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Cisco IOS XR 7.8 End of Life: Security Fixes End November 30, 2026

By Scott Bissett  ·  Published: September 20, 2026  ·  Reference guide  ·  Dates and definitions read from Cisco's end-of-life bulletin EOL15190 on the day of publication.

Cisco IOS XR 7.8 gets its last security fixes on November 30, 2026. Ordinary bug fixes for it ended on November 30, 2024, and support under a service contract runs to May 31, 2027. All three dates are from Cisco's end-of-life bulletin for IOS XR Software Release 7.8. IOS XR runs carrier and data centre routers, the kind of device that sits at the edge of a network for years without a software change, so the date that matters is the security one.

Do not read May 2027 as the deadline. The Last Date of Support is about contract help from Cisco's assistance centre. The last date on which Cisco may fix a security flaw in 7.8 is six months earlier. Cisco IOS XR has several entries on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list, so an XR release that can no longer be fixed is a documented kind of target.
Quick answer: Cisco IOS XR 7.8 is supported until November 30, 2026, its end-of-support date. Active support for Cisco IOS XR 7.8 ends on November 30, 2024; security fixes continue until that end-of-life date. It is also the next Cisco IOS XR version to reach end of life. 32 of 45 tracked Cisco IOS XR versions are past end of life; the most recent to reach it, 7.7, did so on July 29, 2026. Every Cisco IOS XR version's release and end-of-support date is on the Cisco IOS XR lifecycle page.

Cisco's milestones for IOS XR 7.8, in plain words

Milestone in the bulletinDateWhat it means
End of SW Maintenance ReleasesNovember 30, 2024The last date for ordinary maintenance releases and bug fixes. After it, Cisco addresses only vulnerability and security issues in 7.8
End of Vulnerability/Security SupportNovember 30, 2026The last date Cisco Engineering may release fixes for security issues in 7.8. Later security fixes come only through later supported releases, and the bulletin says there will be no further rebuilds of 7.8
Last Date of SupportMay 31, 2027The last date to receive service and support under an active contract. After it the release is obsolete

The bulletin also lists an end-of-sale date and an extended maintenance milestone that applies only to the Extended Maintenance Release rebuild of 7.8. They do not change the security date above.

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IOS XR releases and where they stand

ReleaseOrdinary bug fixes endSecurity fixes endLast date of support
IOS XR 25.2June 18, 2027June 18, 2029December 31, 2029
IOS XR 25.1March 31, 2027March 31, 2029September 30, 2029
IOS XR 24.4December 18, 2026December 18, 2028June 30, 2029
IOS XR 24.3September 3, 2026September 3, 2028March 31, 2029
IOS XR 24.2June 15, 2026June 15, 2028December 31, 2028
IOS XR 24.1March 16, 2026March 16, 2028September 30, 2028
IOS XR 7.11December 9, 2025December 9, 2027June 30, 2028
IOS XR 7.10August 16, 2025August 16, 2027February 28, 2028
IOS XR 7.9March 28, 2025March 28, 2027September 30, 2027
IOS XR 7.8November 30, 2024November 30, 2026May 31, 2027

Each row comes from that release's own Cisco bulletin, linked from its page here. Releases 25.3 and later have no end-of-life bulletin yet. Cisco's notice listing for IOS XR has the full set.

The pattern across the table: security fixes end two years after ordinary bug fixes do, and contract support ends about six months after that, with no fixes of any kind in between.

What to do

  1. On 7.8: plan the move to a release whose security date is years out, not months. Moving to 7.9 buys only until March 28, 2027.
  2. Check the hardware first. Which XR releases a router can run depends on the platform and line cards. Confirm the target release in Cisco's compatibility documentation for your exact hardware before setting a date.
  3. On anything older than 7.8: check its own bulletin. Several earlier releases are already past their security date.
  4. Until the upgrade: review which discovery, multicast and management services are reachable from outside the trusted network. The exploited XR flaws on CISA's list include ones in the discovery protocol, in multicast routing and in an exposed service port.

Frequently Asked Questions

When is Cisco IOS XR 7.8 end of life?

Cisco's bulletin for IOS XR 7.8 sets the End of Vulnerability/Security Support at November 30, 2026: the last date Cisco Engineering may release fixes for security issues in 7.8. The Last Date of Support under a service contract is May 31, 2027, after which the release is obsolete.

Is IOS XR 7.8 still getting bug fixes?

Not ordinary ones. Software maintenance releases for IOS XR 7.8 ended on November 30, 2024. Since then Cisco addresses only vulnerability and security issues in 7.8, and that ends on November 30, 2026.

What happens to IOS XR 7.8 after November 30, 2026?

Cisco's bulletin says fixes for security issues found after that date may be provided only through later supported software releases, and that there will be no further rebuilds of 7.8. A service contract still gets help from Cisco's assistance centre until May 31, 2027, but not a fix for 7.8 itself.

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