diff --git a/config_example.sh b/config_example.sh
index 115494ef5..44c8d2636 100644
--- a/config_example.sh
+++ b/config_example.sh
@@ -133,8 +133,8 @@
 #
 #export CAPI_VERSION=v1beta1
 
-#export KUBERNETES_VERSION="v1.30.0"
-#export UPGRADED_K8S_VERSION="v1.30.0"
+#export KUBERNETES_VERSION="v1.31.0"
+#export UPGRADED_K8S_VERSION="v1.31.0"
 
 # Version of kubelet, kubeadm and kubectl binaries
 #export KUBERNETES_BINARIES_VERSION="${KUBERNETES_BINARIES_VERSION:-${KUBERNETES_VERSION}}"
@@ -149,11 +149,11 @@
 
 # Image for target hosts deployment
 #
-#export IMAGE_NAME="CENTOS_9_NODE_IMAGE_K8S_v1.30.0.qcow2"
+#export IMAGE_NAME="CENTOS_9_NODE_IMAGE_K8S_v1.31.0.qcow2"
 
 # Location of the image to download
 #
-#export IMAGE_LOCATION="https://artifactory.nordix.org/artifactory/metal3/images/k8s_v1.30.0"
+#export IMAGE_LOCATION="https://artifactory.nordix.org/artifactory/metal3/images/k8s_v1.31.0"
 
 # Image username for ssh
 #
diff --git a/lib/common.sh b/lib/common.sh
index 4e5ecff35..ec50b34b8 100644
--- a/lib/common.sh
+++ b/lib/common.sh
@@ -334,7 +334,7 @@ export TARGET_NODE_MEMORY="${TARGET_NODE_MEMORY:-4096}"
 
 # Cluster
 export CLUSTER_NAME="${CLUSTER_NAME:-test1}"
-export KUBERNETES_VERSION="${KUBERNETES_VERSION:-v1.30.0}"
+export KUBERNETES_VERSION="${KUBERNETES_VERSION:-v1.31.0}"
 export KUBERNETES_BINARIES_VERSION="${KUBERNETES_BINARIES_VERSION:-${KUBERNETES_VERSION}}"
 export KUBERNETES_BINARIES_CONFIG_VERSION=${KUBERNETES_BINARIES_CONFIG_VERSION:-"v0.15.1"}
 
@@ -362,10 +362,10 @@ export MINIKUBE_SHA256="${MINIKUBE_SHA256:-4bfdc17f0dce678432d5c02c2a681c7a72921
 export MINIKUBE_DRIVER_SHA256="${MINIKUBE_DRIVER_SHA256:-83d3175eac710b1577209ddde5592c9071365bb281c6fc97ce5bd48106fc19ac}"
 
 # Kind, kind node image versions (if EPHEMERAL_CLUSTER=kind)
-export KIND_VERSION="${KIND_VERSION:-v0.22.0}"
-export KIND_SHA256="${KIND_SHA256:-e4264d7ee07ca642fe52818d7c0ed188b193c214889dd055c929dbcb968d1f62}"
+export KIND_VERSION="${KIND_VERSION:-v0.23.0}"
+export KIND_SHA256="${KIND_SHA256:-1d86e3069ffbe3da9f1a918618aecbc778e00c75f838882d0dfa2d363bc4a68c}"
 
-export KIND_NODE_IMAGE_VERSION="${KIND_NODE_IMAGE_VERSION:-v1.29.2}"
+export KIND_NODE_IMAGE_VERSION="${KIND_NODE_IMAGE_VERSION:-v1.30.0}"
 export KIND_NODE_IMAGE="${KIND_NODE_IMAGE:-${DOCKER_HUB_PROXY}/kindest/node:${KIND_NODE_IMAGE_VERSION}}"
 
 # Tilt
diff --git a/lib/releases.sh b/lib/releases.sh
index e4af8de2c..cbfbc7c93 100644
--- a/lib/releases.sh
+++ b/lib/releases.sh
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ elif [ "${CAPM3RELEASEBRANCH}" = "release-1.7" ]; then
 else
   # 1.7.99 points to the head of the main branch as well. Local override for CAPM3 is created for this version.
   export CAPM3RELEASE="v1.7.99"
-  export CAPIRELEASE="${CAPIRELEASE:-$(get_latest_release "${CAPIRELEASEPATH}" "v1.7.")}"
+  export CAPIRELEASE="${CAPIRELEASE:-$(get_latest_release "${CAPIRELEASEPATH}" "v1.8.")}"
 fi
 
 CAPIBRANCH="${CAPIBRANCH:-${CAPIRELEASE}}"
diff --git a/renovate.json b/renovate.json
index 323572840..900840542 100644
--- a/renovate.json
+++ b/renovate.json
@@ -56,13 +56,13 @@
       "matchPackageNames": [
         "kindest/node"
       ],
-      "allowedVersions": "<=1.30"
+      "allowedVersions": "<=1.31"
     },
     {
       "matchPackageNames": [
         "kubernetes-sigs/cri-tools"
       ],
-      "allowedVersions": "<=1.30"
+      "allowedVersions": "<=1.31"
     }
   ],
   "prHourlyLimit": 5,
diff --git a/tests/roles/run_tests/vars/main.yml b/tests/roles/run_tests/vars/main.yml
index 9fda43e92..617d61b18 100644
--- a/tests/roles/run_tests/vars/main.yml
+++ b/tests/roles/run_tests/vars/main.yml
@@ -18,13 +18,13 @@ NODE_DRAIN_TIMEOUT: "{{ lookup('env', 'NODE_DRAIN_TIMEOUT') | default('0s', true
 BMOPATH: "{{ lookup('env', 'BMOPATH') }}"
 IRONIC_DATA_DIR: "{{ lookup('env', 'IRONIC_DATA_DIR') }}"
 KUBECONFIG_PATH: "/home/ubuntu/.kube/config"
-KUBERNETES_VERSION: "{{ lookup('env', 'KUBERNETES_VERSION') | default('v1.30.0', true) }}"
-UPGRADED_K8S_VERSION: "{{ lookup('env', 'UPGRADED_K8S_VERSION') | default('v1.30.0', true) }}"
+KUBERNETES_VERSION: "{{ lookup('env', 'KUBERNETES_VERSION') | default('v1.31.0', true) }}"
+UPGRADED_K8S_VERSION: "{{ lookup('env', 'UPGRADED_K8S_VERSION') | default('v1.31.0', true) }}"
 MAX_SURGE_VALUE: "{{ lookup('env', 'MAX_SURGE_VALUE') | default('1', true) }}"
 VM_EXTRADISKS: "{{ lookup('env', 'VM_EXTRADISKS') | default('false', true) }}"
 VM_EXTRADISKS_FILE_SYSTEM: "{{ lookup('env', 'VM_EXTRADISKS_FILE_SYSTEM') | default('ext4', true) }}"
 VM_EXTRADISKS_MOUNT_DIR: "{{ lookup('env', 'VM_EXTRADISKS_MOUNT_DIR') | default('/mnt/disk2') }}"
-KUBERNETES_BINARIES_VERSION: "{{ lookup('env', 'KUBERNETES_BINARIES_VERSION') | default(lookup('env', 'KUBERNETES_VERSION') | default('v1.30.0', true), true) }}"
+KUBERNETES_BINARIES_VERSION: "{{ lookup('env', 'KUBERNETES_BINARIES_VERSION') | default(lookup('env', 'KUBERNETES_VERSION') | default('v1.31.0', true), true) }}"
 KUBERNETES_BINARIES_CONFIG_VERSION: "{{ lookup('env', 'KUBERNETES_BINARIES_CONFIG_VERSION') | default('v0.15.1', true) }}"
 IP_STACK: "{{ lookup('env', 'IP_STACK') | default('v4', true) }}"
 IPAM_PROVISIONING_POOL_RANGE_START: "{{ lookup('env', 'IPAM_PROVISIONING_POOL_RANGE_START') | default('172.22.0.100', true) }}"
diff --git a/vars.md b/vars.md
index c669b9ec6..2489884e6 100644
--- a/vars.md
+++ b/vars.md
@@ -50,8 +50,8 @@ assured that they are persisted.
 | BARE_METAL_PROVISIONER_INTERFACE | Cluster provisioning Interface | "ironicendpoint" | "ironicendpoint" |
 | POD_CIDR | Pod CIDR | "x.x.x.x/x" | "192.168.0.0/18" |
 | NODE_HOSTNAME_FORMAT | Node hostname format. This is a format string that must contain exactly one %d format field that will be replaced with an integer representing the number of the node. | "node-%d" | "node-%d" |
-| KUBERNETES_VERSION | Kubernetes version | "x.x.x" | "1.30.0" |
-| UPGRADED_K8S_VERSION | Upgraded Kubernetes version | "x.x.x" | "1.30.0" |
+| KUBERNETES_VERSION | Kubernetes version | "x.x.x" | "1.31.0" |
+| UPGRADED_K8S_VERSION | Upgraded Kubernetes version | "x.x.x" | "1.31.0" |
 | KUBERNETES_BINARIES_VERSION | Version of kubelet, kubeadm and kubectl | "x.x.x-xx" or "x.x.x" | same as KUBERNETES_VERSION |
 | KUBERNETES_BINARIES_CONFIG_VERSION | Version of kubelet.service and 10-kubeadm.conf files | "vx.x.x" | "v0.13.0" |
 | LIBVIRT_DOMAIN_TYPE | Which hypervisor to use for the virtual machines libvirt domain, default to kvm. It is possible to switch to qemu in case nested virtualization is not available, although it's considered experimental at this stage of development. | "kvm", "qemu" | "kvm" |