Problem
The AWS SDK for Go used by external-secrets (v1) will enter maintenance mode in July 2024, and be EOL by July 2025 (source).

The current version of the Go SDK used is v1.51.1 (source).

Requested Solution
Migrate to the AWS Go SDK v2. AWS has provided migration instructions

Alternatives

• Not migrating is an alternative, and certainly one that is workable, at least until the v1 SDK is EOL'd. But a migration would be required at some point, and it might be easier the earlier it's performed.