Docker Engine
AppDocker Engine 29 is the newest actively maintained release, currently at patch 29.8.0. 2 of 26 tracked cycles remain supported. The next cycle scheduled to reach end-of-life is 25.0, on December 4, 2026.
Support pattern
How Docker Engine has behaved across the cycles tracked here, rather than what its policy documents state. Useful for judging how much runway a version is likely to have before you commit to it.
Support windows are getting longer: the most recent cycles run about 9 months longer than the earlier ones.
Computed from release and end-of-life dates tracked for Docker Engine. Medians are used rather than averages so one unusually short or long release does not skew the figure. Cycles with no recorded end-of-life date are excluded from the support window.
How Docker Engine versioning, EOL & security support work
Docker Engine, developed within the Moby project, uses semantic-style version numbers (vX.Y.Z). Ongoing feature work happens on the master branch, and a dedicated release branch is cut whenever continuing master development would conflict with shipping patches for an already-released line. Rather than a fixed support window, Moby tracks each branch's status individually, and typically only a small number of branches are being patched at once.
Security reports for Docker Engine go privately to [email protected] rather than as public GitHub issues. Maintainers triage the report, draft a confidential security advisory under embargo, and negotiate a timeline for the patch and disclosure. Because only Maintained (or Maintained-security for critical issues) branches are in scope for advisories, an Unmaintained branch will not get a fix even for a newly disclosed critical vulnerability.
Sources: Moby BRANCHES-AND-TAGS.md, Moby (Docker Engine) security policy
Release lifecycle
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