diff --git a/.github/workflows/apidiff.yaml b/.github/workflows/apidiff.yaml
index c3dc6181..587b5604 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/apidiff.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/apidiff.yaml
@@ -10,5 +10,5 @@ jobs:
         fetch-depth: 0
     - uses: actions/setup-go@v4
       with:
-        go-version: 1.19
+        go-version: 1.21.x
     - uses: joelanford/go-apidiff@main
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build.yaml b/.github/workflows/build.yaml
index e3230cdf..f50373dc 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build.yaml
@@ -15,14 +15,6 @@ jobs:
       - name: Install Go
         uses: actions/setup-go@v4
         with:
-          go-version: 1.19.x
-      - uses: actions/cache@v3.3.1
-        with:
-          path: |
-            ~/go/pkg/mod
-            ~/.cache/go-build
-          key: ${{ runner.os }}-build-go-${{ hashFiles('**/go.sum') }}
-          restore-keys: |
-            ${{ runner.os }}-build-go-${{ hashFiles('**/go.sum') }}
+          go-version: 1.21.x
       - name: Build
         run: make operator
diff --git a/.github/workflows/e2e.yaml b/.github/workflows/e2e.yaml
index fe4878f7..c91f68d3 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/e2e.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/e2e.yaml
@@ -57,15 +57,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Install Go
         uses: actions/setup-go@v4
         with:
-          go-version: 1.19.x
-      - uses: actions/cache@v3.3.1
-        with:
-          path: |
-            ~/go/pkg/mod
-            ~/.cache/go-build
-          key: ${{ runner.os }}-test-go-${{ hashFiles('**/go.sum') }}
-          restore-keys: |
-            ${{ runner.os }}-test-go-${{ hashFiles('**/go.sum') }}
+          go-version: 1.21.x
       - uses: engineerd/setup-kind@v0.5.0
         with:
           version: "v0.16.0"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/lint.yaml b/.github/workflows/lint.yaml
index a477538e..667960ea 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/lint.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/lint.yaml
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Install Go
         uses: actions/setup-go@v4
         with:
-          go-version: 1.19.x
+          go-version: 1.21.x
       - name: Analysis
         uses: golangci/golangci-lint-action@v3
         with:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/unit.yaml b/.github/workflows/unit.yaml
index ddb927e6..f107d1f3 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/unit.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/unit.yaml
@@ -12,15 +12,7 @@ jobs:
     - name: Install Go
       uses: actions/setup-go@v4
       with:
-        go-version: 1.19.x
-    - uses: actions/cache@v3.3.1
-      with:
-        path: |
-          ~/go/pkg/mod
-          ~/.cache/go-build
-        key: ${{ runner.os }}-test-go-${{ hashFiles('**/go.sum') }}
-        restore-keys: |
-          ${{ runner.os }}-test-go-${{ hashFiles('**/go.sum') }}
+        go-version: 1.21.x
     - name: Run tests
       run: |
         make test
diff --git a/.github/workflows/update-rancher-dep.yaml b/.github/workflows/update-rancher-dep.yaml
index 22fad9d3..d9ff72b6 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/update-rancher-dep.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/update-rancher-dep.yaml
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ on:
 env:
   GOARCH: amd64
   CGO_ENABLED: 0
-  SETUP_GO_VERSION: '1.19.*'
+  SETUP_GO_VERSION: '1.21.*'
 
 jobs:
   create-rancher-pr:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/verify.yaml b/.github/workflows/verify.yaml
index 012458d7..06c5aafe 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/verify.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/verify.yaml
@@ -12,15 +12,7 @@ jobs:
     - name: Install Go
       uses: actions/setup-go@v4
       with:
-        go-version: 1.19.x
-    - uses: actions/cache@v3.3.1
-      with:
-        path: |
-          ~/go/pkg/mod
-          ~/.cache/go-build
-        key: ${{ runner.os }}-test-go-${{ hashFiles('**/go.sum') }}
-        restore-keys: |
-          ${{ runner.os }}-test-go-${{ hashFiles('**/go.sum') }}
+        go-version: 1.21.x
     - name: Run make verify
       run: |
         make verify
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 84bab86f..f465a9ec 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -4,3 +4,4 @@ bin/
 dist/
 .dapper
 _artifacts/
+vendor/
diff --git a/Dockerfile.dapper b/Dockerfile.dapper
index 5c73f834..51907ae2 100644
--- a/Dockerfile.dapper
+++ b/Dockerfile.dapper
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ RUN zypper -n update && \
 
 ENV GOLANG_ARCH_amd64=amd64 GOLANG_ARCH_arm=armv6l GOLANG_ARCH_arm64=arm64 GOLANG_ARCH=GOLANG_ARCH_${ARCH} \
     GOPATH=/go PATH=/go/bin:/usr/local/go/bin:${PATH} SHELL=/bin/bash
-RUN curl -sLf https://storage.googleapis.com/golang/go1.19.3.linux-${ARCH}.tar.gz | tar -xzf - -C /usr/local/
+RUN curl -sLf https://storage.googleapis.com/golang/go1.21.7.linux-${ARCH}.tar.gz | tar -xzf - -C /usr/local/
 # workaround for https://bugzilla.suse.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1183043
 RUN if [ "${ARCH}" == "arm64" ]; then \
         zypper -n install binutils-gold ; \
diff --git a/controller/eks-cluster-config-handler.go b/controller/eks-cluster-config-handler.go
index c474fe50..6bcf19cc 100644
--- a/controller/eks-cluster-config-handler.go
+++ b/controller/eks-cluster-config-handler.go
@@ -634,16 +634,16 @@ func (h *Handler) generateAndSetNetworking(config *eksv1.EKSClusterConfig, awsSV
 		}
 
 		virtualNetworkString := getParameterValueFromOutput("VpcId", stack.Stacks[0].Outputs)
-		subnetIdsString := getParameterValueFromOutput("SubnetIds", stack.Stacks[0].Outputs)
+		subnetIDsString := getParameterValueFromOutput("SubnetIds", stack.Stacks[0].Outputs)
 
-		if subnetIdsString == "" {
+		if subnetIDsString == "" {
 			return config, fmt.Errorf("no subnet ids were returned")
 		}
 
 		config = config.DeepCopy()
 		// copy generated field to status
 		config.Status.VirtualNetwork = virtualNetworkString
-		config.Status.Subnets = strings.Split(subnetIdsString, ",")
+		config.Status.Subnets = strings.Split(subnetIDsString, ",")
 		config.Status.NetworkFieldsSource = "generated"
 	}
 
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index fb50ec0a..6002c862 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 module github.com/rancher/eks-operator
 
-go 1.20
+go 1.21
+
+toolchain go1.21.6
 
 replace k8s.io/client-go => k8s.io/client-go v0.28.6
 
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index b0017453..11b1ca61 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -83,6 +83,7 @@ github.com/fatih/color v1.7.0/go.mod h1:Zm6kSWBoL9eyXnKyktHP6abPY2pDugNf5Kwzbycv
 github.com/fsnotify/fsnotify v1.4.7/go.mod h1:jwhsz4b93w/PPRr/qN1Yymfu8t87LnFCMoQvtojpjFo=
 github.com/fsnotify/fsnotify v1.4.9/go.mod h1:znqG4EE+3YCdAaPaxE2ZRY/06pZUdp0tY4IgpuI1SZQ=
 github.com/fsnotify/fsnotify v1.6.0 h1:n+5WquG0fcWoWp6xPWfHdbskMCQaFnG6PfBrh1Ky4HY=
+github.com/fsnotify/fsnotify v1.6.0/go.mod h1:sl3t1tCWJFWoRz9R8WJCbQihKKwmorjAbSClcnxKAGw=
 github.com/ghodss/yaml v0.0.0-20150909031657-73d445a93680/go.mod h1:4dBDuWmgqj2HViK6kFavaiC9ZROes6MMH2rRYeMEF04=
 github.com/ghodss/yaml v1.0.0 h1:wQHKEahhL6wmXdzwWG11gIVCkOv05bNOh+Rxn0yngAk=
 github.com/ghodss/yaml v1.0.0/go.mod h1:4dBDuWmgqj2HViK6kFavaiC9ZROes6MMH2rRYeMEF04=
@@ -443,6 +444,7 @@ go.uber.org/atomic v1.10.0 h1:9qC72Qh0+3MqyJbAn8YU5xVq1frD8bn3JtD2oXtafVQ=
 go.uber.org/atomic v1.10.0/go.mod h1:LUxbIzbOniOlMKjJjyPfpl4v+PKK2cNJn91OQbhoJI0=
 go.uber.org/goleak v1.1.11/go.mod h1:cwTWslyiVhfpKIDGSZEM2HlOvcqm+tG4zioyIeLoqMQ=
 go.uber.org/goleak v1.2.1 h1:NBol2c7O1ZokfZ0LEU9K6Whx/KnwvepVetCUhtKja4A=
+go.uber.org/goleak v1.2.1/go.mod h1:qlT2yGI9QafXHhZZLxlSuNsMw3FFLxBr+tBRlmO1xH4=
 go.uber.org/multierr v1.1.0/go.mod h1:wR5kodmAFQ0UK8QlbwjlSNy0Z68gJhDJUG5sjR94q/0=
 go.uber.org/multierr v1.6.0/go.mod h1:cdWPpRnG4AhwMwsgIHip0KRBQjJy5kYEpYjJxpXp9iU=
 go.uber.org/multierr v1.11.0 h1:blXXJkSxSSfBVBlC76pxqeO+LN3aDfLQo+309xJstO0=
@@ -652,6 +654,7 @@ golang.org/x/xerrors v0.0.0-20191204190536-9bdfabe68543/go.mod h1:I/5z698sn9Ka8T
 golang.org/x/xerrors v0.0.0-20200804184101-5ec99f83aff1/go.mod h1:I/5z698sn9Ka8TeJc9MKroUUfqBBauWjQqLJ2OPfmY0=
 golang.org/x/xerrors v0.0.0-20220907171357-04be3eba64a2/go.mod h1:K8+ghG5WaK9qNqU5K3HdILfMLy1f3aNYFI/wnl100a8=
 gomodules.xyz/jsonpatch/v2 v2.3.0 h1:8NFhfS6gzxNqjLIYnZxg319wZ5Qjnx4m/CcX+Klzazc=
+gomodules.xyz/jsonpatch/v2 v2.3.0/go.mod h1:AH3dM2RI6uoBZxn3LVrfvJ3E0/9dG4cSrbuBJT4moAY=
 google.golang.org/appengine v1.1.0/go.mod h1:EbEs0AVv82hx2wNQdGPgUI5lhzA/G0D9YwlJXL52JkM=
 google.golang.org/appengine v1.4.0/go.mod h1:xpcJRLb0r/rnEns0DIKYYv+WjYCduHsrkT7/EB5XEv4=
 google.golang.org/appengine v1.6.1/go.mod h1:i06prIuMbXzDqacNJfV5OdTW448YApPu5ww/cMBSeb0=
diff --git a/test/e2e/Dockerfile.e2e b/test/e2e/Dockerfile.e2e
index 2c34acd6..6f18feee 100644
--- a/test/e2e/Dockerfile.e2e
+++ b/test/e2e/Dockerfile.e2e
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-FROM registry.suse.com/bci/golang:1.19 AS build
+FROM registry.suse.com/bci/golang:1.21 AS build
 RUN zypper -n install -l openssl-devel
 WORKDIR /src
 COPY go.mod go.sum /src/
diff --git a/test/e2e/config/config.go b/test/e2e/config/config.go
index c0f7d2a4..36762bd6 100644
--- a/test/e2e/config/config.go
+++ b/test/e2e/config/config.go
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ func ReadE2EConfig(configPath string) (*E2EConfig, error) { //nolint:gocyclo
 }
 
 func substituteVersions(config *E2EConfig) error {
-	certManagerURL, err := envsubst.Eval(config.CertManagerChartURL, func(s string) string {
+	certManagerURL, err := envsubst.Eval(config.CertManagerChartURL, func(_ string) string {
 		return config.CertManagerVersion
 	})
 	if err != nil {
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ func substituteVersions(config *E2EConfig) error {
 	}
 	config.CertManagerChartURL = certManagerURL
 
-	rancherURL, err := envsubst.Eval(config.RancherChartURL, func(s string) string {
+	rancherURL, err := envsubst.Eval(config.RancherChartURL, func(_ string) string {
 		return config.RancherVersion
 	})
 	if err != nil {