diff --git a/HISTORY.md b/HISTORY.md
index 3d5fdefa8c..2743dacdd1 100644
--- a/HISTORY.md
+++ b/HISTORY.md
@@ -1,6 +1,22 @@
 # Release History - open AEA
 
 
+## 1.40.0 (2023-09-26)
+
+AEA:
+- Fixes the source repository validation regex
+- Updates the `generate-key` command to prompt before overwriting the existing keys file
+- Fixes the inconsistent hashing caused by the `CRLF` line endings
+- Updates the component loader to ignore the test modules when loading the component
+- Adds support for overriding dependencies
+- Updates the `sync` command to download missing dependencies and update `packages.json`
+- Updates the error messages for missing ledger plugins on `generate-key` command
+  
+Plugins:
+- Adds missing `py.typed` markers
+- Backports the changes from the `agent-academy-2` repository on the ledger connection
+- Ports `http_server` as a valory connection
+
 ## 1.40.0 (2023-09-26)
 
 AEA:
diff --git a/SECURITY.md b/SECURITY.md
index 8c656b657f..612982f8c7 100644
--- a/SECURITY.md
+++ b/SECURITY.md
@@ -8,8 +8,8 @@ The following table shows which versions of `open-aea` are currently being suppo
 
 | Version   | Supported          |
 | --------- | ------------------ |
-| `1.40.x`   | :white_check_mark: |
-| `< 1.40.0` | :x:                |
+| `1.41.x`   | :white_check_mark: |
+| `< 1.41.0` | :x:                |
 
 ## Reporting a Vulnerability
 
diff --git a/aea/__version__.py b/aea/__version__.py
index 1e2c92210c..3a3c21eaf3 100644
--- a/aea/__version__.py
+++ b/aea/__version__.py
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
 __title__ = "open-aea"
 __description__ = "Open Autonomous Economic Agent framework (without vendor lock-in)"
 __url__ = "https://github.com/valory-xyz/open-aea.git"
-__version__ = "1.40.0"
+__version__ = "1.41.0"
 __author__ = "Valory AG"
 __license__ = "Apache-2.0"
 __copyright__ = "2021 Valory AG, 2019 Fetch.AI Limited"
diff --git a/aea/helpers/ipfs/base.py b/aea/helpers/ipfs/base.py
index a3f0bc4ea0..df78e090df 100644
--- a/aea/helpers/ipfs/base.py
+++ b/aea/helpers/ipfs/base.py
@@ -22,12 +22,15 @@
 import hashlib
 import io
 import os
+import platform
+import re
 from pathlib import Path
 from typing import Any, Dict, Generator, Optional, Sized, Tuple, cast
 
 import base58
 
 from aea.helpers.cid import to_v1
+from aea.helpers.io import open_file
 from aea.helpers.ipfs.utils import _protobuf_python_implementation
 
 
@@ -41,12 +44,34 @@
     from aea.helpers.ipfs.pb.merkledag_pb2 import PBNode  # type: ignore
 
 
+def _is_text(file_path: str) -> bool:
+    """Check if a file can be read as text or not."""
+    try:
+        with open_file(file_path, "r") as f:
+            f.readline()
+        return True
+    except UnicodeDecodeError:
+        return False
+
+
+def _dos2unix(file_content: bytes) -> bytes:
+    """
+    Replace occurrences of Windows line terminator CR/LF with only LF.
+
+    :param file_content: the content of the file.
+    :return: the same content but with the line terminator
+    """
+    return re.sub(b"\r\n", b"\n", file_content, flags=re.M)
+
+
 def _read(file_path: str) -> bytes:
     """Read and verify the file is not empty."""
     with open(file_path, "rb") as file:
         data = file.read()
     if len(data) == 0:
         raise ValueError(f"File cannot be empty: {file_path}")
+    if platform.system() == "Windows" and _is_text(file_path=file_path):
+        data = _dos2unix(data)
     return data
 
 
diff --git a/deploy-image/Dockerfile b/deploy-image/Dockerfile
index 40d3ba74b7..b736631032 100644
--- a/deploy-image/Dockerfile
+++ b/deploy-image/Dockerfile
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ RUN apk add --no-cache go
 
 # aea installation
 RUN pip install --upgrade pip
-RUN pip install --upgrade --force-reinstall open-aea[all]==1.40.0 "open-aea-cli-ipfs<2.0.0,>=1.40.0"
+RUN pip install --upgrade --force-reinstall open-aea[all]==1.41.0 "open-aea-cli-ipfs<2.0.0,>=1.41.0"
 
 # directories and aea cli config
 WORKDIR /home/agents
diff --git a/deploy-image/README.md b/deploy-image/README.md
index 6ad2096b4c..2fc813793a 100644
--- a/deploy-image/README.md
+++ b/deploy-image/README.md
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ The example uses the `fetchai/my_first_aea` project. You will likely want to mod
 Install subversion, then download the example directory to your local working directory
 
 ``` bash
-svn checkout https://github.com/valory-xyz/open-aea/tags/v1.40.0/packages packages
+svn checkout https://github.com/valory-xyz/open-aea/tags/v1.41.0/packages packages
 ```
 
 ### Modify scripts
diff --git a/develop-image/docker-env.sh b/develop-image/docker-env.sh
index bd5b6b5341..37845f4ff3 100755
--- a/develop-image/docker-env.sh
+++ b/develop-image/docker-env.sh
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
 # Swap the following lines if you want to work with 'latest'
-DOCKER_IMAGE_TAG=valory/open-aea-develop:1.40.0
+DOCKER_IMAGE_TAG=valory/open-aea-develop:1.41.0
 # DOCKER_IMAGE_TAG=valory/open-aea-develop:latest
 
 DOCKER_BUILD_CONTEXT_DIR=..
diff --git a/docs/upgrading.md b/docs/upgrading.md
index 1aa71850be..7b56eaf318 100644
--- a/docs/upgrading.md
+++ b/docs/upgrading.md
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ Below we describe the additional manual steps required to upgrade between differ
 
 ### Upgrade guide
 
-## `v1.40.0` to `v1.40.1`
+## `v1.40.0` to `v1.41.0`
 
 - The way the dependencies will be selected for installation when running `aea install` has changed. Before this version, the versions were being merging all of the versions for a python package and using the most compatible version specifier possible. With this release, this behaviour will be replaced by overriding the dependencies in the following order `extra dependencies provided by flag > agent > skill > connection > contract > protocol` what this means is, let's say you have 3 packages with a same python package as a dependency
 
diff --git a/examples/tac_deploy/Dockerfile b/examples/tac_deploy/Dockerfile
index 56368b3737..3967ccd509 100644
--- a/examples/tac_deploy/Dockerfile
+++ b/examples/tac_deploy/Dockerfile
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ RUN apk add --no-cache go
 
 # aea installation
 RUN python -m pip install --upgrade pip
-RUN pip install --upgrade --force-reinstall open-aea[all]==1.40.0
+RUN pip install --upgrade --force-reinstall open-aea[all]==1.41.0
 
 # directories and aea cli config
 COPY /.aea /home/.aea
diff --git a/plugins/aea-cli-benchmark/setup.py b/plugins/aea-cli-benchmark/setup.py
index f8a4a6d31c..620da3465d 100755
--- a/plugins/aea-cli-benchmark/setup.py
+++ b/plugins/aea-cli-benchmark/setup.py
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@
 
 setup(
     name="open-aea-cli-benchmark",
-    version="1.40.0",
+    version="1.41.0",
     author="Valory AG",
     license="Apache-2.0",
     description="CLI extension for AEA framework benchmarking.",
diff --git a/plugins/aea-cli-ipfs/setup.py b/plugins/aea-cli-ipfs/setup.py
index 8f9277d2a9..18f98a6f54 100755
--- a/plugins/aea-cli-ipfs/setup.py
+++ b/plugins/aea-cli-ipfs/setup.py
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@
 
 setup(
     name="open-aea-cli-ipfs",
-    version="1.40.0",
+    version="1.41.0",
     author="Valory AG",
     license="Apache-2.0",
     description="CLI extension for open AEA framework wrapping IPFS functionality.",
diff --git a/plugins/aea-ledger-cosmos/setup.py b/plugins/aea-ledger-cosmos/setup.py
index 6d89491373..d00f714ffc 100644
--- a/plugins/aea-ledger-cosmos/setup.py
+++ b/plugins/aea-ledger-cosmos/setup.py
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@
 
 setup(
     name="open-aea-ledger-cosmos",
-    version="1.40.0",
+    version="1.41.0",
     author="Valory AG",
     license="Apache-2.0",
     description="Python package wrapping the public and private key cryptography and ledger api of Cosmos.",
diff --git a/plugins/aea-ledger-ethereum-flashbots/setup.py b/plugins/aea-ledger-ethereum-flashbots/setup.py
index f9fa8ca41b..ca8e861e65 100644
--- a/plugins/aea-ledger-ethereum-flashbots/setup.py
+++ b/plugins/aea-ledger-ethereum-flashbots/setup.py
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
 
 setup(
     name="open-aea-ledger-ethereum-flashbots",
-    version="1.40.0",
+    version="1.41.0",
     author="Valory AG",
     license="Apache-2.0",
     description="Python package extending the default open-aea ethereum ledger plugin to add support for flashbots.",
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@
     },
     python_requires=">=3.9,<4.0",
     install_requires=[
-        "open-aea-ledger-ethereum~=1.40.0",
+        "open-aea-ledger-ethereum~=1.41.0",
         "open-aea-flashbots==1.4.0",
     ],
     tests_require=["pytest"],
diff --git a/plugins/aea-ledger-ethereum-hwi/setup.py b/plugins/aea-ledger-ethereum-hwi/setup.py
index 7f729a8edf..aab0394348 100644
--- a/plugins/aea-ledger-ethereum-hwi/setup.py
+++ b/plugins/aea-ledger-ethereum-hwi/setup.py
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
 
 setup(
     name="open-aea-ledger-ethereum-hwi",
-    version="1.40.0",
+    version="1.41.0",
     author="Valory AG",
     license="Apache-2.0",
     description="Python package wrapping the public and private key cryptography and support for hardware wallet interactions.",
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@
         "web3>=6.0.0,<7",
         "ipfshttpclient==0.8.0a2",
         "eth-account>=0.8.0,<0.9.0",
-        "open-aea-ledger-ethereum~=1.40.0",
+        "open-aea-ledger-ethereum~=1.41.0",
         "ledgerwallet==0.1.3",
         "protobuf>=4.21.6,<5.0.0",
         "construct<=2.10.61",
diff --git a/plugins/aea-ledger-ethereum/setup.py b/plugins/aea-ledger-ethereum/setup.py
index 4cc791d04c..a0a37b8c6b 100644
--- a/plugins/aea-ledger-ethereum/setup.py
+++ b/plugins/aea-ledger-ethereum/setup.py
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@
 
 setup(
     name="open-aea-ledger-ethereum",
-    version="1.40.0",
+    version="1.41.0",
     author="Valory AG",
     license="Apache-2.0",
     description="Python package wrapping the public and private key cryptography and ledger api of Ethereum.",
diff --git a/plugins/aea-ledger-fetchai/setup.py b/plugins/aea-ledger-fetchai/setup.py
index e9e598a739..6a8960cf6e 100644
--- a/plugins/aea-ledger-fetchai/setup.py
+++ b/plugins/aea-ledger-fetchai/setup.py
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@
 
 setup(
     name="open-aea-ledger-fetchai",
-    version="1.40.0",
+    version="1.41.0",
     author="Valory AG",
     license="Apache-2.0",
     description="Python package wrapping the public and private key cryptography and ledger API of Fetch.AI.",
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@
             "test_tools/data/*",
         ]
     },
-    install_requires=["open-aea-ledger-cosmos~=1.40.0"],
+    install_requires=["open-aea-ledger-cosmos~=1.41.0"],
     tests_require=["pytest"],
     entry_points={
         "aea.cryptos": ["fetchai = aea_ledger_fetchai:FetchAICrypto"],
diff --git a/plugins/aea-ledger-solana/setup.py b/plugins/aea-ledger-solana/setup.py
index 46374316e5..8f7fe8105c 100644
--- a/plugins/aea-ledger-solana/setup.py
+++ b/plugins/aea-ledger-solana/setup.py
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
 
 setup(
     name="open-aea-ledger-solana",
-    version="1.40.0",
+    version="1.41.0",
     author="dassy23",
     license="Apache-2.0",
     description="Python package wrapping the public and private key cryptography and ledger api of solana.",
diff --git a/scripts/install.ps1 b/scripts/install.ps1
index 277626dffe..633e27df68 100644
--- a/scripts/install.ps1
+++ b/scripts/install.ps1
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ function instal_choco_golang_gcc {
 }
 function install_aea {
 	echo "Install aea"
-    $output=pip install open-aea[all]==1.40.0 --force --no-cache-dir 2>&1 |out-string;
+    $output=pip install open-aea[all]==1.41.0 --force --no-cache-dir 2>&1 |out-string;
     if ($LastExitCode -ne 0) {
         echo $output
         echo "AEA install failed!"
diff --git a/scripts/install.sh b/scripts/install.sh
index 1a2d43a4ba..3caa5b09cd 100755
--- a/scripts/install.sh
+++ b/scripts/install.sh
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ function is_python_version_ok() {
 
 function install_aea (){
 	echo "Install AEA"
-	output=$(pip3 install --user open-aea[all]==1.40.0 --force --no-cache-dir)
+	output=$(pip3 install --user open-aea[all]==1.41.0 --force --no-cache-dir)
 	if [[  $? -ne 0 ]];
 	then
 		echo "$output"
diff --git a/skaffold.yaml b/skaffold.yaml
index c2ee0782f7..59e6b2d198 100644
--- a/skaffold.yaml
+++ b/skaffold.yaml
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ metadata:
 build:
   tagPolicy:
     envTemplate:
-      template: "1.40.0"
+      template: "1.41.0"
   artifacts:
   - image: valory/open-aea-develop
     docker:
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ profiles:
     build:
       tagPolicy:
         envTemplate:
-          template: "1.40.0"
+          template: "1.41.0"
       artifacts:
       - image: valory/open-aea-docs
         docker:
diff --git a/user-image/Dockerfile b/user-image/Dockerfile
index ddaac650aa..1e0f8807a1 100644
--- a/user-image/Dockerfile
+++ b/user-image/Dockerfile
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ ENV LANG C.UTF-8
 RUN apt update && apt install -y python3.11-dev python3-pip -y && apt autoremove && apt autoclean
 
 RUN pip3 install --upgrade pip
-RUN pip3 install "open-aea[all]==1.40.0" open-aea-cli-ipfs==1.40.0
+RUN pip3 install "open-aea[all]==1.41.0" open-aea-cli-ipfs==1.41.0
 
 COPY user-image/openssl.cnf /etc/ssl
 
diff --git a/user-image/docker-env.sh b/user-image/docker-env.sh
index e6659286c8..f87e970a64 100644
--- a/user-image/docker-env.sh
+++ b/user-image/docker-env.sh
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
 # Swap the following lines if you want to work with 'latest'
-DOCKER_IMAGE_TAG=valory/open-aea-user:1.40.0
+DOCKER_IMAGE_TAG=valory/open-aea-user:1.41.0
 # DOCKER_IMAGE_TAG=valory/open-aea-user:latest
 
 DOCKER_BUILD_CONTEXT_DIR=..