The Linux kernel 6.18 has been assigned the status of a long-term support branch. Updates for branch 6.18 will be released at least until December 2027, but it is possible that, as in the case of previous LTS branches, the maintenance period will be extended to six years. For regular kernel releases, updates are released only before the next stable branch is released (for example, updates for the 6.17 branch were released before the release of 6.18).
At the same time, announced the end of the kernel branch’s maintenance cycle Linux 5.4, for which the final release 5.4.302 has been published (no more updates will be published in the 5.4.x series). The 5.4 branch was formed in November 2019, was maintained for 6 years and was used in Ubuntu 20.04 LTS and Oracle Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel 6. Products shipped with the 5.4 kernel are recommended to be migrated to more current LTS releases.
Ongoing maintenance of longterm branches:
- 6.12 – until December 2026 (used in Debian 13, SUSE 16, Android 16 and Oracle Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel 8).
- 6.6 – until December 2026 (used in OpenWRT 24.10).
- 6.1 – until December 2026 (used in Debian 12).
- 5.15 – until October 2026 (used in Ubuntu 22.04, Oracle Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel 7 and OpenWRT 23.05).
- 5.10 – until December 2026 (used in Debian 11, Android 12 and OpenWRT 22).
Separately, based on kernels 4.4, 4.19, 5.10, 6.1 and 6.12, the Linux Foundation provides branches SLTS (Super Long Term Support), which are maintained separately and supported for 10-20 years. SLTS branches are maintained within the framework of the Civil Infrastructure Platform (CIP) project, which involves companies such as Toshiba, Siemens, Renesas, Bosch, Hitachi and MOXA, as well as the maintainers of the LTS branches of the main kernel, Debian developers and the creators of the KernelCI project. SLTS cores are intended for use in technical systems of civil infrastructure and critical industrial systems.