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# Linux Kernel 5.9 Reached End of Life. Here's What You Should Do Now!
- URL: https://itsfoss.com/news/kernel-5-9-end-of-life/
- Published: 2020-12-22T10:40:33.000Z
- Updated: 2020-12-22T10:40:35.000Z
- Author: Abhishek Prakash
- Tags: Linux, News, #Import 2025-11-08 21:15

Linux Kernel version 5.9, which was released around mid-October, has reached its end of life. This means that it won’t get security and maintenance updates anymore.

You shouldn’t be surprised or get panicked about it. Kernel 5.9 was a regular kernel release and like most regular kernel release it had a lifespan of 10-12 weeks.

Kernel 5.9 got its last update in the form of 5.9.16 and its maintainer, Greg KH, [suggested](http://lkml.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/2012.2/03659.html?ref=itsfoss.com) users of the 5.9 kernel series to upgrade to kernel 5.10 LTS.

> … this is the LAST 5.9.y kernel to be released unless something really odd happens. Please move to 5.10.y at this point in time, the 5.9.y branch is now end-of-life.
> 
> Greg Kroah-Hartman

Greg also marked kernel 5.9 as EOL on the [official Linux kernel website](https://www.kernel.org/?ref=itsfoss.com).

![Linux kernel 5.9 EOL](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/wordpress/2020/12/kernel-5-9-eol.png)

## Here’s what you should do if you are running kernel 5.9

If you are new to these things, don’t panic. The first thing you should do is to [check which Linux kernel version you are running](https://itsfoss.com/find-which-kernel-version-is-running-in-ubuntu/).

Open a terminal and use the following command:

```
uname -r
```

This will show you the Linux kernel version.

Now, the chances are that you are using a kernel version provided by your distribution. Your [distribution often provides and maintains an older kernel version for you](https://itsfoss.com/why-distros-use-old-kernel/). In such cases, you should do nothing. Just keep your system updated.

If you are using Kernel 5.9 on the system, you should download and install the latest stable [Kernel 5.10 release](https://news.itsfoss.com/kernel-5-10-release/?ref=itsfoss.com). The good thing is that it is a long term stable release and will be supported for some years.

You can use your distribution’s package manager to install the newer kernel. We have discussed the [method to install mainline Linux kernel in Ubuntu](https://itsfoss.com/upgrade-linux-kernel-ubuntu/), [Debian](https://itsfoss.com/kernel-upgrade-debian/) and [Arch Linux](https://itsfoss.com/switch-kernels-arch-linux/) in the past and you may refer to it, if you need any references.