NixOS · Lifecycle Status

NixOS End of Life (EOL) Dates & Support Timeline

Complete end-of-life dates, support windows, and security status for all NixOS versions. Data sourced from endoflife.date and official vendor documentation. Updated at every deploy.

NixOS 26.05 reaches end of life on December 31, 2026. Plan your migration now — 144 days remaining.
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📅 Get reminded before NixOS 26.05 reaches EOL on December 31, 2026 — alerts 90, 30 & 7 days out.
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Latest Active
— series
Next EOL
26.05
Dec 31, 2026
Active Versions
0
of 25 total
EOL Versions
24
no longer patched
35 / 100
Medium Risk
EOL Risk Score™  How is this calculated? →
EOL Recency
25/40
Attack Surface
10/30 Medium tier
CISA KEV Exposure
0/20 Not in KEV
Extended Support
0/10 Available
EOL Risk Score™ — proprietary methodology by endoflife.ai. Factors: EOL recency, attack surface breadth, CISA KEV catalog presence, extended support availability. Updated at every build. Methodology →
Release Cycle Timeline
EOL   Warning   Active   Today
Release cycle timeline 2014201520162017201820192020202120222023202420252026202713.1014.0414.1215.0916.0316.0917.0317.0918.0318.0919.0319.0920.0320.0921.0521.1122.0522.1123.0523.1124.0524.1125.0525.1126.05TODAY
24 versions of NixOS are past end of life — security patches have stopped. Get matched with support →
All Versions
VersionLatest ReleaseRelease DateEOL DateDaysStatus
13.10 Oct 31, 2013 May 31, 2014 4453 days past EOL EOL
14.04 Apr 30, 2014 Jan 31, 2015 4208 days past EOL EOL
14.12 Dec 30, 2014 Sep 30, 2015 3966 days past EOL EOL
15.09 Sep 30, 2015 Apr 30, 2016 3753 days past EOL EOL
16.03 Mar 31, 2016 Oct 30, 2016 3570 days past EOL EOL
16.09 Sep 30, 2016 Apr 30, 2017 3388 days past EOL EOL
17.03 Mar 31, 2017 Oct 30, 2017 3205 days past EOL EOL
17.09 Sep 29, 2017 Apr 30, 2018 3023 days past EOL EOL
18.03 Apr 4, 2018 Oct 30, 2018 2840 days past EOL EOL
18.09 Oct 5, 2018 Apr 30, 2019 2658 days past EOL EOL
19.03 Apr 11, 2019 Oct 30, 2019 2475 days past EOL EOL
19.09 Oct 9, 2019 Apr 30, 2020 2292 days past EOL EOL
20.03 Apr 20, 2020 Oct 30, 2020 2109 days past EOL EOL
20.09 Oct 27, 2020 Jun 30, 2021 1866 days past EOL EOL
21.05 May 31, 2021 Dec 31, 2021 1682 days past EOL EOL
21.11 Nov 30, 2021 Jun 30, 2022 1501 days past EOL EOL
22.05 May 30, 2022 Dec 31, 2022 1317 days past EOL EOL
22.11 Nov 30, 2022 Jun 30, 2023 1136 days past EOL EOL
23.05 May 31, 2023 Dec 31, 2023 952 days past EOL EOL
23.11 Nov 29, 2023 Jun 30, 2024 770 days past EOL EOL
24.05 May 31, 2024 Dec 31, 2024 586 days past EOL EOL
24.11 Nov 30, 2024 Jun 30, 2025 405 days past EOL EOL
25.05 May 23, 2025 Dec 31, 2025 221 days past EOL EOL
25.11 Nov 30, 2025 Jun 30, 2026 40 days past EOL EOL
26.05 May 30, 2026 Dec 31, 2026 144 days remaining Warning
NixOS EOL status badge Live EOL badge for your README — updates automatically at every build. [![NixOS EOL](https://img.shields.io/endpoint?url=https%3A%2F%2Fendoflife.ai%2Fbadge%2Fnixos.json)](https://endoflife.ai/nixos)

What does NixOS end of life mean for your organization?

When a version of NixOS 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 NixOS 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 NixOS 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.

OptionBest whenWatch 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.

Extended Support Options

If you cannot migrate immediately, extended support vendors provide continued security patches for EOL NixOS versions. This is a bridge, not a permanent solution — plan your migration in parallel.

endoflife.ai
Get NixOS Support Options

NixOS has 24 versions past end of life — security patches have stopped, but CVE disclosures haven't. The good news: extended support for NixOS exists — vetted vendors ship security patches for years past the official date. Tell us where to reach you and we'll reply with matched options and pricing guidance.

Free · No obligation · Independent — we track the dates, vendors don't pay for placement · Dates verified against vendor sources
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the end-of-life date for NixOS?
The next NixOS version reaching EOL is 26.05 on December 31, 2026. See the full table above for all version EOL dates.
When is the NixOS support end date?
The next NixOS support end date is December 31, 2026, when version 26.05 reaches end of support. Each version has its own support end date — see the table above for every version's date.
What is the latest supported version of NixOS?
The latest active version of NixOS is . Always verify against the table above as support windows can change.
What happens when NixOS reaches end of life?
When NixOS reaches end of life, the vendor stops issuing security patches. Any CVEs disclosed after the EOL date accumulate indefinitely with no patch path — creating an ever-growing attack surface that most vulnerability scanners do not flag.
How do I check if I'm running an EOL version of NixOS?
Check your current version against the table above. If your version's EOL date has passed, you are running unsupported software. You can also use the endoflife.ai Stack Scanner to check your entire dependency file at once.
Is there extended support available for EOL NixOS versions?
Some vendors offer extended support for EOL software. Contact the original vendor or check with enterprise support providers for options.

Related Products

Data from endoflife.date API · endoflife.date · Generated at build time · How we source data →
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