Default Alpine Helper went back to Alpine 3.18 since Runner v17.8

Summary

The default Helper was set to Alpine 3.21 with the Runner v17.7 (!5214 (merged)) but it went back to 3.18 since Runner v17.8.

Steps to reproduce

[root@vm ~]# docker run -t --rm registry.gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-runner/gitlab-runner-helper:x86_64-v17.7.1 -- bash -c "cat /etc/alpine-release"
3.21.2
[root@vm ~]# docker run -t --rm registry.gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-runner/gitlab-runner-helper:x86_64-v17.8.3 -- bash -c "cat /etc/alpine-release"
3.18.11
[root@vm ~]# docker run -t --rm registry.gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-runner/gitlab-runner-helper:x86_64-v17.9.1 -- bash -c "cat /etc/alpine-release"
3.18.11

[root@vm ~]# docker run -t --rm --entrypoint /bin/cat registry.gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-runner:alpine-v17.7.1 -- /etc/alpine-release
3.21.2
[root@vm ~]# docker run -t --rm --entrypoint /bin/cat registry.gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-runner:alpine-v17.8.3 -- /etc/alpine-release
3.21.2
[root@vm ~]# docker run -t --rm --entrypoint /bin/cat registry.gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-runner:alpine-v17.9.1 -- /etc/alpine-release
3.21.2

Actual behavior

Alpine 3.18 is used by default by the helper of Runner v17.8 and v17.9.

Expected behavior

Alpine 3.21 is used by default by the helper of Runner v17.8 and v17.9.

https://docs.gitlab.com/runner/configuration/advanced-configuration/#helper-image :

In GitLab Runner 16.1 to 17.1, the alpine flavor is an alias for alpine3.18. In GitLab Runner 17.2 to 17.6, it’s an alias for alpine3.19. In GitLab Runner 17.7 and later, it’s an alias for alpine3.21.

Relevant logs and/or screenshots

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Environment description

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Used GitLab Runner version

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Possible fixes

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