Non-AVM hot fixes from develop.

[gmalouf]

Summary

Working branch for non-AVM related changes we want in the 2.6.3 release (carried over from work on the main-line). Includes changes adapted from PRs 658, 671, and 695 along with dependency tweaks for echo middleware.

Test Plan

Review code, run integration tests, consult with area expertise.

[codecov-commenter]

Codecov Report

Merging #704 (1a401a6) into hotfix/2.6.3 (20e53d7) will decrease coverage by 0.08%.
The diff coverage is 0.00%.

@@               Coverage Diff                @@
##           hotfix/2.6.3     #704      +/-   ##
================================================
- Coverage         47.55%   47.46%   -0.09%     
================================================
  Files                25       25              
  Lines              3863     3870       +7     
================================================
  Hits               1837     1837              
- Misses             1745     1752       +7     
  Partials            281      281              

Impacted Files	Coverage Δ
api/server.go	0.00% <0.00%> (ø)

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[tsachiherman]

assuming this is a port of previously approved and tested code, it looks good to go.

[gmalouf]

Note that the dependency upgrade was a tad wonky - I'd like eyes on that (I have every reason to believe fine, but I avoided mass upgrading all dependencies/limited changes to min needed for the middleware changes).