diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index aa08955e875..3b6ff3fd73d 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -6,6 +6,31 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+## [1.2.0-rc.3] - 2024-09-02
+
+> The supreme happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved.
+
+### Added
+
+ * Document build prerequisites for different platforms. (#4353)
+
+### Fixed
+
+ * Try to delete exec fifo file when failure in creation. (#4319)
+ * Revert "libcontainer: seccomp: pass around *os.File for notifyfd". (#4337)
+ * Fix link to gvariant documentation in systemd docs. (#4369)
+
+### Changed
+
+ * Remove pre-go1.17 build-tags. (#4329)
+ * libct/userns: assorted (godoc) improvements. (#4330)
+ * libct/userns: split userns detection from internal userns code. (#4331)
+ * rootfs: consolidate mountpoint creation logic. (#4359)
+ * Add Go 1.23, drop 1.21. (#4360)
+ * Revert "allow overriding VERSION value in Makefile" and add EXTRA_VERSION. (#4370)
+ * Mv contrib/cmd tests/cmd (except memfd-bind). (#4377)
+ * Makefile: Don't read COMMIT, BUILDTAGS, EXTRA_BUILDTAGS from env vars. (#4380)
+
 ## [1.2.0-rc.2] - 2024-06-26
 
 > TRUE or FALSE, it's a problem!
@@ -745,7 +770,7 @@ implementation (libcontainer) is *not* covered by this policy.
    cgroups at all during `runc update`). (#2994)
 
 <!-- minor releases -->
-[Unreleased]: https://github.com/opencontainers/runc/compare/v1.2.0-rc.2...HEAD
+[Unreleased]: https://github.com/opencontainers/runc/compare/v1.2.0-rc.3...HEAD
 [1.1.0]: https://github.com/opencontainers/runc/compare/v1.1.0-rc.1...v1.1.0
 [1.0.0]: https://github.com/opencontainers/runc/releases/tag/v1.0.0
 
@@ -773,5 +798,6 @@ implementation (libcontainer) is *not* covered by this policy.
 [1.1.0-rc.1]: https://github.com/opencontainers/runc/compare/v1.0.0...v1.1.0-rc.1
 
 <!-- 1.2.z patch releases -->
+[1.2.0-rc.3]: https://github.com/opencontainers/runc/compare/v1.2.0-rc.2...v1.2.0-rc.3
 [1.2.0-rc.2]: https://github.com/opencontainers/runc/compare/v1.2.0-rc.1...v1.2.0-rc.2
 [1.2.0-rc.1]: https://github.com/opencontainers/runc/compare/v1.1.0...v1.2.0-rc.1
diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index 49d540ecf11..ab33538a802 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-1.2.0-rc.2+dev
+1.2.0-rc.3+dev