[ OCP4 ] ServiceMesh Operator upgrade is stuck in pending status

Issue

• ServiceMesh Operator upgrade stuck in pending status.

• The ServiceMesh Operator's CSV is stuck in pending state:

  $ oc get csv
  NAME                         DISPLAY                            VERSION   REPLACES                     PHASE
  servicemeshoperator.v2.6.7   Red Hat OpenShift Service Mesh 2   2.6.7-0   servicemeshoperator.v2.6.0   Pending
  

• Modifying any Istio resource fails:

  Failed sync attempt to XXXXXXX: one or more objects failed to apply, reason: Internal error occurred: failed calling webhook "smcp.validation.maistra.io": failed to call webhook: Post "https://istio-operator-service.openshift-operators.svc:443/validate-smcp?timeout=10s": context deadline exceeded