Release blocking issues (1.19.0-beta.0, 1.18.3, 1.17.6, 1.16.10)

[justaugustus]

There are a few issues blocking releases right now and I realized there's not a singular place tracking them, so I'm opening this up.

Required

kube-cross and k8s-cloud-builder:

• (kube-cross: Support building against multiple Go versions in parallel #1258) kube-cross: Support building against multiple Go versions in parallel
• (Revert k8s-cloud-builder changes in kube-cross and enable variant building #1279) Revert k8s-cloud-builder changes in kube-cross and enable variant building
• (k8s-cloud-builder: Build images on kube-cross v1.14.2-4 and v1.13.9-5 #1280) k8s-cloud-builder: Build images on kube-cross v1.14.2-4 and v1.13.9-5
• Update to kube-cross:v1.13.9-5:
  • master: base-images: Update to kube-cross:v1.13.9-5 kubernetes#90963
  • release-1.18: [1.18] base-images: Update to kube-cross:v1.13.9-5 kubernetes#90964
  • release-1.17: [1.17] base-images: Update to kube-cross:v1.13.9-5 kubernetes#90965
  • release-1.16: [1.16] base-images: Update to kube-cross:v1.13.9-5 kubernetes#90966

Branch cut:

• (Allow gcbmgr and anago to build betas from master #1286, lib/release: Fix version label logic for release cuts #1288) [anago] Support cutting branches at RC1 instead of beta.0 - Change release branching strategy to create release-1.x branch late #1207
• ([krel] gcbmgr: Add validation method for GcbmgrOptions #1293) [krel] gcbmgr: Add validation method for GcbmgrOptions

Release notes:

• Release notes on k/k fail to generate w/ new dependencies feature - Release notes on k/k fail to generate w/ new dependencies feature #1295

Nice-to-have

• Base image updates:
  • go-runner (1.19-only): New go-runner image for distroless scenarios kubernetes#90804, Switch core master base images (kube-apiserver, kube-scheduler) from debian to distroless kubernetes#90674
  • debian-base / debian-iptables:
    • master: cleanup: Base image workflow improvements kubernetes#90665, base-images: Use new debian-base:v2.1.0 and build new debian-iptables:v12.1.0 kubernetes#90697, and base-images: Use new debian-iptables:v12.1.0 kubernetes#90782
    • release-1.18: [1.18] base-images: Use debian-base:v2.1.0 and debian-iptables:v12.1.0 (includes CVE fixes) kubernetes#90863
    • release-1.17: [1.17] base-images: Use debian-base:v2.1.0 and debian-iptables:v12.1.0 (includes CVE fixes) kubernetes#90938
    • release-1.16: [1.16] base-images: Use debian-base:v2.1.0 and debian-iptables:v12.1.0 (includes CVE fixes) kubernetes#90940
• Mismatched or dirty local k/release copy does not block krel gcbmgr runs - Mismatched or dirty local k/release copy does not block krel gcbmgr runs #1278

/assign
/kind bug
/priority critical-urgent
cc: @kubernetes/release-engineering

[justaugustus]

/priority critical-urgent