Add cert-manager v1.19.1 release notes and upgrade warning

- Add v1.19.1 changelog and Important Upgrade Notes to release notes
- Update upgrading guide to recommend latest patch (v1.19.1)
- Add v1.19.0/v1.19.1 to spelling list and bump variables.json v1.19.1

Signed-off-by: Richard Wall <richard.wall@cyberark.com>

Author: wallrj-cyberark

.spelling

@@ -586,6 +586,7 @@ v1.18.0
 v1.18.0.
 v1.19
 v1.19.0
+v1.19.1
 alpha.0
 v1.5
 v1.5.0

content/docs/releases/release-notes/release-notes-1.19.md

@@ -9,6 +9,11 @@ This release focuses on expanding platform compatibility, improving deployment f
 
 Be sure to review all new features and changes below, and read the full release notes carefully before upgrading.
 
+## Important Upgrade Notes
+
+When upgrading to cert-manager `1.19`, use the latest patch version: `[[VAR::cert_manager_latest_version]]`.
+There is a bug in `v1.19.0` which may cause certificates to be re-issued unnecessarily. We fixed this in `v1.19.1`.
+
 ## Major Themes
 
 ###  Deployment and Platform Compatibility
@@ -67,6 +72,21 @@ And finally, thanks to the cert-manager steering committee for their feedback in
 - [`@ssyno`](https://github.com/ssyno)
 {/* END steerers */}
 
+{/* BEGIN changelog v1.19.1 */}
+## `v1.19.1`
+
+We reverted the CRD-based API defaults for `Certificate.Spec.IssuerRef` and `CertificateRequest.Spec.IssuerRef` after they were found to cause unexpected certificate renewals after upgrading to 1.19.0. We will try re-introducing these API defaults in cert-manager `1.20`.
+We fixed a bug that caused certificates to be re-issued unexpectedly if the `issuerRef` kind or group was changed to one of the "runtime" default values.
+We upgraded Go to `1.25.3` to address the following security vulnerabilities: `CVE-2025-61724`, `CVE-2025-58187`, `CVE-2025-47912`, `CVE-2025-58183`, `CVE-2025-61723`, `CVE-2025-58186`, `CVE-2025-58185`, `CVE-2025-58188`, and `CVE-2025-61725`.
+
+Changes since `v1.19.0`:
+
+### Bug or Regression
+
+- BUGFIX: in case kind or group in the `issuerRef` of a Certificate was omitted, upgrading to `1.19.x` incorrectly caused the certificate to be renewed ([`#8175`](https://github.com/cert-manager/cert-manager/pull/8175), [`@cert-manager-bot`](https://github.com/cert-manager-bot))
+- Bump Go to 1.25.3 to fix a backwards incompatible change to the validation of DNS names in X.509 SAN fields which prevented the use of DNS names with a trailing dot ([`#8177`](https://github.com/cert-manager/cert-manager/pull/8177), [`@wallrj-cyberark`](https://github.com/wallrj-cyberark))
+- Revert API defaults for issuer reference kind and group introduced in `1.19.0` ([`#8178`](https://github.com/cert-manager/cert-manager/pull/8178), [`@cert-manager-bot`](https://github.com/cert-manager-bot))
+{/* END changelog v1.19.1 */}
 {/* BEGIN changelog v1.19.0 */}
 ## `v1.19.0`
 

content/docs/releases/upgrading/upgrading-1.18-1.19.md

@@ -5,6 +5,12 @@ description: 'cert-manager installation: Upgrading v1.18 to v1.19'
 
 Before upgrading cert-manager from 1.18 to 1.19, please read the following important notes about breaking changes:
 
+## Use the latest patch version: `[[VAR::cert_manager_latest_version]]`
+
+When upgrading to cert-manager `1.19`, use the latest patch version: `[[VAR::cert_manager_latest_version]]`.
+Do not install `v1.19.0`, because it has a bug which may cause certificates to be re-issued unnecessarily.
+We fixed the bug in `v1.19.1`.
+
 ## Potentially Breaking: ACME metrics label changes
 
 A high cardinality label, called `path`, was removed from the `certmanager_acme_client_request_count` and `certmanager_acme_client_request_duration_seconds` metrics.

content/docs/variables.json

@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 {
-  "cert_manager_latest_version": "v1.19.0"
+  "cert_manager_latest_version": "v1.19.1"
 }