Linux kernel 5.16 reaches end-of-life status

Linux kernel 5.16 has reached its end-of-life four months after its release, users should move to 5.17 immediately.

Linux kernel 5.16 was released at the beginning of this year; on January 10th. It brought some cool features such as futex_waitv() kernel system call from Collabora for a better gaming experience. In addition, KFENCE support for PA-RISC architecture has arrived with the Linux kernel 5.16, as well as broader ARM devices support.

It is time to move on

Many of the Linux distributions have upgraded their kernel version to 5.16, then moved on to 5.17. Linux kernel 5.17 is currently the latest stable version as Linus Torvalds has already begun developing the 5.18 version. Now, it is time to say goodbye to Linux kernel 5.16 since it has reached its end-of-life status. This means, 5.16 will no longer get maintenance updates and will be vulnerable to future security issues.

Keeping using an end-of-life status Linux kernel version might cause security issues in the future

Updating the Linux kernel alone is not a very simple task so you might want just stick to distributions’ updates. Plenty of major distros have already updated their kernel to 5.17 or are stuck with 5.15 LTS. However, keep your eye on the updates; if the distribution you use does not offer an update from 5.16, you should consider moving to another distribution or manually updating the Linux kernel of your system.

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