Red Hat build of OpenJDK 21 End of Life Date
Red Hat build of OpenJDK 21 end-of-life date, support status, and CVE risk. Data from endoflife.date and official vendor documentation.
Red Hat build of OpenJDK 21 was released on November 14, 2023 and support is scheduled to end on December 31, 2029 — a planned supported lifespan of 6 years and 2 months, in line with the 6 years and 2 months median for Red Hat build of OpenJDK releases. Its most recent patch is 21.0.9.0.10-1, published October 17, 2025.
| Version | Latest | EOL Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| OpenJDK 6 (1.6) | 1.6.0.41-1.13.13.1 | Dec 31, 2016 | EOL |
| OpenJDK 7 (1.7) | 1.7.0.261-2.6.22.2 | Jun 30, 2020 | EOL |
| OpenJDK 8 (1.8) | 1.8.0.472.b08-1 | Nov 30, 2026 | Warning |
| 11 | 11.0.25.0.9-3 | Oct 31, 2024 | EOL |
| 17 | 17.0.17.0.10-1 | Dec 31, 2027 | Active |
| → 21 | 21.0.9.0.10-1 | Dec 31, 2029 | Active |
| 25 | 25 | Dec 31, 2030 | Active |
What does Red Hat build of OpenJDK 21 end of life mean?
When Red Hat build of OpenJDK 21 reaches end of life, the maintainers stop issuing security patches for this version. CVEs discovered after the EOL date are publicly disclosed on the National Vulnerability Database with no patch available. Exploit code frequently appears on GitHub within days of disclosure.
The CVE blind spot: Most vulnerability scanners check for known CVEs but do not flag the ongoing accumulation of unpatched vulnerabilities in EOL software versions. Running Red Hat build of OpenJDK 21 past its EOL date creates a permanently growing attack surface that standard security tooling will not surface.
Migrate to Red Hat build of OpenJDK 25 or implement compensating controls — network segmentation, enhanced monitoring, restricted access — while migration is underway.