CI 1.96 RN (#11525)

* CI 1.96 RN

* Add image updates for 1.96 RN

Author: dewan-ahmed

release-notes/continuous-integration.md

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 ---
 title: Continuous Integration release notes
 sidebar_label: Continuous Integration
-date: 2025-09-02T10:00
+date: 2025-09-09T10:00
 sidebar_position: 10
 ---
 
@@ -50,6 +50,23 @@ Check out [Harness Cloud VM Images Docs](/docs/platform/references/harness-cloud
 
 ## September 2025
 
+### Version 1.96
+
+<!-- 2025-09-08 -->
+#### New features and enhancements
+- Test Intelligence now supports installing the Python agent within a virtual environment, allowing customers to execute their tests inside their own venvs. (CI-17484)
+
+#### Fixed issues
+- Fixed a regression in the CD container step group where secrets (such as LDAP passwords and OIDC tokens) were exposed in logs and container executions. Masking now works correctly across all log occurrences when the `CI_ENABLE_EXTRA_CHARACTERS_SECRETS_MASKING` feature flag is enabled. (CI-18814, ZD-91214, ZD-91245) 
+- Fixed an issue where the feature flag `CI_DYNAMIC_BRANCH_SELECTOR` could not be enabled on SMP. The backend has been updated to support enabling this flag. (ZD-91773, CI-18921)
+
+#### Harness images updates
+
+| **Image**                | **Change**                                       | **Previous version** | **New Version** |
+| ------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------ | -------------------- | --------------- |
+| `harness/ci-lite-engine` | Version upgrade for Jira. | 1.17.2              | 1.17.3         |
+| `harness/ci-addon`       | Version upgrade for Jira. | 1.17.2              | 1.17.3         |
+ 
 ### Version 1.95
 
 <!-- 2025-09-01 -->