diff --git a/images/nginx/38cb695de87cfeadcba5eeaf57f39e41d529aa1f.tar.gz b/images/nginx/38cb695de87cfeadcba5eeaf57f39e41d529aa1f.tar.gz
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b1e05c55b9
Binary files /dev/null and b/images/nginx/38cb695de87cfeadcba5eeaf57f39e41d529aa1f.tar.gz differ
diff --git a/images/nginx/Makefile b/images/nginx/Makefile
index da8482bba7..da8deb47a3 100644
--- a/images/nginx/Makefile
+++ b/images/nginx/Makefile
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 # limitations under the License.
 
 # 0.0.0 shouldn't clobber any released builds
-TAG ?= 0.96
+TAG ?= 0.97
 REGISTRY ?= quay.io/kubernetes-ingress-controller
 
 IMGNAME = nginx
@@ -64,7 +64,9 @@ release: push
 
 .PHONY: init-docker-buildx
 init-docker-buildx:
+ifneq ($(shell docker buildx 2>&1 >/dev/null; echo $?),)
+	$(error "buildx not vailable. Docker 19.03 or higher is required")
+endif
 	docker run --rm --privileged docker/binfmt:66f9012c56a8316f9244ffd7622d7c21c1f6f28d
 	docker buildx create --name ingress-nginx --use || true
 	docker buildx inspect --bootstrap
-endif
diff --git a/images/nginx/README.md b/images/nginx/README.md
index f06f8dc37e..ee3d50bff9 100644
--- a/images/nginx/README.md
+++ b/images/nginx/README.md
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ This image provides a default configuration file with no backend servers.
 _Using docker_
 
 ```console
-docker run -v /some/nginx.con:/etc/nginx/nginx.conf:ro quay.io/kubernetes-ingress-controller/nginx:0.95
+docker run -v /some/nginx.con:/etc/nginx/nginx.conf:ro quay.io/kubernetes-ingress-controller/nginx:0.97
 ```
 
 _Creating a replication controller_
diff --git a/images/nginx/rc.yaml b/images/nginx/rc.yaml
index f5ce5521a4..d9fa7ef6e8 100644
--- a/images/nginx/rc.yaml
+++ b/images/nginx/rc.yaml
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ spec:
     spec:
       containers:
         - name: nginx
-          image: quay.io/kubernetes-ingress-controller/nginx:0.95
+          image: quay.io/kubernetes-ingress-controller/nginx:0.97
           ports:
             - containerPort: 80
             - containerPort: 443
diff --git a/images/nginx/rootfs/Dockerfile b/images/nginx/rootfs/Dockerfile
index e4955d42a5..59558ceb1a 100644
--- a/images/nginx/rootfs/Dockerfile
+++ b/images/nginx/rootfs/Dockerfile
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 # limitations under the License.
 
 
-FROM alpine:3.11 as builder
+FROM --platform=$BUILDPLATFORM alpine:3.11 as builder
 
 COPY . /
 
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ RUN apk add -U bash \
   && /build.sh
 
 # Use a multi-stage build
-FROM alpine:3.11
+FROM --platform=$BUILDPLATFORM alpine:3.11
 
 ENV PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/luajit/bin:/usr/local/nginx/sbin:/usr/local/nginx/bin
 
diff --git a/images/nginx/rootfs/build.sh b/images/nginx/rootfs/build.sh
index c37778cdb4..2e35508432 100755
--- a/images/nginx/rootfs/build.sh
+++ b/images/nginx/rootfs/build.sh
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ set -o pipefail
 
 export DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive
 
-export NGINX_VERSION=1.17.7
+export NGINX_VERSION=1.17.8
 export NDK_VERSION=0.3.1rc1
 export SETMISC_VERSION=0.32
 export MORE_HEADERS_VERSION=0.33
@@ -44,10 +44,11 @@ export NGINX_INFLUXDB_VERSION=5b09391cb7b9a889687c0aa67964c06a2d933e8b
 export GEOIP2_VERSION=3.3
 export NGINX_AJP_VERSION=bf6cd93f2098b59260de8d494f0f4b1f11a84627
 export RESTY_LUAROCKS_VERSION=3.1.3
-export LUAJIT_VERSION=9d5750d28478abfdcaefdfdc408f87752a21e431
+export LUAJIT_VERSION=38cb695de87cfeadcba5eeaf57f39e41d529aa1f
 export LUA_RESTY_BALANCER=0.03
 export LUA_RESTY_CORE=0.1.17
 export LUA_CJSON_VERSION=2.1.0.7
+export LUA_RESTY_COOKIE_VERSION=766ad8c15e498850ac77f5e0265f1d3f30dc4027
 
 export BUILD_PATH=/tmp/build
 
@@ -131,7 +132,7 @@ mkdir --verbose -p "$BUILD_PATH"
 cd "$BUILD_PATH"
 
 # download, verify and extract the source files
-get_src b62756842807e5693b794e5d0ae289bd8ae5b098e66538b2a91eb80f25c591ff \
+get_src 97d23ecf6d5150b30e284b40e8a6f7e3bb5be6b601e373a4d013768d5a25965b \
         "https://nginx.org/download/nginx-$NGINX_VERSION.tar.gz"
 
 get_src 49f50d4cd62b166bc1aaf712febec5e028d9f187cedbc27a610dfd01bdde2d36 \
@@ -176,7 +177,7 @@ get_src 99c47c75c159795c9faf76bbb9fa58e5a50b75286c86565ffcec8514b1c74bf9 \
 get_src 2a69815e4ae01aa8b170941a8e1a10b6f6a9aab699dee485d58f021dd933829a \
         "https://github.com/openresty/lua-upstream-nginx-module/archive/v$LUA_UPSTREAM_VERSION.tar.gz"
 
-get_src 266ed1abb70a9806d97cb958537a44b67db6afb33d3b32292a2d68a2acedea75 \
+get_src 7df70318762f4150e6fe27dd1838b4b89a24ed9351c82d0b332d7d8457dd1b95 \
         "https://github.com/openresty/luajit2/archive/$LUAJIT_VERSION.tar.gz"
 
 get_src 052fd37cd698e24ab73ee18fc3fa55acd1d43153c12a0e65b0fba0447de1117e \
@@ -212,6 +213,9 @@ get_src 8f5f76d2689a3f6b0782f0a009c56a65e4c7a4382be86422c9b3549fe95b0dc4 \
 get_src 59d2f18ecadba48be61061004c8664eaed1111a3372cd2567cb24c5a47eb41fe \
         "https://github.com/openresty/lua-cjson/archive/$LUA_CJSON_VERSION.tar.gz"
 
+get_src f818b5cef0881e5987606f2acda0e491531a0cb0c126d8dca02e2343edf641ef \
+        "https://github.com/cloudflare/lua-resty-cookie/archive/$LUA_RESTY_COOKIE_VERSION.tar.gz"
+
 # improve compilation times
 CORES=$(($(grep -c ^processor /proc/cpuinfo) - 0))
 
@@ -556,8 +560,11 @@ cd "$BUILD_PATH/lua-cjson-$LUA_CJSON_VERSION"
 make all
 make install
 
+cd "$BUILD_PATH/lua-resty-cookie-$LUA_RESTY_COOKIE_VERSION"
+make all
+make install
+
 luarocks install lua-resty-iputils 0.3.0-1
-luarocks install lua-resty-cookie 0.1.0-1
 luarocks install lua-resty-lrucache 0.09-2
 luarocks install lua-resty-lock 0.08-0
 luarocks install lua-resty-dns 0.21-1
diff --git a/images/nginx/rootfs/patches/nginx-1.17.4-balancer_status_code.patch b/images/nginx/rootfs/patches/nginx-1.17.8-balancer_status_code.patch
similarity index 100%
rename from images/nginx/rootfs/patches/nginx-1.17.4-balancer_status_code.patch
rename to images/nginx/rootfs/patches/nginx-1.17.8-balancer_status_code.patch
diff --git a/images/nginx/rootfs/patches/nginx-1.17.8-cache_manager_exit.patch b/images/nginx/rootfs/patches/nginx-1.17.8-cache_manager_exit.patch
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f1f81da2ca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/images/nginx/rootfs/patches/nginx-1.17.8-cache_manager_exit.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+# HG changeset patch
+# User Yichun Zhang <agentzh@gmail.com>
+# Date 1383598130 28800
+# Node ID f64218e1ac963337d84092536f588b8e0d99bbaa
+# Parent  dea321e5c0216efccbb23e84bbce7cf3e28f130c
+Cache: gracefully exit the cache manager process.
+
+diff -r dea321e5c021 -r f64218e1ac96 src/os/unix/ngx_process_cycle.c
+--- a/src/os/unix/ngx_process_cycle.c	Thu Oct 31 18:23:49 2013 +0400
++++ b/src/os/unix/ngx_process_cycle.c	Mon Nov 04 12:48:50 2013 -0800
+@@ -1335,7 +1335,7 @@
+ 
+         if (ngx_terminate || ngx_quit) {
+             ngx_log_error(NGX_LOG_NOTICE, cycle->log, 0, "exiting");
+-            exit(0);
++            ngx_worker_process_exit(cycle);
+         }
+ 
+         if (ngx_reopen) {
diff --git a/images/nginx/rootfs/patches/nginx-1.17.8-hash_overflow.patch b/images/nginx/rootfs/patches/nginx-1.17.8-hash_overflow.patch
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..449d214bab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/images/nginx/rootfs/patches/nginx-1.17.8-hash_overflow.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+# HG changeset patch
+# User Yichun Zhang <agentzh@gmail.com>
+# Date 1412276417 25200
+#      Thu Oct 02 12:00:17 2014 -0700
+# Node ID 4032b992f23b054c1a2cfb0be879330d2c6708e5
+# Parent  1ff0f68d9376e3d184d65814a6372856bf65cfcd
+Hash: buffer overflow might happen when exceeding the pre-configured limits.
+
+diff -r 1ff0f68d9376 -r 4032b992f23b src/core/ngx_hash.c
+--- a/src/core/ngx_hash.c	Tue Sep 30 15:50:28 2014 -0700
++++ b/src/core/ngx_hash.c	Thu Oct 02 12:00:17 2014 -0700
+@@ -312,6 +312,8 @@ ngx_hash_init(ngx_hash_init_t *hinit, ng
+         continue;
+     }
+ 
++    size--;
++
+     ngx_log_error(NGX_LOG_WARN, hinit->pool->log, 0,
+                   "could not build optimal %s, you should increase "
+                   "either %s_max_size: %i or %s_bucket_size: %i; "
diff --git a/images/nginx/rootfs/patches/nginx-1.17.4-larger_max_error_str.patch b/images/nginx/rootfs/patches/nginx-1.17.8-larger_max_error_str.patch
similarity index 62%
rename from images/nginx/rootfs/patches/nginx-1.17.4-larger_max_error_str.patch
rename to images/nginx/rootfs/patches/nginx-1.17.8-larger_max_error_str.patch
index 77137f2640..128bd9e0da 100644
--- a/images/nginx/rootfs/patches/nginx-1.17.4-larger_max_error_str.patch
+++ b/images/nginx/rootfs/patches/nginx-1.17.8-larger_max_error_str.patch
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
---- nginx-1.17.4/src/core/ngx_log.h	2013-10-08 05:07:14.000000000 -0700
-+++ nginx-1.17.4-patched/src/core/ngx_log.h	2013-12-05 20:35:35.996236720 -0800
+--- nginx-1.17.8/src/core/ngx_log.h	2013-10-08 05:07:14.000000000 -0700
++++ nginx-1.17.8-patched/src/core/ngx_log.h	2013-12-05 20:35:35.996236720 -0800
 @@ -64,7 +64,9 @@ struct ngx_log_s {
  };
  
diff --git a/images/nginx/rootfs/patches/nginx-1.17.4-reuseport_close_unused_fds.patch b/images/nginx/rootfs/patches/nginx-1.17.8-reuseport_close_unused_fds.patch
similarity index 100%
rename from images/nginx/rootfs/patches/nginx-1.17.4-reuseport_close_unused_fds.patch
rename to images/nginx/rootfs/patches/nginx-1.17.8-reuseport_close_unused_fds.patch
diff --git a/images/nginx/rootfs/patches/nginx-1.17.4-single_process_graceful_exit.patch b/images/nginx/rootfs/patches/nginx-1.17.8-single_process_graceful_exit.patch
similarity index 100%
rename from images/nginx/rootfs/patches/nginx-1.17.4-single_process_graceful_exit.patch
rename to images/nginx/rootfs/patches/nginx-1.17.8-single_process_graceful_exit.patch
diff --git a/images/nginx/rootfs/patches/nginx-1.17.8-socket_cloexec.patch b/images/nginx/rootfs/patches/nginx-1.17.8-socket_cloexec.patch
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..985ce573b5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/images/nginx/rootfs/patches/nginx-1.17.8-socket_cloexec.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,185 @@
+diff --git a/auto/unix b/auto/unix
+index 10835f6c..b5b33bb3 100644
+--- a/auto/unix
++++ b/auto/unix
+@@ -990,3 +990,27 @@ ngx_feature_test='struct addrinfo *res;
+                   if (getaddrinfo("localhost", NULL, NULL, &res) != 0) return 1;
+                   freeaddrinfo(res)'
+ . auto/feature
++
++ngx_feature="SOCK_CLOEXEC support"
++ngx_feature_name="NGX_HAVE_SOCKET_CLOEXEC"
++ngx_feature_run=no
++ngx_feature_incs="#include <sys/types.h>
++                  #include <sys/socket.h>"
++ngx_feature_path=
++ngx_feature_libs=
++ngx_feature_test="int fd;
++                  fd = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM | SOCK_CLOEXEC, 0);"
++. auto/feature
++
++ngx_feature="FD_CLOEXEC support"
++ngx_feature_name="NGX_HAVE_FD_CLOEXEC"
++ngx_feature_run=no
++ngx_feature_incs="#include <sys/types.h>
++                  #include <sys/socket.h>
++                  #include <fcntl.h>"
++ngx_feature_path=
++ngx_feature_libs=
++ngx_feature_test="int fd;
++                  fd = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, 0);
++                  fcntl(fd, F_SETFD, FD_CLOEXEC);"
++. auto/feature
+diff --git a/src/core/ngx_resolver.c b/src/core/ngx_resolver.c
+index cd55520c..438e0806 100644
+--- a/src/core/ngx_resolver.c
++++ b/src/core/ngx_resolver.c
+@@ -4466,8 +4466,14 @@ ngx_tcp_connect(ngx_resolver_connection_t *rec)
+     ngx_event_t       *rev, *wev;
+     ngx_connection_t  *c;
+ 
++#if (NGX_HAVE_SOCKET_CLOEXEC)
++    s = ngx_socket(rec->sockaddr->sa_family, SOCK_STREAM | SOCK_CLOEXEC, 0);
++
++#else
+     s = ngx_socket(rec->sockaddr->sa_family, SOCK_STREAM, 0);
+ 
++#endif
++
+     ngx_log_debug1(NGX_LOG_DEBUG_EVENT, &rec->log, 0, "TCP socket %d", s);
+ 
+     if (s == (ngx_socket_t) -1) {
+@@ -4494,6 +4500,15 @@ ngx_tcp_connect(ngx_resolver_connection_t *rec)
+         goto failed;
+     }
+ 
++#if (NGX_HAVE_FD_CLOEXEC)
++    if (ngx_cloexec(s) == -1) {
++        ngx_log_error(NGX_LOG_ALERT, &rec->log, ngx_socket_errno,
++                      ngx_cloexec_n " failed");
++
++        goto failed;
++    }
++#endif
++
+     rev = c->read;
+     wev = c->write;
+ 
+diff --git a/src/event/ngx_event.h b/src/event/ngx_event.h
+index 19fec68..8c2f01a 100644
+--- a/src/event/ngx_event.h
++++ b/src/event/ngx_event.h
+@@ -73,6 +73,9 @@ struct ngx_event_s {
+     /* to test on worker exit */
+     unsigned         channel:1;
+     unsigned         resolver:1;
++#if (HAVE_SOCKET_CLOEXEC_PATCH)
++    unsigned         skip_socket_leak_check:1;
++#endif
+ 
+     unsigned         cancelable:1;
+ 
+diff --git a/src/event/ngx_event_accept.c b/src/event/ngx_event_accept.c
+index 77563709..5827b9d0 100644
+--- a/src/event/ngx_event_accept.c
++++ b/src/event/ngx_event_accept.c
+@@ -62,7 +62,9 @@ ngx_event_accept(ngx_event_t *ev)
+ 
+ #if (NGX_HAVE_ACCEPT4)
+         if (use_accept4) {
+-            s = accept4(lc->fd, &sa.sockaddr, &socklen, SOCK_NONBLOCK);
++            s = accept4(lc->fd, &sa.sockaddr, &socklen,
++                        SOCK_NONBLOCK | SOCK_CLOEXEC);
++
+         } else {
+             s = accept(lc->fd, &sa.sockaddr, &socklen);
+         }
+@@ -202,6 +204,16 @@ ngx_event_accept(ngx_event_t *ev)
+                     ngx_close_accepted_connection(c);
+                     return;
+                 }
++
++#if (NGX_HAVE_FD_CLOEXEC)
++                if (ngx_cloexec(s) == -1) {
++                    ngx_log_error(NGX_LOG_ALERT, ev->log, ngx_socket_errno,
++                                  ngx_cloexec_n " failed");
++                    ngx_close_accepted_connection(c);
++                    return;
++                }
++#endif
++
+             }
+         }
+ 
+diff --git a/src/event/ngx_event_connect.c b/src/event/ngx_event_connect.c
+index c5bb8068..cf33b1d2 100644
+--- a/src/event/ngx_event_connect.c
++++ b/src/event/ngx_event_connect.c
+@@ -38,8 +38,15 @@ ngx_event_connect_peer(ngx_peer_connection_t *pc)
+ 
+     type = (pc->type ? pc->type : SOCK_STREAM);
+ 
++#if (NGX_HAVE_SOCKET_CLOEXEC)
++    s = ngx_socket(pc->sockaddr->sa_family, type | SOCK_CLOEXEC, 0);
++
++#else
+     s = ngx_socket(pc->sockaddr->sa_family, type, 0);
+ 
++#endif
++
++
+     ngx_log_debug2(NGX_LOG_DEBUG_EVENT, pc->log, 0, "%s socket %d",
+                    (type == SOCK_STREAM) ? "stream" : "dgram", s);
+ 
+@@ -80,6 +87,15 @@ ngx_event_connect_peer(ngx_peer_connection_t *pc)
+         goto failed;
+     }
+ 
++#if (NGX_HAVE_FD_CLOEXEC)
++    if (ngx_cloexec(s) == -1) {
++        ngx_log_error(NGX_LOG_ALERT, pc->log, ngx_socket_errno,
++                      ngx_cloexec_n " failed");
++
++        goto failed;
++    }
++#endif
++
+     if (pc->local) {
+ 
+ #if (NGX_HAVE_TRANSPARENT_PROXY)
+diff --git a/src/os/unix/ngx_process_cycle.c b/src/os/unix/ngx_process_cycle.c
+index c4376a5..48e8fa8 100644
+--- a/src/os/unix/ngx_process_cycle.c
++++ b/src/os/unix/ngx_process_cycle.c
+@@ -1032,6 +1032,9 @@ ngx_worker_process_exit(ngx_cycle_t *cycle)
+         for (i = 0; i < cycle->connection_n; i++) {
+             if (c[i].fd != -1
+                 && c[i].read
++#if (HAVE_SOCKET_CLOEXEC_PATCH)
++                && !c[i].read->skip_socket_leak_check
++#endif
+                 && !c[i].read->accept
+                 && !c[i].read->channel
+                 && !c[i].read->resolver)
+diff --git a/src/os/unix/ngx_socket.h b/src/os/unix/ngx_socket.h
+index fcc51533..d1eebf47 100644
+--- a/src/os/unix/ngx_socket.h
++++ b/src/os/unix/ngx_socket.h
+@@ -38,6 +38,17 @@ int ngx_blocking(ngx_socket_t s);
+ 
+ #endif
+ 
++#if (NGX_HAVE_FD_CLOEXEC)
++
++#define ngx_cloexec(s)      fcntl(s, F_SETFD, FD_CLOEXEC)
++#define ngx_cloexec_n       "fcntl(FD_CLOEXEC)"
++
++/* at least FD_CLOEXEC is required to ensure connection fd is closed
++ * after execve */
++#define HAVE_SOCKET_CLOEXEC_PATCH  1
++
++#endif
++
+ int ngx_tcp_nopush(ngx_socket_t s);
+ int ngx_tcp_push(ngx_socket_t s);
+ 
diff --git a/images/nginx/rootfs/patches/nginx-1.17.4-ssl_cert_cb_yield.patch b/images/nginx/rootfs/patches/nginx-1.17.8-ssl_cert_cb_yield.patch
similarity index 100%
rename from images/nginx/rootfs/patches/nginx-1.17.4-ssl_cert_cb_yield.patch
rename to images/nginx/rootfs/patches/nginx-1.17.8-ssl_cert_cb_yield.patch
diff --git a/images/nginx/rootfs/patches/nginx-1.17.4-ssl_sess_cb_yield.patch b/images/nginx/rootfs/patches/nginx-1.17.8-ssl_sess_cb_yield.patch
similarity index 100%
rename from images/nginx/rootfs/patches/nginx-1.17.4-ssl_sess_cb_yield.patch
rename to images/nginx/rootfs/patches/nginx-1.17.8-ssl_sess_cb_yield.patch
diff --git a/images/nginx/rootfs/patches/nginx-1.17.8-upstream_pipelining.patch b/images/nginx/rootfs/patches/nginx-1.17.8-upstream_pipelining.patch
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..aed80365ad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/images/nginx/rootfs/patches/nginx-1.17.8-upstream_pipelining.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+commit f9907b72a76a21ac5413187b83177a919475c75f
+Author: Yichun Zhang (agentzh) <agentzh@gmail.com>
+Date:   Wed Feb 10 16:05:08 2016 -0800
+
+    bugfix: upstream: keep sending request data after the first write attempt.
+    
+    See
+    http://mailman.nginx.org/pipermail/nginx-devel/2012-March/002040.html
+    for more details on the issue.
+
+diff --git a/src/http/ngx_http_upstream.c b/src/http/ngx_http_upstream.c
+index 69019417..92b7c97f 100644
+--- a/src/http/ngx_http_upstream.c
++++ b/src/http/ngx_http_upstream.c
+@@ -2239,7 +2239,7 @@ ngx_http_upstream_send_request_handler(ngx_http_request_t *r,
+
+ #endif
+
+-    if (u->header_sent && !u->conf->preserve_output) {
++    if (u->request_body_sent && !u->conf->preserve_output) {
+         u->write_event_handler = ngx_http_upstream_dummy_handler;
+
+         (void) ngx_handle_write_event(c->write, 0);
diff --git a/images/nginx/rootfs/patches/nginx-1.17.4-upstream_timeout_fields.patch b/images/nginx/rootfs/patches/nginx-1.17.8-upstream_timeout_fields.patch
similarity index 100%
rename from images/nginx/rootfs/patches/nginx-1.17.4-upstream_timeout_fields.patch
rename to images/nginx/rootfs/patches/nginx-1.17.8-upstream_timeout_fields.patch