diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 3714f0208b1..f7f9a9d584f 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -208,5 +208,3 @@ Please use the following to reach members of the community:
   on the [ceph Slack](https://ceph-storage.slack.com) to discuss anything
   related to this project. You can join the Slack by this
   [invite link](https://bit.ly/ceph-slack-invite)
-- Forums: [ceph-csi](https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/ceph-csi)
-- Twitter: [@CephCsi](https://twitter.com/CephCsi)
diff --git a/api/go.mod b/api/go.mod
index 3bef9527221..610ba5149af 100644
--- a/api/go.mod
+++ b/api/go.mod
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/ghodss/yaml v1.0.0
 	github.com/openshift/api v0.0.0-20240115183315-0793e918179d
 	github.com/stretchr/testify v1.9.0
-	k8s.io/api v0.31.0
+	k8s.io/api v0.31.1
 )
 
 require (
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ require (
 	gopkg.in/inf.v0 v0.9.1 // indirect
 	gopkg.in/yaml.v2 v2.4.0 // indirect
 	gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1 // indirect
-	k8s.io/apimachinery v0.31.0 // indirect
+	k8s.io/apimachinery v0.31.1 // indirect
 	k8s.io/klog/v2 v2.130.1 // indirect
 	k8s.io/utils v0.0.0-20240711033017-18e509b52bc8 // indirect
 	sigs.k8s.io/json v0.0.0-20221116044647-bc3834ca7abd // indirect
diff --git a/api/go.sum b/api/go.sum
index ebac28a5f3f..2fecc923e29 100644
--- a/api/go.sum
+++ b/api/go.sum
@@ -85,10 +85,10 @@ gopkg.in/yaml.v2 v2.4.0 h1:D8xgwECY7CYvx+Y2n4sBz93Jn9JRvxdiyyo8CTfuKaY=
 gopkg.in/yaml.v2 v2.4.0/go.mod h1:RDklbk79AGWmwhnvt/jBztapEOGDOx6ZbXqjP6csGnQ=
 gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1 h1:fxVm/GzAzEWqLHuvctI91KS9hhNmmWOoWu0XTYJS7CA=
 gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1/go.mod h1:K4uyk7z7BCEPqu6E+C64Yfv1cQ7kz7rIZviUmN+EgEM=
-k8s.io/api v0.31.0 h1:b9LiSjR2ym/SzTOlfMHm1tr7/21aD7fSkqgD/CVJBCo=
-k8s.io/api v0.31.0/go.mod h1:0YiFF+JfFxMM6+1hQei8FY8M7s1Mth+z/q7eF1aJkTE=
-k8s.io/apimachinery v0.31.0 h1:m9jOiSr3FoSSL5WO9bjm1n6B9KROYYgNZOb4tyZ1lBc=
-k8s.io/apimachinery v0.31.0/go.mod h1:rsPdaZJfTfLsNJSQzNHQvYoTmxhoOEofxtOsF3rtsMo=
+k8s.io/api v0.31.1 h1:Xe1hX/fPW3PXYYv8BlozYqw63ytA92snr96zMW9gWTU=
+k8s.io/api v0.31.1/go.mod h1:sbN1g6eY6XVLeqNsZGLnI5FwVseTrZX7Fv3O26rhAaI=
+k8s.io/apimachinery v0.31.1 h1:mhcUBbj7KUjaVhyXILglcVjuS4nYXiwC+KKFBgIVy7U=
+k8s.io/apimachinery v0.31.1/go.mod h1:rsPdaZJfTfLsNJSQzNHQvYoTmxhoOEofxtOsF3rtsMo=
 k8s.io/klog/v2 v2.130.1 h1:n9Xl7H1Xvksem4KFG4PYbdQCQxqc/tTUyrgXaOhHSzk=
 k8s.io/klog/v2 v2.130.1/go.mod h1:3Jpz1GvMt720eyJH1ckRHK1EDfpxISzJ7I9OYgaDtPE=
 k8s.io/utils v0.0.0-20240711033017-18e509b52bc8 h1:pUdcCO1Lk/tbT5ztQWOBi5HBgbBP1J8+AsQnQCKsi8A=
diff --git a/api/vendor/modules.txt b/api/vendor/modules.txt
index ecf9771b69f..d5f44bcf406 100644
--- a/api/vendor/modules.txt
+++ b/api/vendor/modules.txt
@@ -61,12 +61,12 @@ gopkg.in/yaml.v2
 # gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1
 ## explicit
 gopkg.in/yaml.v3
-# k8s.io/api v0.31.0
+# k8s.io/api v0.31.1
 ## explicit; go 1.22.0
 k8s.io/api/core/v1
 k8s.io/api/rbac/v1
 k8s.io/api/storage/v1
-# k8s.io/apimachinery v0.31.0
+# k8s.io/apimachinery v0.31.1
 ## explicit; go 1.22.0
 k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/resource
 k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index db3fdb31315..3a754fba7ed 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -33,8 +33,8 @@ require (
 	//
 	// when updating k8s.io/kubernetes, make sure to update the replace section too
 	//
-	k8s.io/api v0.31.0
-	k8s.io/apimachinery v0.31.0
+	k8s.io/api v0.31.1
+	k8s.io/apimachinery v0.31.1
 	k8s.io/client-go v12.0.0+incompatible
 	k8s.io/cloud-provider v0.31.0
 	k8s.io/klog/v2 v2.130.1
diff --git a/internal/rbd/rbd_util.go b/internal/rbd/rbd_util.go
index 703809c953e..e363e391cc1 100644
--- a/internal/rbd/rbd_util.go
+++ b/internal/rbd/rbd_util.go
@@ -468,6 +468,10 @@ func (ri *rbdImage) openIoctx() error {
 		return nil
 	}
 
+	if ri.conn == nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("can not get IOContext of unconnected image %q", ri)
+	}
+
 	ioctx, err := ri.conn.GetIoctx(ri.Pool)
 	if err != nil {
 		// GetIoctx() can return util.ErrPoolNotFound
diff --git a/vendor/modules.txt b/vendor/modules.txt
index 708e5690cce..e28f938a0e9 100644
--- a/vendor/modules.txt
+++ b/vendor/modules.txt
@@ -956,7 +956,7 @@ gopkg.in/yaml.v2
 # gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1
 ## explicit
 gopkg.in/yaml.v3
-# k8s.io/api v0.31.0 => k8s.io/api v0.31.0
+# k8s.io/api v0.31.1 => k8s.io/api v0.31.0
 ## explicit; go 1.22.0
 k8s.io/api/admission/v1
 k8s.io/api/admission/v1beta1
@@ -1021,7 +1021,7 @@ k8s.io/api/storagemigration/v1alpha1
 k8s.io/apiextensions-apiserver/pkg/apis/apiextensions
 k8s.io/apiextensions-apiserver/pkg/apis/apiextensions/v1
 k8s.io/apiextensions-apiserver/pkg/features
-# k8s.io/apimachinery v0.31.0 => k8s.io/apimachinery v0.31.0
+# k8s.io/apimachinery v0.31.1 => k8s.io/apimachinery v0.31.0
 ## explicit; go 1.22.0
 k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/equality
 k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/errors