Merge branch '2.18' into 2.19

Author: cowtowncoder

release-notes/VERSION-2.x

@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ Project: jackson-databind
  (requested by @hajdamak)
  (contributed by Lars B)
 
-2.18.1 (WIP-2024)
+2.18.1 (28-Oct-2024)
 
 #4741: When `Include.NON_DEFAULT` setting is used on POJO, empty values
   are not included in json if default is `null`