8.9.4 / 2025-01-09

• fix(document): fix document not applying manual populate when using a function in schema.options.ref #15138 IchirokuXVI
• fix(model): make Model.validate() static correctly cast document arrays #15169 #15164
• fix(model): allow passing validateBeforeSave option to bulkSave() to skip validation #15161 #15156
• fix(schema): allow multiple self-referencing discriminator schemas using Schema.prototype.discriminator #15142 #15120
• types: avoid BufferToBinary<> wiping lean types when passed to generic functions #15160 #15158
• docs: fix in header ids #15159
• docs: fix header in field-level-encryption.md #15137 damieng