diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 5c336b84f9eacd72d7255510bd11209a09d733ec..63d23449aca986220f81e37a044851faebe21fa0 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,3 +1,10 @@
+# [6.5.0](https://gitlab.com/to-be-continuous/kubernetes/compare/6.4.0...6.5.0) (2025-01-27)
+
+
+### Features
+
+* disable tracking service by default ([5b31f18](https://gitlab.com/to-be-continuous/kubernetes/commit/5b31f18734e9e4497716d0eb091606dd7bf9edd5))
+
 # [6.4.0](https://gitlab.com/to-be-continuous/kubernetes/compare/6.3.0...6.4.0) (2025-01-20)
 
 
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 9da26f3aa9edd99b7ffd6cef37e7e0f8e13bb081..7d023c6f1c4ab50ad8f6fad04a810fc42d1303c9 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ Add the following to your `.gitlab-ci.yml`:
 ```yaml
 include:
   # 1: include the component
-  - component: $CI_SERVER_FQDN/to-be-continuous/kubernetes/gitlab-ci-k8s@6.4.0
+  - component: $CI_SERVER_FQDN/to-be-continuous/kubernetes/gitlab-ci-k8s@6.5.0
     # 2: set/override component inputs
     inputs:
       # ⚠ this is only an example
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ Add the following to your `.gitlab-ci.yml`:
 include:
   # 1: include the template
   - project: 'to-be-continuous/kubernetes'
-    ref: '6.4.0'
+    ref: '6.5.0'
     file: '/templates/gitlab-ci-k8s.yml'
 
 variables:
@@ -535,12 +535,12 @@ With:
 ```yaml
 include:
   # main template
-  - component: $CI_SERVER_FQDN/to-be-continuous/kubernetes/gitlab-ci-k8s@6.4.0
+  - component: $CI_SERVER_FQDN/to-be-continuous/kubernetes/gitlab-ci-k8s@6.5.0
     inputs:
       # ⚠ oc-container image (includes required curl)
       kubectl-image: registry.hub.docker.com/docker.io/appuio/oc:v4.14
   # Vault variant
-  - component: $CI_SERVER_FQDN/to-be-continuous/kubernetes/gitlab-ci-k8s-vault@6.4.0
+  - component: $CI_SERVER_FQDN/to-be-continuous/kubernetes/gitlab-ci-k8s-vault@6.5.0
     inputs:
       # audience claim for JWT
       vault-oidc-aud: "https://vault.acme.host"
@@ -601,9 +601,9 @@ With a common default `GCP_OIDC_PROVIDER` and `GCP_OIDC_ACCOUNT` configuration f
 ```yaml
 include:
   # main template
-  - component: $CI_SERVER_FQDN/to-be-continuous/kubernetes/gitlab-ci-k8s@6.4.0
+  - component: $CI_SERVER_FQDN/to-be-continuous/kubernetes/gitlab-ci-k8s@6.5.0
   # Google Cloud variant
-  - component: $CI_SERVER_FQDN/to-be-continuous/kubernetes/gitlab-ci-k8ss-gcp@6.4.0
+  - component: $CI_SERVER_FQDN/to-be-continuous/kubernetes/gitlab-ci-k8ss-gcp@6.5.0
     inputs:
       # common OIDC config for non-prod envs
       gcp-oidc-provider: "projects/<gcp_nonprod_proj_id>/locations/global/workloadIdentityPools/<pool_id>/providers/<provider_id>"
diff --git a/templates/gitlab-ci-k8s-vault.yml b/templates/gitlab-ci-k8s-vault.yml
index 0e20c4e5950595f8bb8d3bdc8bd7e13a1949b758..7f467ca1b98cd8f16749c3f82a4359a4da45bfc9 100644
--- a/templates/gitlab-ci-k8s-vault.yml
+++ b/templates/gitlab-ci-k8s-vault.yml
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ variables:
 .k8s-base:
   services:
     - name: "$TBC_TRACKING_IMAGE"
-      command: ["--service", "--port", "8082", "kubernetes", "6.4.0"]
+      command: ["--service", "--port", "8082", "kubernetes", "6.5.0"]
     - name: "$TBC_VAULT_IMAGE"
       alias: "vault-secrets-provider"
   variables:
diff --git a/templates/gitlab-ci-k8s.yml b/templates/gitlab-ci-k8s.yml
index 5794877af9360979a9d98df30660ff4e0d024bca..8d69879a97620beaa57527d3c0179411322208d7 100644
--- a/templates/gitlab-ci-k8s.yml
+++ b/templates/gitlab-ci-k8s.yml
@@ -777,7 +777,7 @@ stages:
     entrypoint: [""]
   services:
     - name: "$TBC_TRACKING_IMAGE"
-      command: ["--service", "kubernetes", "6.4.0"]
+      command: ["--service", "kubernetes", "6.5.0"]
   before_script:
     - !reference [.k8s-scripts]
     - install_ca_certs "${CUSTOM_CA_CERTS:-$DEFAULT_CA_CERTS}"