markdown listing of any user facing changes. This will appear in the
# release notes.
releaseNotes:
- |
  **Removed** use of MD5 to optimize comparisons.
  Istio does not and has not used MD5 for cryptographic purposes.
  The change is merely to make the code easier to audit and to run in [FIPS 140-3 mode](https://go.dev/doc/security/fips140).

securityNotes:
- |
  This change does not affect security, but does make the code easier to audit.

