Ventura docs for M2 Macs in this comment: https://gist.github.com/henrik242/65d26a7deca30bdb9828e183809690bd?permalink_comment_id=4555340#gistcomment-4555340
Old Monterey docs in this old revision: https://gist.github.com/henrik242/65d26a7deca30bdb9828e183809690bd/32c410e3a1de73539c76fa13ea5486569c4e0c5d
Solution for Sonoma: https://gist.github.com/sghiassy/a3927405cf4ffe81242f4ecb01c382ac
Apple has the tendency to make Ethernet a requirement during any major update process, and they do this for many reasons, including legal ones. They seem to be more and more anal about their privacy policy, especially in Europe, where if you are logged in with an Apple Account it won't let you get to the home screen and complete the upgrade process unless you accept the changes in the privacy policy. To me, judging by how many people complained that they were greeted by an MDM notification or full lock screen after the upgrade which should have already a hosts file setup and the services disabled makes me think that this part where it calls home to check if you have accepted the policy changes amongst other things including any restrictions that this device might have like region ignoring the hosts file.