diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index a4102804..1e6473e0 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 <img src="https://opensearch.org/assets/brand/SVG/Logo/opensearch_logo_default.svg" height="64px"/>
 
-- [OpenSearch Project Helm-Charts](#helm-charts)
+- [OpenSearch Project Helm-Charts](#opensearch-project-helm-charts)
 - [Status](#status)
 - [Version and Branching](#version-and-branching)
 - [Installation](#installation)
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 - [Security](#security)
 - [License](#license)
 
-## Helm-Charts
+## OpenSearch Project Helm Charts
 
 A community repository for Helm Charts of OpenSearch Project.
 
@@ -58,6 +58,21 @@ helm install my-deployment opensearch/<chart name>
 
 Please see the `README.md` in the [OpenSearch](charts/opensearch) and [OpenSearch Dashboards](charts/opensearch-dashboards) directories for installation instructions.
 
+
+### Breaking Change 
+For OpenSearch Chart version 2.18.0 and App Version OpenSearch version 2.12.0 and above require a custom strong password to be provided in order to setup demo admin user during the first time cluster installation, without this password the cluster would not spin up, unless demo config install is disabled or the cluster security settings are handled by the user.
+
+Note: This wont impact users who already installed the cluster and where the security index created, only impacts users starting the brand new cluster with OpenSearch version `2.12.0` and above.
+
+The custom admin password can be supplied by adding the environment variable `OPENSEARCH_INITIAL_ADMIN_PASSWORD` in the `value.yml` as:
+```
+extraEnvs:
+  - name: OPENSEARCH_INITIAL_ADMIN_PASSWORD
+    value: <strong-password>
+```
+or during the installation example as `helm install opensearch opensearch/opensearch --set extraEnvs[0].name=OPENSEARCH_INITIAL_ADMIN_PASSWORD,extraEnvs[0].value=myStrongPassword123@456`
+
+
 ### Notes About Default Installation
 
 By default, on startup, the `install_demo_configuration.sh` is runned via the `opensearch-docker-entrypoint.sh` script if `DISABLE_INSTALL_DEMO_CONFIG` is not `true`.
diff --git a/charts/opensearch-dashboards/CHANGELOG.md b/charts/opensearch-dashboards/CHANGELOG.md
index 5e726ae1..1fba9bb2 100644
--- a/charts/opensearch-dashboards/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/charts/opensearch-dashboards/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -7,6 +7,23 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 ---
 ## [Unreleased]
 ### Added
+### Changed
+### Deprecated
+### Removed
+### Fixed
+### Security
+---
+## [2.16.0]
+### Added
+- Updated OpenSearch Dashboards appVersion to 2.12.0 
+### Changed
+### Deprecated
+### Removed
+### Fixed
+### Security
+---
+## [2.15.1]
+### Added
 - Added support for pod topology spread constraints in Dashboards
 ### Changed
 ### Deprecated
@@ -286,7 +303,9 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 ### Fixed
 ### Security
 
-[Unreleased]: https://github.com/opensearch-project/helm-charts/compare/opensearch-dashboards-2.15.0...HEAD
+[Unreleased]: https://github.com/opensearch-project/helm-charts/compare/opensearch-dashboards-2.16.0...HEAD
+[2.16.0]: https://github.com/opensearch-project/helm-charts/compare/opensearch-dashboards-2.15.1...opensearch-dashboards-2.16.0
+[2.15.1]: https://github.com/opensearch-project/helm-charts/compare/opensearch-dashboards-2.15.0...opensearch-dashboards-2.15.1
 [2.15.0]: https://github.com/opensearch-project/helm-charts/compare/opensearch-dashboards-2.14.0...opensearch-dashboards-2.15.0
 [2.14.0]: https://github.com/opensearch-project/helm-charts/compare/opensearch-dashboards-2.13.0...opensearch-dashboards-2.14.0
 [2.13.0]: https://github.com/opensearch-project/helm-charts/compare/opensearch-dashboards-2.12.0...opensearch-dashboards-2.13.0
diff --git a/charts/opensearch-dashboards/Chart.yaml b/charts/opensearch-dashboards/Chart.yaml
index 2f713f0a..a1242a5f 100644
--- a/charts/opensearch-dashboards/Chart.yaml
+++ b/charts/opensearch-dashboards/Chart.yaml
@@ -15,13 +15,13 @@ type: application
 # This is the chart version. This version number should be incremented each time you make changes
 # to the chart and its templates, including the app version.
 # Versions are expected to follow Semantic Versioning (https://semver.org/)
-version: 2.15.1
+version: 2.16.0
 
 # This is the version number of the application being deployed. This version number should be
 # incremented each time you make changes to the application. Versions are not expected to
 # follow Semantic Versioning. They should reflect the version the application is using.
 # It is recommended to use it with quotes.
-appVersion: "2.11.1"
+appVersion: "2.12.0"
 
 maintainers:
   - name: DandyDeveloper
diff --git a/charts/opensearch/CHANGELOG.md b/charts/opensearch/CHANGELOG.md
index 535eb257..0be6735f 100644
--- a/charts/opensearch/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/charts/opensearch/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -13,6 +13,19 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 ### Fixed
 ### Security
 
+---
+
+## [2.18.0]
+### Added
+### Breaking
+ - Requires an initial admin password to be setup starting from App Version OpenSearch 2.12.0. Refer this github issue: https://github.com/opensearch-project/security/issues/3622
+ - Updated OpenSearch appVersion to 2.12.0
+### Changed
+### Deprecated
+### Removed
+### Fixed
+### Security
+
 ---
 ## [2.17.3]
 ### Added
@@ -384,7 +397,8 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 ### Security
 
 
-[Unreleased]: https://github.com/opensearch-project/helm-charts/compare/opensearch-2.17.3...HEAD
+[Unreleased]: https://github.com/opensearch-project/helm-charts/compare/opensearch-2.18.0...HEAD
+[2.18.0]: https://github.com/opensearch-project/helm-charts/compare/opensearch-2.17.3...opensearch-2.18.0
 [2.17.3]: https://github.com/opensearch-project/helm-charts/compare/opensearch-2.17.2...opensearch-2.17.3
 [2.17.2]: https://github.com/opensearch-project/helm-charts/compare/opensearch-2.17.1...opensearch-2.17.2
 [2.17.1]: https://github.com/opensearch-project/helm-charts/compare/opensearch-2.17.0...opensearch-2.17.1
diff --git a/charts/opensearch/Chart.yaml b/charts/opensearch/Chart.yaml
index 1387b071..7959f5c6 100644
--- a/charts/opensearch/Chart.yaml
+++ b/charts/opensearch/Chart.yaml
@@ -15,13 +15,13 @@ type: application
 # This is the chart version. This version number should be incremented each time you make changes
 # to the chart and its templates, including the app version.
 # Versions are expected to follow Semantic Versioning (https://semver.org/)
-version: 2.17.3
+version: 2.18.0
 
 # This is the version number of the application being deployed. This version number should be
 # incremented each time you make changes to the application. Versions are not expected to
 # follow Semantic Versioning. They should reflect the version the application is using.
 # It is recommended to use it with quotes.
-appVersion: "2.11.1"
+appVersion: "2.12.0"
 
 maintainers:
   - name: DandyDeveloper
diff --git a/charts/opensearch/ci/ci-ingress-class-name-values.yaml b/charts/opensearch/ci/ci-ingress-class-name-values.yaml
index 8c9c4d5b..c02e2756 100644
--- a/charts/opensearch/ci/ci-ingress-class-name-values.yaml
+++ b/charts/opensearch/ci/ci-ingress-class-name-values.yaml
@@ -97,7 +97,9 @@ config:
 # Extra environment variables to append to this nodeGroup
 # This will be appended to the current 'env:' key. You can use any of the kubernetes env
 # syntax here
-extraEnvs: []
+extraEnvs:
+  - name: OPENSEARCH_INITIAL_ADMIN_PASSWORD
+    value: myStrongPassword123@456
 #  - name: MY_ENVIRONMENT_VAR
 #    value: the_value_goes_here
 
diff --git a/charts/opensearch/ci/ci-rbac-enabled-values.yaml b/charts/opensearch/ci/ci-rbac-enabled-values.yaml
index 85d5c96e..b2463d55 100755
--- a/charts/opensearch/ci/ci-rbac-enabled-values.yaml
+++ b/charts/opensearch/ci/ci-rbac-enabled-values.yaml
@@ -97,7 +97,9 @@ config:
 # Extra environment variables to append to this nodeGroup
 # This will be appended to the current 'env:' key. You can use any of the kubernetes env
 # syntax here
-extraEnvs: []
+extraEnvs:
+  - name: OPENSEARCH_INITIAL_ADMIN_PASSWORD
+    value: myStrongPassword123@456
 #  - name: MY_ENVIRONMENT_VAR
 #    value: the_value_goes_here
 
diff --git a/charts/opensearch/ci/ci-values.yaml b/charts/opensearch/ci/ci-values.yaml
index 4450d54c..fbd24cc8 100755
--- a/charts/opensearch/ci/ci-values.yaml
+++ b/charts/opensearch/ci/ci-values.yaml
@@ -97,7 +97,9 @@ config:
 # Extra environment variables to append to this nodeGroup
 # This will be appended to the current 'env:' key. You can use any of the kubernetes env
 # syntax here
-extraEnvs: []
+extraEnvs:
+  - name: OPENSEARCH_INITIAL_ADMIN_PASSWORD
+    value: myStrongPassword123@456
 #  - name: MY_ENVIRONMENT_VAR
 #    value: the_value_goes_here
 
diff --git a/charts/opensearch/values.yaml b/charts/opensearch/values.yaml
index 17c615ee..4e425ca3 100644
--- a/charts/opensearch/values.yaml
+++ b/charts/opensearch/values.yaml
@@ -102,6 +102,10 @@ config:
 # Extra environment variables to append to this nodeGroup
 # This will be appended to the current 'env:' key. You can use any of the kubernetes env
 # syntax here
+# Chart version 2.18.0 and App Version OpenSearch 2.12.0 onwards a custom strong password needs to be provided in order to setup demo admin user.
+# Cluster will not spin-up without this unless demo config install is disabled.
+#  - name: OPENSEARCH_INITIAL_ADMIN_PASSWORD
+#    value: <strong-password>
 extraEnvs: []
 #  - name: MY_ENVIRONMENT_VAR
 #    value: the_value_goes_here