diff --git a/contrib/ansible/cri-containerd.yaml b/contrib/ansible/cri-containerd.yaml
index feec362b3..54cfbdbf7 100644
--- a/contrib/ansible/cri-containerd.yaml
+++ b/contrib/ansible/cri-containerd.yaml
@@ -61,6 +61,6 @@
     # TODO This needs to be removed once we have consistent concurrent pull results
     - name: "Pre-pull pause container image"
       shell: |
-        /usr/local/bin/ctr pull k8s.gcr.io/pause:3.5
+        /usr/local/bin/ctr pull k8s.gcr.io/pause:3.6
         /usr/local/bin/crictl --runtime-endpoint unix:///run/containerd/containerd.sock \
-        pull k8s.gcr.io/pause:3.5
+        pull k8s.gcr.io/pause:3.6
diff --git a/docs/PLUGINS.md b/docs/PLUGINS.md
index f3a16cabe..be4514375 100644
--- a/docs/PLUGINS.md
+++ b/docs/PLUGINS.md
@@ -244,7 +244,7 @@ example configuration
     stream_server_address = ""
     stream_server_port = "10010"
     enable_selinux = false
-    sandbox_image = "k8s.gcr.io/pause:3.5"
+    sandbox_image = "k8s.gcr.io/pause:3.6"
     stats_collect_period = 10
     systemd_cgroup = false
     [plugins.cri.containerd]
diff --git a/docs/cri/config.md b/docs/cri/config.md
index 077e4446c..a3b49e9e3 100644
--- a/docs/cri/config.md
+++ b/docs/cri/config.md
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ version = 2
   selinux_category_range = 1024
 
   # sandbox_image is the image used by sandbox container.
-  sandbox_image = "k8s.gcr.io/pause:3.5"
+  sandbox_image = "k8s.gcr.io/pause:3.6"
 
   # stats_collect_period is the period (in seconds) of snapshots stats collection.
   stats_collect_period = 10
diff --git a/docs/cri/crictl.md b/docs/cri/crictl.md
index 532a3218b..5d59c10b0 100644
--- a/docs/cri/crictl.md
+++ b/docs/cri/crictl.md
@@ -59,26 +59,26 @@ command. With the load command you inject a container image into the container
 runtime from a file. First you need to create a container image tarball. For
 example to create an image tarball for a pause container using Docker:
 ```console
-$ docker pull k8s.gcr.io/pause:3.5
-  3.5: Pulling from pause
-  019d8da33d91: Pull complete
-  Digest: sha256:1ff6c18fbef2045af6b9c16bf034cc421a29027b800e4f9b68ae9b1cb3e9ae07
-  Status: Downloaded newer image for k8s.gcr.io/pause:3.5
-  k8s.gcr.io/pause:3.5
-$ docker save k8s.gcr.io/pause:3.5 -o pause.tar
+$ docker pull k8s.gcr.io/pause:3.6
+  3.6: Pulling from pause
+  fbe1a72f5dcd: Pull complete
+  Digest: sha256:3d380ca8864549e74af4b29c10f9cb0956236dfb01c40ca076fb6c37253234db
+  Status: Downloaded newer image for k8s.gcr.io/pause:3.6
+  k8s.gcr.io/pause:3.6
+$ docker save k8s.gcr.io/pause:3.6 -o pause.tar
 ```
 Then use `ctr` to load the container image into the container runtime:
 ```console
 # The cri plugin uses the "k8s.io" containerd namespace.
 $ sudo ctr -n=k8s.io images import pause.tar
-  Loaded image: k8s.gcr.io/pause:3.5
+  Loaded image: k8s.gcr.io/pause:3.6
 ```
 List images and inspect the pause image:
 ```console
 $ sudo crictl images
 IMAGE                       TAG                 IMAGE ID            SIZE
 docker.io/library/busybox   latest              f6e427c148a76       728kB
-k8s.gcr.io/pause            3.5                 ed210e3e4a5ba       683kB
+k8s.gcr.io/pause            3.6                 ed210e3e4a5ba       683kB
 $ sudo crictl inspecti ed210e3e4a5ba
   ... displays information about the pause image.
 $ sudo crictl inspecti k8s.gcr.io/pause:3.5
@@ -201,7 +201,7 @@ $ crictl info
       }
     },
     "streamServerPort": "10010",
-    "sandboxImage": "k8s.gcr.io/pause:3.5",
+    "sandboxImage": "k8s.gcr.io/pause:3.6",
     "statsCollectPeriod": 10,
     "containerdRootDir": "/var/lib/containerd",
     "containerdEndpoint": "unix:///run/containerd/containerd.sock",
diff --git a/integration/client/client_test.go b/integration/client/client_test.go
index 022669ae1..66283b89a 100644
--- a/integration/client/client_test.go
+++ b/integration/client/client_test.go
@@ -330,7 +330,7 @@ func TestImagePullAllPlatforms(t *testing.T) {
 	defer cancel()
 
 	cs := client.ContentStore()
-	img, err := client.Fetch(ctx, "k8s.gcr.io/pause:3.5")
+	img, err := client.Fetch(ctx, "k8s.gcr.io/pause:3.6")
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
@@ -380,7 +380,7 @@ func TestImagePullSomePlatforms(t *testing.T) {
 
 	// Note: Must be different to the image used in TestImagePullAllPlatforms
 	// or it will see the content pulled by that, and fail.
-	img, err := client.Fetch(ctx, "k8s.gcr.io/pause:3.2", opts...)
+	img, err := client.Fetch(ctx, "k8s.gcr.io/e2e-test-images/busybox:1.29-2", opts...)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
diff --git a/integration/client/image_test.go b/integration/client/image_test.go
index aeb611247..68e67229b 100644
--- a/integration/client/image_test.go
+++ b/integration/client/image_test.go
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ import (
 )
 
 func TestImageIsUnpacked(t *testing.T) {
-	const imageName = "k8s.gcr.io/pause:3.5"
+	const imageName = "k8s.gcr.io/pause:3.6"
 	ctx, cancel := testContext(t)
 	defer cancel()
 
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ func TestImageUsage(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Skip()
 	}
 
-	imageName := "k8s.gcr.io/pause:3.5"
+	imageName := "k8s.gcr.io/pause:3.6"
 	ctx, cancel := testContext(t)
 	defer cancel()
 
diff --git a/integration/client/lease_test.go b/integration/client/lease_test.go
index 9886f9947..c9c73c4b7 100644
--- a/integration/client/lease_test.go
+++ b/integration/client/lease_test.go
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ func TestLeaseResources(t *testing.T) {
 	defer ls.Delete(ctx, l, leases.SynchronousDelete)
 
 	// step 1: download image
-	imageName := "k8s.gcr.io/pause:3.5"
+	imageName := "k8s.gcr.io/pause:3.6"
 
 	image, err := client.Pull(ctx, imageName, WithPullUnpack, WithPullSnapshotter("native"))
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/integration/common.go b/integration/common.go
index 0d6eea992..8d7b687a7 100644
--- a/integration/common.go
+++ b/integration/common.go
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ func initImages(imageListFile string) {
 	imageList = ImageList{
 		Alpine:           "docker.io/library/alpine:latest",
 		BusyBox:          "docker.io/library/busybox:latest",
-		Pause:            "k8s.gcr.io/pause:3.5",
+		Pause:            "k8s.gcr.io/pause:3.6",
 		ResourceConsumer: "k8s.gcr.io/e2e-test-images/resource-consumer:1.9",
 		VolumeCopyUp:     "gcr.io/k8s-cri-containerd/volume-copy-up:2.0",
 		VolumeOwnership:  "gcr.io/k8s-cri-containerd/volume-ownership:2.0",
diff --git a/integration/image_list.sample.toml b/integration/image_list.sample.toml
index eabe41521..7a638efc2 100644
--- a/integration/image_list.sample.toml
+++ b/integration/image_list.sample.toml
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 alpine = "docker.io/library/alpine:latest"
 busybox = "docker.io/library/busybox:latest"
-pause = "k8s.gcr.io/pause:3.5"
+pause = "k8s.gcr.io/pause:3.6"
 VolumeCopyUp = "gcr.io/k8s-cri-containerd/volume-copy-up:2.0"
 VolumeOwnership = "gcr.io/k8s-cri-containerd/volume-ownership:2.0"
diff --git a/pkg/cri/config/config_unix.go b/pkg/cri/config/config_unix.go
index 2d62cfd8b..ed75bb41c 100644
--- a/pkg/cri/config/config_unix.go
+++ b/pkg/cri/config/config_unix.go
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ func DefaultConfig() PluginConfig {
 			TLSKeyFile:  "",
 			TLSCertFile: "",
 		},
-		SandboxImage:                     "k8s.gcr.io/pause:3.5",
+		SandboxImage:                     "k8s.gcr.io/pause:3.6",
 		StatsCollectPeriod:               10,
 		SystemdCgroup:                    false,
 		MaxContainerLogLineSize:          16 * 1024,
diff --git a/pkg/cri/config/config_windows.go b/pkg/cri/config/config_windows.go
index c1a98dfd9..dd1eb209f 100644
--- a/pkg/cri/config/config_windows.go
+++ b/pkg/cri/config/config_windows.go
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ func DefaultConfig() PluginConfig {
 			TLSKeyFile:  "",
 			TLSCertFile: "",
 		},
-		SandboxImage:              "k8s.gcr.io/pause:3.5",
+		SandboxImage:              "k8s.gcr.io/pause:3.6",
 		StatsCollectPeriod:        10,
 		MaxContainerLogLineSize:   16 * 1024,
 		MaxConcurrentDownloads:    3,