Linux Kernel: Releases, patches & end-of-life
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Lifecycle guide for Linux Kernel from Linux Kernel Organization

All releases, patches, maintenance and support periods at a glance

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📅 Last update on 2026-02-09

What is Linux Kernel?

Automate product release and end-of-life managementThe Linux kernel is a free and open-source, monolithic, modular, multitasking, Unix-like operating system kernel. It was originally authored in 1991 by Linus Torvalds for his i386-based PC, and it was soon adopted as the kernel for the GNU operating system, which was written to be a free (libre) replacement for Unix.Linux is provided under the GNU General Public License version 2 only, but it contains files under other compatible licenses.
 

The entire lifecycle of Linux Kernel

The following figure shows you the visualised product life cycle of Linux Kernel. You can see all releases with the latest patch version, the long-term support characteristics (orange flag in the green circle, the periods for version provision, maintenance and support.
Linux Kernel (Linux Kernel Organization) release, version and end-of-life information
XLinux Kernel (Linux Kernel Organization) release, version and end-of-life information
Figure: Release, patch and end-of-life cycle of product Linux Kernel (Linux Kernel Organization)
 

Facts and figures about Linux Kernel

Product
Linux Kernel
Vendor
Linux Kernel Organization
Latest version
6.18.9
Number of releases
82
Number of versions
5497
Number of unstable versions
840
Number of versions affected by CVE
-
Licence
GPL-2.0-only with Linux-syscall-note.
Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_kernel
 
 

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