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Fedora 43 End of Life: December 1, 2026, Four Weeks After Fedora 45 Ships

By Scott Bissett  ·  Published: September 30, 2026  ·  Reference guide  ·  Dates served from data and checked against the Fedora Project's release schedule.

Fedora Linux 43 reaches end of life on December 1, 2026. A Fedora release is supported until four weeks after the release two versions later, and Fedora 45 shipped on November 3, 2026, so the date is now fixed. Fedora 43 was released on October 28, 2025, which makes its life about the thirteen months Fedora aims for.

Why the date moved. Fedora's rule is "release N is supported until four weeks after the release of N+2". Until Fedora 45 shipped, the Fedora 43 schedule page carried a later end-of-life date, calculated from an earlier Fedora 45 target and marked as changeable. Fedora 45 went final on November 3, 2026, and four weeks after that is December 1, 2026. Plan for that date; it no longer depends on anything still to happen.
Quick answer: The Fedora 43 end-of-life (EOL) date is December 1, 2026. The Fedora 45 end-of-life (EOL) date is December 8, 2027. Every Fedora version's release and end-of-support date is on the Fedora lifecycle page.

Fedora releases and their dates

ReleaseReleasedEnd of lifeStatus
Fedora 45November 3, 2026December 8, 2027Supported
Fedora 44April 28, 2026June 2, 2027Supported
Fedora 43October 28, 2025December 1, 2026Supported until end of life
Fedora 42April 15, 2025May 27, 2026End of life
Fedora 41October 29, 2024December 15, 2025End of life
Fedora 40April 23, 2024May 13, 2025End of life

Fedora 44 and Fedora 42 show the same pattern: each ended, or will end, about four weeks after the release two steps later. Fedora 45's end of life is likewise set from Fedora 47's release, so the date shown for it is Fedora's current schedule and will settle when Fedora 47 ships.

What end of life means on Fedora

Fedora's definition is plain: a release is end of life when no updates are created for it. After the date, the 43 repositories stop receiving package updates of any kind, security fixes included, and new builds for the release are no longer allowed. There is no extended or paid support phase for a Fedora release; the project supports two releases at a time plus the development branch, and that is the whole model. A Fedora 43 system left in place after December 1, 2026 keeps running, but every vulnerability published afterwards stays unpatched on it.

That is by design. Fedora moves fast and says so on its life cycle page, pointing anyone who wants a slower distribution with a longer life to CentOS Stream or Red Hat Enterprise Linux, both downstream of Fedora. Our RHEL 9 life cycle guide covers what that longer life looks like.

What to do

  1. On Fedora 42 or older: already past end of life (Fedora 42 ended May 27, 2026). Upgrade now. Fedora supports upgrading across two releases, so 42 to 44 is a direct move.
  2. On Fedora 43: you have until December 1, 2026. Two supported paths: upgrade to Fedora 44, which is maintained until June 2, 2027, or go straight to Fedora 45, released November 3, 2026, which lands on the release with the longest remaining support. Either way, finish before the end-of-life date.
  3. Upgrading: the supported method is the dnf system-upgrade plugin, or the Software application on workstations. Back up first; a release upgrade is not something to roll back in place.
  4. Fleets and images: check container base images and CI runners too. A fedora:43 image built after December 1, 2026 carries the same unpatched state as an installed system; our base image guide covers the general rule.
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Frequently Asked Questions

When is Fedora 43 end of life?

December 1, 2026. Fedora supports a release until four weeks after the release of the version two later, and Fedora 45 shipped on November 3, 2026, which fixes the Fedora 43 date.

How long is a Fedora release supported?

Approximately 13 months. The Fedora Project supports release N until four weeks after the release of N+2, and releases arrive roughly every six months, so each release is maintained for about 13 months and users can skip a release and still stay on a supported system.

Is Fedora 42 still supported?

No. Fedora 42 reached end of life on May 27, 2026, and Fedora 41 on December 15, 2025. Fedora 44 and Fedora 45 are supported, and Fedora 43 is supported until its end of life.

Should I upgrade Fedora 43 to 44 or wait for 45?

Either is supported. Fedora 44 is maintained until June 2, 2027. Going straight from 43 to 45 is also a supported upgrade now that 45 is released, and it lands you on the release with the longest remaining support. What is not supported is staying on 43 after December 1, 2026.

Sources

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