diff --git a/.github/.OwlBot.lock.yaml b/.github/.OwlBot.lock.yaml
index 0a5cae5afc..42327db5e2 100644
--- a/.github/.OwlBot.lock.yaml
+++ b/.github/.OwlBot.lock.yaml
@@ -13,5 +13,4 @@
 # limitations under the License.
 docker:
   image: gcr.io/cloud-devrel-public-resources/owlbot-java:latest
-  digest: sha256:6566dc8226f20993af18e5a4e7a2b1ba85a292b02dedb6a1634cf10e1b418fa5
-
+  digest: sha256:f14e3fefe8e361e85752bd9890c8e56f2fe25f1e89cbb9597e4e3c7a429203a3
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index b98995dead..9d519a0685 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,12 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## [2.8.18](https://github.com/googleapis/java-core/compare/v2.8.17...v2.8.18) (2022-09-30)
+
+
+### Dependencies
+
+* Update dependency com.google.protobuf:protobuf-bom to v3.21.7 ([#960](https://github.com/googleapis/java-core/issues/960)) ([1fcd95f](https://github.com/googleapis/java-core/commit/1fcd95f2401b66a79383bd79729595334493b0e4))
+
 ## [2.8.17](https://github.com/googleapis/java-core/compare/v2.8.16...v2.8.17) (2022-09-28)
 
 
diff --git a/google-cloud-core-bom/pom.xml b/google-cloud-core-bom/pom.xml
index 63ff335d57..f891b24762 100644
--- a/google-cloud-core-bom/pom.xml
+++ b/google-cloud-core-bom/pom.xml
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
   <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
   <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
   <artifactId>google-cloud-core-bom</artifactId>
-  <version>2.8.17</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
+  <version>2.8.18</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
   <packaging>pom</packaging>
   <parent>
     <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
@@ -63,17 +63,17 @@
       <dependency>
         <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
         <artifactId>google-cloud-core</artifactId>
-        <version>2.8.17</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
+        <version>2.8.18</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
       </dependency>
       <dependency>
         <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
         <artifactId>google-cloud-core-grpc</artifactId>
-        <version>2.8.17</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
+        <version>2.8.18</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
       </dependency>
       <dependency>
         <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
         <artifactId>google-cloud-core-http</artifactId>
-        <version>2.8.17</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
+        <version>2.8.18</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
       </dependency>
     </dependencies>
   </dependencyManagement>
diff --git a/google-cloud-core-grpc/pom.xml b/google-cloud-core-grpc/pom.xml
index 400db9a00e..905d1c2de5 100644
--- a/google-cloud-core-grpc/pom.xml
+++ b/google-cloud-core-grpc/pom.xml
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
   <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
   <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
   <artifactId>google-cloud-core-grpc</artifactId>
-  <version>2.8.17</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
+  <version>2.8.18</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
   <packaging>jar</packaging>
   <name>Google Cloud Core gRPC</name>
   <url>https://github.com/googleapis/java-core</url>
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
   <parent>
     <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
     <artifactId>google-cloud-core-parent</artifactId>
-    <version>2.8.17</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
+    <version>2.8.18</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
   </parent>
   <properties>
     <site.installationModule>google-cloud-core-grpc</site.installationModule>
diff --git a/google-cloud-core-http/pom.xml b/google-cloud-core-http/pom.xml
index 227d561375..239e8d93c3 100644
--- a/google-cloud-core-http/pom.xml
+++ b/google-cloud-core-http/pom.xml
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
   <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
   <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
   <artifactId>google-cloud-core-http</artifactId>
-  <version>2.8.17</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
+  <version>2.8.18</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
   <packaging>jar</packaging>
   <name>Google Cloud Core HTTP</name>
   <url>https://github.com/googleapis/java-core</url>
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
   <parent>
     <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
     <artifactId>google-cloud-core-parent</artifactId>
-    <version>2.8.17</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
+    <version>2.8.18</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
   </parent>
   <properties>
     <site.installationModule>google-cloud-core-http</site.installationModule>
diff --git a/google-cloud-core/pom.xml b/google-cloud-core/pom.xml
index 3af5d53584..a909ca0c37 100644
--- a/google-cloud-core/pom.xml
+++ b/google-cloud-core/pom.xml
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
   <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
   <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
   <artifactId>google-cloud-core</artifactId>
-  <version>2.8.17</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
+  <version>2.8.18</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
   <packaging>jar</packaging>
   <name>Google Cloud Core</name>
   <url>https://github.com/googleapis/java-core</url>
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
   <parent>
     <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
     <artifactId>google-cloud-core-parent</artifactId>
-    <version>2.8.17</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
+    <version>2.8.18</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
   </parent>
   <properties>
     <site.installationModule>google-cloud-core</site.installationModule>
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 23ceb645bf..5db20c3d08 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
   <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
   <artifactId>google-cloud-core-parent</artifactId>
   <packaging>pom</packaging>
-  <version>2.8.17</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
+  <version>2.8.18</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
   <name>Google Cloud Core Parent</name>
   <url>https://github.com/googleapis/java-core</url>
   <description>
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@
     <google.api.version>2.0.0</google.api.version>
     <google.http.version>1.42.2</google.http.version>
     <grpc.version>1.49.1</grpc.version>
-    <protobuf.version>3.21.6</protobuf.version>
+    <protobuf.version>3.21.7</protobuf.version>
     <opencensus.version>0.31.1</opencensus.version>
     <annotations-api.version>1.3.2</annotations-api.version>
     <guava.version>31.1-jre</guava.version>
diff --git a/renovate.json b/renovate.json
index 8667c146d4..443f141ae5 100644
--- a/renovate.json
+++ b/renovate.json
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
     ":maintainLockFilesDisabled",
     ":autodetectPinVersions"
   ],
+  "ignorePaths": [".kokoro/requirements.txt"],
   "packageRules": [
     {
       "packagePatterns": [
diff --git a/versions.txt b/versions.txt
index ddef7373c8..9833ce0ee6 100644
--- a/versions.txt
+++ b/versions.txt
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 # Format:
 # module:released-version:current-version
 
-google-cloud-core:2.8.17:2.8.17
+google-cloud-core:2.8.18:2.8.18