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Fedora 43 End of Life: December 9, 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 9, 2026. That is the date on the Fedora Project's own release schedule, and Fedora marks it as changeable: a Fedora release is supported until four weeks after the release two versions later, so the Fedora 43 date is tied to when Fedora 45 goes final, and it moves if Fedora 45 does. Fedora 43 was released on October 28, 2025, which makes its life about the thirteen months Fedora aims for.

Why the date is pencilled in, not inked. Fedora's rule is "release N is supported until four weeks after the release of N+2". Fedora 45 has an early target in October 2026 and the usual later fallback targets; the Fedora 43 end-of-life date on the schedule is calculated from the early target. If Fedora 45 slips a week, Fedora 43 gains a week. Plan for December 9, 2026 and treat any extra time as a bonus, not the other way round.
Quick answer: The Fedora 43 end-of-life (EOL) date is December 9, 2026. 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 44April 28, 2026June 2, 2027Supported
Fedora 43October 28, 2025December 9, 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 is not in the table because it has not shipped; its own end of life will be set from Fedora 47's release date in the same way.

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 9, 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 9, 2026. Two supported paths: upgrade to Fedora 44 now, which is maintained until June 2, 2027, or wait for Fedora 45 in October and go straight there, which lands on the release with the longest remaining support. Waiting is reasonable on a workstation; on anything exposed to a network, moving to 44 now costs nothing and removes the deadline.
  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 9, 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 9, 2026, on the Fedora Project's release schedule. Fedora marks the date as changeable because it is set four weeks after the release of Fedora 45; if Fedora 45 slips, the Fedora 43 end-of-life date moves with it.

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 43 and Fedora 44 are the supported releases until Fedora 45 ships.

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 once 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 9, 2026.

Sources

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