OpenBSD End of Life (EOL) Dates & Support Timeline
Complete end-of-life dates, support windows, and security status for all OpenBSD versions. Data sourced from endoflife.date and official vendor documentation. Updated at every deploy.
OpenBSD 7.9 is supported until June 1, 2027, its end-of-support date. The next OpenBSD version to reach end of life is 7.8, on November 1, 2026. 57 of 59 tracked OpenBSD versions are past end of life; the most recent to reach it, 7.7, did so on May 19, 2026. The full OpenBSD lifecycle, with every version's release and end-of-support date, is in the table below.
Running an EOL version? Get matched with support options — free ↓| Version | Latest Release | Release Date | EOL Date | Days | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2.1 | — | Jun 1, 1997 | May 19, 1998 | 10354 days past EOL | EOL |
| 2.2 | — | Dec 1, 1997 | Dec 1, 1998 | 10158 days past EOL | EOL |
| 2.3 | — | May 19, 1998 | May 19, 1999 | 9989 days past EOL | EOL |
| 2.4 | — | Dec 1, 1998 | Dec 1, 1999 | 9793 days past EOL | EOL |
| 2.5 | — | May 19, 1999 | Jun 15, 2000 | 9596 days past EOL | EOL |
| 2.6 | — | Dec 1, 1999 | Dec 1, 2000 | 9427 days past EOL | EOL |
| 2.7 | — | Jun 15, 2000 | Jun 1, 2001 | 9245 days past EOL | EOL |
| 2.8 | — | Dec 1, 2000 | Dec 1, 2001 | 9062 days past EOL | EOL |
| 2.9 | — | Jun 1, 2001 | May 19, 2002 | 8893 days past EOL | EOL |
| 3.0 | — | Dec 1, 2001 | Nov 1, 2002 | 8727 days past EOL | EOL |
| 3.1 | — | May 19, 2002 | May 1, 2003 | 8546 days past EOL | EOL |
| 3.2 | — | Nov 1, 2002 | Nov 1, 2003 | 8362 days past EOL | EOL |
| 3.3 | — | May 1, 2003 | May 1, 2004 | 8180 days past EOL | EOL |
| 3.4 | — | Nov 1, 2003 | Nov 1, 2004 | 7996 days past EOL | EOL |
| 3.5 | — | May 1, 2004 | May 19, 2005 | 7797 days past EOL | EOL |
| 3.6 | — | Nov 1, 2004 | Nov 1, 2005 | 7631 days past EOL | EOL |
| 3.7 | — | May 19, 2005 | May 1, 2006 | 7450 days past EOL | EOL |
| 3.8 | — | Nov 1, 2005 | Nov 1, 2006 | 7266 days past EOL | EOL |
| 3.9 | — | May 1, 2006 | May 1, 2007 | 7085 days past EOL | EOL |
| 4.0 | — | Nov 1, 2006 | Nov 1, 2007 | 6901 days past EOL | EOL |
| 4.1 | — | May 1, 2007 | May 1, 2008 | 6719 days past EOL | EOL |
| 4.2 | — | Nov 1, 2007 | Nov 1, 2008 | 6535 days past EOL | EOL |
| 4.3 | — | May 1, 2008 | May 1, 2009 | 6354 days past EOL | EOL |
| 4.4 | — | Nov 1, 2008 | Oct 18, 2009 | 6184 days past EOL | EOL |
| 4.5 | — | May 1, 2009 | May 19, 2010 | 5971 days past EOL | EOL |
| 4.6 | — | Oct 18, 2009 | Nov 1, 2010 | 5805 days past EOL | EOL |
| 4.7 | — | May 19, 2010 | May 1, 2011 | 5624 days past EOL | EOL |
| 4.8 | — | Nov 1, 2010 | Nov 1, 2011 | 5440 days past EOL | EOL |
| 4.9 | — | May 1, 2011 | May 1, 2012 | 5258 days past EOL | EOL |
| 5.0 | — | Nov 1, 2011 | Nov 1, 2012 | 5074 days past EOL | EOL |
| 5.1 | — | May 1, 2012 | May 1, 2013 | 4893 days past EOL | EOL |
| 5.2 | — | Nov 1, 2012 | Nov 1, 2013 | 4709 days past EOL | EOL |
| 5.3 | — | May 1, 2013 | May 1, 2014 | 4528 days past EOL | EOL |
| 5.4 | — | Nov 1, 2013 | Nov 1, 2014 | 4344 days past EOL | EOL |
| 5.5 | — | May 1, 2014 | May 1, 2015 | 4163 days past EOL | EOL |
| 5.6 | — | Nov 1, 2014 | Oct 18, 2015 | 3993 days past EOL | EOL |
| 5.7 | — | May 1, 2015 | Mar 29, 2016 | 3830 days past EOL | EOL |
| 5.8 | — | Oct 18, 2015 | Sep 1, 2016 | 3674 days past EOL | EOL |
| 5.9 | — | Mar 29, 2016 | Apr 11, 2017 | 3452 days past EOL | EOL |
| 6.0 | — | Sep 1, 2016 | Oct 9, 2017 | 3271 days past EOL | EOL |
| 6.1 | — | Apr 11, 2017 | Apr 15, 2018 | 3083 days past EOL | EOL |
| 6.2 | — | Oct 9, 2017 | Oct 18, 2018 | 2897 days past EOL | EOL |
| 6.3 | — | Apr 2, 2018 | May 3, 2019 | 2700 days past EOL | EOL |
| 6.4 | — | Oct 18, 2018 | Oct 17, 2019 | 2533 days past EOL | EOL |
| 6.5 | — | Apr 24, 2019 | May 19, 2020 | 2318 days past EOL | EOL |
| 6.6 | — | Oct 17, 2019 | Oct 18, 2020 | 2166 days past EOL | EOL |
| 6.7 | — | May 19, 2020 | May 1, 2021 | 1971 days past EOL | EOL |
| 6.8 | — | Oct 18, 2020 | Oct 14, 2021 | 1805 days past EOL | EOL |
| 6.9 | — | May 1, 2021 | Apr 21, 2022 | 1616 days past EOL | EOL |
| 7.0 | — | Oct 14, 2021 | Oct 20, 2022 | 1434 days past EOL | EOL |
| 7.1 | — | Apr 21, 2022 | Apr 10, 2023 | 1262 days past EOL | EOL |
| 7.2 | — | Oct 20, 2022 | Oct 16, 2023 | 1073 days past EOL | EOL |
| 7.3 | — | Apr 10, 2023 | Apr 5, 2024 | 901 days past EOL | EOL |
| 7.4 | — | Oct 16, 2023 | Oct 8, 2024 | 715 days past EOL | EOL |
| 7.5 | — | Apr 5, 2024 | Apr 28, 2025 | 513 days past EOL | EOL |
| 7.6 | — | Oct 8, 2024 | Oct 22, 2025 | 336 days past EOL | EOL |
| 7.7 | — | Apr 28, 2025 | May 19, 2026 | 127 days past EOL | EOL |
| 7.8 | — | Oct 22, 2025 | Nov 1, 2026 | 39 days remaining | Warning |
| 7.9 | — | May 19, 2026 | Jun 1, 2027 | 251 days remaining | Active |
Live EOL badge for your README — updates automatically at every build.
[](https://endoflife.ai/openbsd)
OpenBSD lifecycle status — the real story
OpenBSD's FAQ states the rule: when a security issue is found, the fix is backported to the two most recent OpenBSD releases as errata and announced on the mailing list. A release is therefore supported for as long as it is one of the newest two — about a year, given the project's two-releases-a-year rhythm visible in the table above.
There is no extended support and no long-term release. The upgrade path is also strict: upgrades are supported only from one release to the release immediately following it, so a system left two releases behind has to step through each one.
Verified against the vendor's lifecycle documentation on August 22, 2026.
OpenBSD release and support pattern
Across the 59 release lines with a published release date, OpenBSD has shipped a new line roughly every 6 months (median interval). A line typically stays supported for about 1 year from its release to its end-of-life date.
Of the 59 release lines tracked, 57 are past end of life and 2 are still within support. The newest line, 7.9, was released May 19, 2026. The next scheduled end of life is 7.8 on November 1, 2026 — 39 days from this build. The longest-supported line currently published is 7.9, to June 1, 2027.
Computed from the tracked release data at every build — the figures above are the dates in the table, restated, not an editorial estimate.
OpenBSD security intelligence
CISA KEV history: OpenBSD is named in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog 1 time, most recently on 2022-03-25. Derived from CISA's live catalog at every build.
What does OpenBSD end of life mean for your organization?
When a version of OpenBSD 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: A CVE-based scan does not show the accumulation of unpatched vulnerabilities in EOL software. Some scanners flag unsupported versions of common products, but coverage varies, and none of them give you the date in advance. With a zero-day, nobody knows about the vulnerability. With EOL software, the vulnerability is public — listed, rated, and often weaponized — but no vendor patch is coming. This is one of the most dangerous gaps in enterprise security posture.
Organizations running EOL OpenBSD 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 OpenBSD 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 OpenBSD versions. This is a bridge, not a permanent solution — plan your migration in parallel.
OpenBSD has 57 versions past end of life — security patches have stopped, but CVE disclosures haven't. Extended support past the official date exists for many products in this position — whether it exists for OpenBSD 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."