diff --git a/test/cri-containerd/jobcontainer_test.go b/test/cri-containerd/jobcontainer_test.go
index e8eca12603..a88077e30c 100644
--- a/test/cri-containerd/jobcontainer_test.go
+++ b/test/cri-containerd/jobcontainer_test.go
@@ -542,7 +542,7 @@ func Test_RunContainer_JobContainer_Environment(t *testing.T) {
 			containerImage: imageWindowsNanoserver,
 			env: []*runtime.KeyValue{
 				{
-					Key: "PATH", Value: "C:\\Windows\\system32;C:\\Windows",
+					Key: "PATH", Value: []byte("C:\\Windows\\system32;C:\\Windows"),
 				},
 			},
 			exec:               []string{"cmd", "/c", "echo %PATH%"},
@@ -555,7 +555,7 @@ func Test_RunContainer_JobContainer_Environment(t *testing.T) {
 			containerImage: imageWindowsNanoserver,
 			env: []*runtime.KeyValue{
 				{
-					Key: "PATH", Value: "%CONTAINER_SANDBOX_MOUNT_POINT%\\apps\\vim\\;C:\\Windows\\system32;C:\\Windows",
+					Key: "PATH", Value: []byte("%CONTAINER_SANDBOX_MOUNT_POINT%\\apps\\vim\\;C:\\Windows\\system32;C:\\Windows"),
 				},
 			},
 			exec:               []string{"cmd", "/c", "echo %PATH%"},
diff --git a/test/gcs/helper_cri_test.go b/test/gcs/helper_cri_test.go
index e256374bc3..a5ef5e9c0f 100644
--- a/test/gcs/helper_cri_test.go
+++ b/test/gcs/helper_cri_test.go
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ func containerSpecOpts(_ context.Context, tb testing.TB,
 	hostname := name
 	env := append([]string{testoci.HostnameEnv + "=" + hostname}, img.Env...)
 	for _, e := range cfg.GetEnvs() {
-		env = append(env, e.GetKey()+"="+e.GetValue())
+		env = append(env, e.GetKey()+"="+string(e.GetValue()))
 	}
 	opts = append(opts, oci.WithEnv(env))
 
diff --git a/test/go.mod b/test/go.mod
index 5da6306f30..eaa7af2f98 100644
--- a/test/go.mod
+++ b/test/go.mod
@@ -26,9 +26,9 @@ require (
 	golang.org/x/sync v0.22.0
 	golang.org/x/sys v0.47.0
 	google.golang.org/grpc v1.83.0
-	google.golang.org/protobuf v1.36.11
-	k8s.io/cri-api v0.34.1
-	k8s.io/cri-client v0.34.1
+	google.golang.org/protobuf v1.36.12-0.20260120151049-f2248ac996af
+	k8s.io/cri-api v0.36.3
+	k8s.io/cri-client v0.36.3
 )
 
 require (
diff --git a/test/go.sum b/test/go.sum
index 19100a4490..0499e10c4a 100644
--- a/test/go.sum
+++ b/test/go.sum
@@ -61,8 +61,8 @@ github.com/cpuguy83/go-md2man/v2 v2.0.7/go.mod h1:oOW0eioCTA6cOiMLiUPZOpcVxMig6N
 github.com/cyphar/filepath-securejoin v0.6.1 h1:5CeZ1jPXEiYt3+Z6zqprSAgSWiggmpVyciv8syjIpVE=
 github.com/cyphar/filepath-securejoin v0.6.1/go.mod h1:A8hd4EnAeyujCJRrICiOWqjS1AX0a9kM5XL+NwKoYSc=
 github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.0/go.mod h1:J7Y8YcW2NihsgmVo/mv3lAwl/skON4iLHjSsI+c5H38=
-github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.1 h1:vj9j/u1bqnvCEfJOwUhtlOARqs3+rkHYY13jYWTU97c=
-github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.1/go.mod h1:J7Y8YcW2NihsgmVo/mv3lAwl/skON4iLHjSsI+c5H38=
+github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.2-0.20180830191138-d8f796af33cc h1:U9qPSI2PIWSS1VwoXQT9A3Wy9MM3WgvqSxFWenqJduM=
+github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.2-0.20180830191138-d8f796af33cc/go.mod h1:J7Y8YcW2NihsgmVo/mv3lAwl/skON4iLHjSsI+c5H38=
 github.com/decred/dcrd/dcrec/secp256k1/v4 v4.4.1 h1:5RVFMOWjMyRy8cARdy79nAmgYw3hK/4HUq48LQ6Wwqo=
 github.com/decred/dcrd/dcrec/secp256k1/v4 v4.4.1/go.mod h1:ZXNYxsqcloTdSy/rNShjYzMhyjf0LaoftYK0p+A3h40=
 github.com/dgraph-io/badger/v4 v4.9.4 h1:bcw+waCpzRZ2nmcSPbnPvDVhiEsn98TKmvnAhK7r7LM=
@@ -197,8 +197,9 @@ github.com/pelletier/go-toml/v2 v2.2.4 h1:mye9XuhQ6gvn5h28+VilKrrPoQVanw5PMw/TB0
 github.com/pelletier/go-toml/v2 v2.2.4/go.mod h1:2gIqNv+qfxSVS7cM2xJQKtLSTLUE9V8t9Stt+h56mCY=
 github.com/pkg/errors v0.9.1 h1:FEBLx1zS214owpjy7qsBeixbURkuhQAwrK5UwLGTwt4=
 github.com/pkg/errors v0.9.1/go.mod h1:bwawxfHBFNV+L2hUp1rHADufV3IMtnDRdf1r5NINEl0=
-github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.0 h1:4DBwDE0NGyQoBHbLQYPwSUPoCMWR5BEzIk/f1lZbAQM=
 github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.0/go.mod h1:iKH77koFhYxTK1pcRnkKkqfTogsbg7gZNVY4sRDYZ/4=
+github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.1-0.20181226105442-5d4384ee4fb2 h1:Jamvg5psRIccs7FGNTlIRMkT8wgtp5eCXdBlqhYGL6U=
+github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.1-0.20181226105442-5d4384ee4fb2/go.mod h1:iKH77koFhYxTK1pcRnkKkqfTogsbg7gZNVY4sRDYZ/4=
 github.com/prometheus/client_golang v1.24.0 h1:5XStIklKuAtJSNpdD3s8XJj/Yv78IQmE1kbNk87JrAI=
 github.com/prometheus/client_golang v1.24.0/go.mod h1:QcsNdotprC2nS4BTM2ucbcqxd2CeXTEa9jW7zHO9iDE=
 github.com/prometheus/client_model v0.6.2 h1:oBsgwpGs7iVziMvrGhE53c/GrLUsZdHnqNwqPLxwZyk=
@@ -299,8 +300,8 @@ google.golang.org/genproto/googleapis/rpc v0.0.0-20260526163538-3dc84a4a5aaa h1:
 google.golang.org/genproto/googleapis/rpc v0.0.0-20260526163538-3dc84a4a5aaa/go.mod h1:4Hqkh8ycfw05ld/3BWL7rJOSfebL2Q+DVDeRgYgxUU8=
 google.golang.org/grpc v1.83.0 h1:JeNZEKJFbQxArAMl+hiytHauacDNqJUllNfmIMmpqnQ=
 google.golang.org/grpc v1.83.0/go.mod h1:kDyl6SKsiHKt0uylY5gtn5cEjkrIOhQOGDgIc4JGwzQ=
-google.golang.org/protobuf v1.36.11 h1:fV6ZwhNocDyBLK0dj+fg8ektcVegBBuEolpbTQyBNVE=
-google.golang.org/protobuf v1.36.11/go.mod h1:HTf+CrKn2C3g5S8VImy6tdcUvCska2kB7j23XfzDpco=
+google.golang.org/protobuf v1.36.12-0.20260120151049-f2248ac996af h1:+5/Sw3GsDNlEmu7TfklWKPdQ0Ykja5VEmq2i817+jbI=
+google.golang.org/protobuf v1.36.12-0.20260120151049-f2248ac996af/go.mod h1:HTf+CrKn2C3g5S8VImy6tdcUvCska2kB7j23XfzDpco=
 gopkg.in/check.v1 v0.0.0-20161208181325-20d25e280405/go.mod h1:Co6ibVJAznAaIkqp8huTwlJQCZ016jof/cbN4VW5Yz0=
 gopkg.in/check.v1 v1.0.0-20201130134442-10cb98267c6c h1:Hei/4ADfdWqJk1ZMxUNpqntNwaWcugrBjAiHlqqRiVk=
 gopkg.in/check.v1 v1.0.0-20201130134442-10cb98267c6c/go.mod h1:JHkPIbrfpd72SG/EVd6muEfDQjcINNoR0C8j2r3qZ4Q=
@@ -309,9 +310,9 @@ gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1 h1:fxVm/GzAzEWqLHuvctI91KS9hhNmmWOoWu0XTYJS7CA=
 gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1/go.mod h1:K4uyk7z7BCEPqu6E+C64Yfv1cQ7kz7rIZviUmN+EgEM=
 gotest.tools/v3 v3.5.2 h1:7koQfIKdy+I8UTetycgUqXWSDwpgv193Ka+qRsmBY8Q=
 gotest.tools/v3 v3.5.2/go.mod h1:LtdLGcnqToBH83WByAAi/wiwSFCArdFIUV/xxN4pcjA=
-k8s.io/cri-api v0.34.1 h1:n2bU++FqqJq0CNjP/5pkOs0nIx7aNpb1Xa053TecQkM=
-k8s.io/cri-api v0.34.1/go.mod h1:4qVUjidMg7/Z9YGZpqIDygbkPWkg3mkS1PvOx/kpHTE=
-k8s.io/cri-client v0.34.1 h1:eq6FcEPDDL379w0WhPnItj2egsMZqOtU7nv1JaJmwP0=
-k8s.io/cri-client v0.34.1/go.mod h1:Dq6mKWV2ugO5tMv4xqVgcQ8vD7csP//e4KkzcFi2Pio=
+k8s.io/cri-api v0.36.3 h1:QFEMKGim6DSdlaW3JwpjVCjUQgTnkKG7i3McAaBW6Fo=
+k8s.io/cri-api v0.36.3/go.mod h1:1gMX7udEAiRCWGS4uxscdbxq6vufwhZt38Ri+XH6P00=
+k8s.io/cri-client v0.36.3 h1:WJDkJi43siWEUPyChC4ag9xUannsyW/TfL4OgLUsYOA=
+k8s.io/cri-client v0.36.3/go.mod h1:kQd5eyZf1fGedMYirzWXG+miafXvaQHwRjYvWTjHcKc=
 sigs.k8s.io/yaml v1.6.0 h1:G8fkbMSAFqgEFgh4b1wmtzDnioxFCUgTZhlbj5P9QYs=
 sigs.k8s.io/yaml v1.6.0/go.mod h1:796bPqUfzR/0jLAl6XjHl3Ck7MiyVv8dbTdyT3/pMf4=