Ubuntu
OSUbuntu 26.04 is the newest actively maintained release, currently at patch 26.04.1. 5 of 44 tracked cycles remain supported. The next cycle scheduled to reach end-of-life is 18.04, on May 31, 2023.
Support pattern
How Ubuntu 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 shorter: the most recent cycles run about 9 months less than the earlier ones.
Computed from release and end-of-life dates tracked for Ubuntu. 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 Ubuntu versioning, EOL & security support work
Ubuntu uses date-based versioning in the form YY.MM (year and month of release), with new releases every six months in April and October. Every two years one of those releases is designated Long Term Support (LTS), while the releases in between are short-lived interim releases with a much shorter free support window. Canonical builds Ubuntu Pro around extending security coverage for LTS releases well beyond the free baseline.
Ubuntu vulnerabilities are tracked and patched by Canonical's security team, published as USNs (Ubuntu Security Notices) for releases still supported. Once a release reaches end of life, it stops receiving USN-driven patches entirely, so running an EOL Ubuntu version means known CVEs go unfixed unless the system is enrolled in Extended Security Maintenance.
Sources: Ubuntu release cycle, Ubuntu Expanded Security Maintenance
Release lifecycle
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