diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index eb99f16a7..d6e08827c 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -103,11 +103,28 @@ jobs:
       id-token: write
       contents: write
     steps:
+      - name: Generate GitHub App Token
+        id: release-bot-token
+        # see https://github.com/actions/create-github-app-token
+        uses: actions/create-github-app-token@v3
+        with:
+          # see https://github.com/organizations/CycloneDX/settings/apps/cyclonedx-internal-release-bot
+          app-id: 3335294
+          private-key: ${{ secrets.CDX_RELEASE_BOT_PRIVATE_KEY }}
+      - name: Get GitHub App User ID
+        id: release-bot-user-id
+        run: |
+          set -xeu
+          echo "user-id=$(gh api "/users/${{ steps.release-bot-token.outputs.app-slug }}[bot]" --jq .id)" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+        env:
+          GH_TOKEN: ${{ steps.release-bot-token.outputs.token }}
+
       - name: Checkout code
         # see https://github.com/actions/checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@v6
         with:
           fetch-depth: 0
+          token: ${{ steps.release-bot-token.outputs.token }}
 
       - name: Setup python
         # see https://github.com/actions/setup-python
@@ -134,7 +151,9 @@ jobs:
         # see https://github.com/python-semantic-release/python-semantic-release
         uses: python-semantic-release/python-semantic-release@v10.0.2
         with:
-          github_token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+          git_committer_name: ${{ steps.release-bot-token.outputs.app-slug }}[bot]
+          git_committer_email: ${{ steps.release-bot-user-id.outputs.user-id }}+${{ steps.release-bot-token.outputs.app-slug }}[bot]@users.noreply.github.com
+          github_token: ${{ steps.release-bot-token.outputs.token }}
           force: ${{ github.event.inputs.release_force }}
           prerelease: ${{ github.event.inputs.prerelease }}
           prerelease_token: ${{ github.event.inputs.prerelease_token }}
@@ -151,5 +170,5 @@ jobs:
         # see https://python-semantic-release.readthedocs.io/en/latest/automatic-releases/github-actions.html#python-semantic-release-publish-action
         uses: python-semantic-release/publish-action@v10
         with:
-          github_token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+          github_token: ${{ steps.release-bot-token.outputs.token }}
           tag: ${{ steps.release.outputs.tag }}
diff --git a/cyclonedx/__init__.py b/cyclonedx/__init__.py
index ff9bd20b3..21ae3a1aa 100644
--- a/cyclonedx/__init__.py
+++ b/cyclonedx/__init__.py
@@ -22,4 +22,4 @@
 
 # !! version is managed by semantic_release
 # do not use typing here, or else `semantic_release` might have issues finding the variable
-__version__ = "11.7.0"  # noqa:Q000
+__version__ = "11.7.0-rc.4"  # noqa:Q000
diff --git a/docs/conf.py b/docs/conf.py
index 31daedd81..531419289 100644
--- a/docs/conf.py
+++ b/docs/conf.py
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
 
 # The full version, including alpha/beta/rc tags
 # !! version is managed by semantic_release
-release = '11.7.0'
+release = '11.7.0-rc.4'
 
 # -- General configuration ---------------------------------------------------
 
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 52b5dfdc6..623cc250a 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ build-backend = "poetry.core.masonry.api"
 [tool.poetry]
 name = "cyclonedx-python-lib"
 # !! version is managed by semantic_release
-version = "11.7.0"
+version = "11.7.0-rc.4"
 description = "Python library for CycloneDX"
 authors = [
   "Paul Horton <phorton@sonatype.com>",
@@ -115,8 +115,7 @@ jsonschema = { version = "*", extras = ["format"], optional=true }
 logging_use_named_masks = true
 commit_parser = "conventional"
 commit_parser_options = { parse_squash_commits = true, ignore_merge_commits = true }
-commit_author = "semantic-release <semantic-release@bot.local>"
-commit_message = "chore(release): {version}\n\nAutomatically generated by python-semantic-release\n\nSigned-off-by: semantic-release <semantic-release@bot.local>"
+commit_message = "chore(release): {version}\n\nAutomatically generated by python-semantic-release"
 upload_to_vcs_release = true
 build_command = """
   pip install poetry