Apache Commons End of Life (EOL) Dates & Support Timeline
Complete end-of-life dates, support windows, and security status for all Apache Commons versions. Data sourced from endoflife.date and official vendor documentation. Updated at every deploy.
Running an EOL version? Get matched with support options — free ↓| Version | Latest Release | Release Date | EOL Date | Days | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| beanutils-1 | 1.11.0 | Sep 20, 2005 | TBD | Supported | Active |
| codec-1 | 1.22.1 | Sep 20, 2005 | TBD | Supported | Active |
| compress-1 | 1.28.0 | May 21, 2009 | TBD | Supported | Active |
| text-1 | 1.15.0 | Mar 6, 2017 | TBD | Supported | Active |
| collections-4 | 4.6.0 | Nov 20, 2013 | TBD | Supported | Active |
| io-2 | 2.22.0 | Oct 18, 2010 | TBD | Supported | Active |
| lang-3 | 3.20.0 | Jul 19, 2011 | TBD | Supported | Active |
Live EOL badge for your README — updates automatically at every build.
[](https://endoflife.ai/apache-commons)
Apache Commons lifecycle status — the real story
Apache Commons isn't one library — it's a family of several dozen small Java components (Lang, IO, Collections, Text, Compress, Codec, BeanUtils and more) that are collectively among the most-deployed code on the JVM. Nearly every Java application ships several of them, almost always transitively. The table above tracks the flagship components' current, maintained lines; all are actively developed by the Apache Commons project.
The family's lifecycle risk isn't abandonment — it's old copies that never get upgraded, and the security history is serious: Commons Text's "Text4Shell" interpolation flaw (CVE-2022-42889), Commons Collections' infamous deserialization gadget chain that powered a generation of Java RCE exploits, BeanUtils property-access flaws, and a steady stream of Compress archive-parsing CVEs. Every one of those is fixed in current versions — and permanently present in the years-old copies pinned deep in enterprise dependency trees.
Because Commons components are small, stable, and transitively supplied by frameworks, they're precisely the dependencies nobody audits. Lockfile-level scanning plus dependency-management overrides to current versions is the whole remediation — cheap insurance for some of the most attacked code paths in Java history.
Apache Commons release and support pattern
Of the 7 release lines tracked, 0 are past end of life and 7 are still within support. The newest line, lang-3, was released July 19, 2011. No end-of-life date is currently published for the 7 supported lines.
Computed from the tracked release data at every build — the figures above are the dates in the table, restated, not an editorial estimate.
What does Apache Commons end of life mean for your organization?
When a version of Apache Commons reaches end of life, the maintainers stop issuing security patches. Vulnerabilities discovered after this date are publicly disclosed on the National Vulnerability Database, exploit code appears on GitHub, and your systems remain permanently exposed.
The CVE blind spot: Most vulnerability scanners check for known CVEs but do not flag the accumulation of unpatched vulnerabilities in EOL software. With a zero-day, nobody knows about the vulnerability. With EOL software, the vulnerability is public — listed, rated, and often weaponized — but no patch will ever exist. This is the most dangerous gap in enterprise security posture.
Organizations running EOL Apache Commons should treat it as a vulnerability class in their risk register, apply compensating controls (network segmentation, enhanced monitoring, access restriction), and prioritize migration to a supported version.
Your options when Apache Commons reaches end of life
There are four realistic paths. Which one is right depends far more on how long the system needs to keep running than on the version you are on today.
| Option | Best when | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Move to a supported version | The system will outlive the current version's support window and you can schedule the work | Budget for compatibility testing, not just the upgrade itself — that is where the real cost sits |
| Replace the component | The project is unmaintained, or a better-supported alternative exists | The replacement has its own lifecycle and its own end-of-life date — you are changing vendors, not escaping the problem |
| Buy extended support | Migration is genuinely underway but cannot finish before the deadline, or the workload is frozen by certification or a third-party application | A bridge, not a destination — every year purchased is a year the migration still has to happen |
| Document accepted risk | The system is isolated, short-lived, or scheduled for retirement | Only defensible with real compensating controls and a written decision — auditors treat undocumented end-of-life software as a finding |
How to choose, in one question: how many more years does this system need to run? Under a year, extended support (where it exists) is usually cheaper than an emergency migration. One to three years, migrate — support purchased repeatedly costs more than doing the project once, and the project only gets harder as the version ages. Indefinitely, migrate now and plan the next migration before it surprises you.
Worth saying plainly, because vendors selling extended support rarely will: extended support is often the more expensive choice over a multi-year horizon. It is the right answer when a deadline is genuinely unreachable, not as a default. Compare the annual fee against the one-time cost of migrating before committing to either.
Formalizing decisions like this across your estate? Our free EOL policy template is a ready-to-adopt policy with risk tiers, remediation SLAs, and audit mapping — no signup, free to use and share.
Extended Support Options
If you cannot migrate immediately, extended support vendors provide continued security patches for EOL Apache Commons versions. This is a bridge, not a permanent solution — plan your migration in parallel.
When Apache Commons versions reach end of life, security patches stop — the CVEs keep coming. Extended support past the official date exists for many products in this position — whether it exists for Apache Commons is exactly what we check. Tell us where to reach you and we'll reply with matched options and pricing guidance — or an honest "no vendor covers this."