Supported Releases

This page lists the status, timeline and policy for currently supported releases. Supported releases of Istio include releases that are in the active maintenance window and are patched for security and bug fixes. Subsequent patch releases on a minor release do not contain backward incompatible changes.

Support policy

We produce new builds of Istio for each commit. Around once a quarter, we build a minor release and run through several additional tests as well as release qualification. We release patch versions for issues found in minor releases.

The various types of releases represent a different product quality level and level of assistance from the Istio community. In this context, support means that the community will produce patch releases for critical issues and offer technical assistance. Separately, 3rd parties and partners may offer longer-term support solutions.

TypeSupport LevelQuality and Recommended Use
Development BuildNo supportDangerous, may not be fully reliable. Useful to experiment with.
Minor ReleaseSupport is provided until 3 months after the next minor releaseSafe to deploy in production. Users are encouraged to upgrade to these releases as soon as possible.
PatchSame as the corresponding Minor releaseUsers are encouraged to adopt patch releases as soon as they are available for a given release.
Security PatchSame as a Patch, however, it will not contain any additional code other than the security fix from the previous patchGiven the nature of security fixes, users are strongly encouraged to adopt security patches after release.

You can find available releases on the releases page, and if you’re the adventurous type, you can learn about our development builds on the development builds wiki. You can find high-level releases notes for each minor and patch release here.

Naming scheme

Our naming scheme is as follows:

  1. <major>.<minor>.<patch>

where <minor> is increased for each release, and <patch> counts the number of patches for the current <minor> release. A patch is usually a small change relative to the <minor> release.

Support status of Istio releases

VersionCurrently SupportedRelease DateEnd of LifeSupported Kubernetes VersionsUntested, but may work on Kubernetes Versions
masterNo, development only
1.10YesMay 18, 2021~Nov 2021 (Expected)1.18, 1.19, 1.20, 1.211.16, 1.17
1.9YesFebruary 9, 2021~Aug 2021 (Expected)1.17, 1.18, 1.19, 1.201.15, 1.16
1.8YesNovember 10, 2020~May 2021 (Expected)1.16, 1.17, 1.18, 1.191.15
1.7NoAugust 21, 2020Feb 25, 20211.16, 1.17, 1.181.15
1.6NoMay 21, 2020November 23, 20201.15, 1.16, 1.17, 1.18
1.5 and earlierNo

Supported releases without known Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs)

Istio does not guarantee that minor releases that fall outside the support window have all known CVEs patched. Please keep up-to-date and use a supported version.

Minor ReleasesPatched versions with no known CVEs
1.9.x1.9.5+
1.8 and earlierNone