diff --git a/.hgtags b/.hgtags
index 0830aaff96a..87582aa19b8 100644
--- a/.hgtags
+++ b/.hgtags
@@ -95,3 +95,4 @@ ac1f7e5c05104d557d5acd922e95625ba5d1fe10 v3.2.1
 c860feaa348d663e598986894ee4680480577e15 v3.2.2rc1
 137e45f15c0bd262c9ad4c032d97425bc0589456 v3.2.2
 7085403daf439adb3f9e70ef13f6bedb1c447376 v3.2.3rc1
+428f05cb7277e1d42bb9dd8d1af6b6270ebc6112 v3.2.3rc2
diff --git a/Include/patchlevel.h b/Include/patchlevel.h
index 83165a25c53..a84c351c14d 100644
--- a/Include/patchlevel.h
+++ b/Include/patchlevel.h
@@ -20,10 +20,10 @@
 #define PY_MINOR_VERSION	2
 #define PY_MICRO_VERSION	3
 #define PY_RELEASE_LEVEL	PY_RELEASE_LEVEL_GAMMA
-#define PY_RELEASE_SERIAL	1
+#define PY_RELEASE_SERIAL	2
 
 /* Version as a string */
-#define PY_VERSION      	"3.2.3rc1"
+#define PY_VERSION      	"3.2.3rc2+"
 /*--end constants--*/
 
 /* Subversion Revision number of this file (not of the repository). Empty
diff --git a/Lib/distutils/__init__.py b/Lib/distutils/__init__.py
index 369750551c9..d8d61c5432e 100644
--- a/Lib/distutils/__init__.py
+++ b/Lib/distutils/__init__.py
@@ -13,5 +13,5 @@
 # Updated automatically by the Python release process.
 #
 #--start constants--
-__version__ = "3.2.3rc1"
+__version__ = "3.2.3rc2"
 #--end constants--
diff --git a/Lib/idlelib/idlever.py b/Lib/idlelib/idlever.py
index cbcda05fdb0..250ecf064e0 100644
--- a/Lib/idlelib/idlever.py
+++ b/Lib/idlelib/idlever.py
@@ -1 +1 @@
-IDLE_VERSION = "3.2.3rc1"
+IDLE_VERSION = "3.2.3rc2"
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index 66bb1c3ac26..b504b53f0d8 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -96,6 +96,38 @@ Extension Modules
   modifications by the expat project.
 
 
+What's New in Python 3.2.3?
+===========================
+
+*Release date: XX-Mar-2012*
+
+Core and Builtins
+-----------------
+
+Library
+-------
+
+
+What's New in Python 3.2.3 release candidate 2?
+===============================================
+
+*Release date: 18-Mar-2012*
+
+Library
+-------
+
+- Issue #6884: Fix long-standing bugs with MANIFEST.in parsing in distutils
+  on Windows.
+
+Extension Modules
+-----------------
+
+- Issue #14234: CVE-2012-0876: Randomize hashes of xml attributes in the hash
+  table internal to the pyexpat module's copy of the expat library to avoid a
+  denial of service due to hash collisions.  Patch by David Malcolm with some
+  modifications by the expat project.
+
+
 What's New in Python 3.2.3 release candidate 1?
 ===============================================
 
diff --git a/Misc/RPM/python-3.2.spec b/Misc/RPM/python-3.2.spec
index 985b79ba711..87bfda1fd95 100644
--- a/Misc/RPM/python-3.2.spec
+++ b/Misc/RPM/python-3.2.spec
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@
 
 %define name python
 #--start constants--
-%define version 3.2.3rc1
+%define version 3.2.3rc2
 %define libvers 3.2
 #--end constants--
 %define release 1pydotorg
diff --git a/README b/README
index 2ed1c05f95a..332c9b1b518 100644
--- a/README
+++ b/README
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-This is Python version 3.2.3 rc1
+This is Python version 3.2.3 rc2
 ================================
 
 Copyright (c) 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011,