The Software Dates You Need to Know
2019 has been a good year for cybercriminals, and it’s not quite over yet. The list of hospitals, schools, businesses, and city governments that have experienced significant data losses and financial damages due to ransomware is still growing. In October, the FBI listed “software vulnerabilities” as one of the three main techniques being used to infect systems with ransomware. Admittedly, it’s an investment of both time and resources to upgrade systems to the latest software versions and consistently patch for security vulnerabilities. However, ransomware is becoming so prevalent that if you haven’t updated your operating system and other software applications lately, it needs to be a high priority.
Here are some of the lifecycle schedules for the operating systems and software that you may be using. Scroll down to see if your software is still receiving security updates. Any paid support options listed below are a stopgap for maintaining security updates. In most cases, upgrading to the most recent software version is recommended.
CentOS
| Product | End-of-Life Date |
| CentOS 5 | March 31, 2017 |
| CentOS 6* | November 30, 2020 |
| CentOS 7 | June 30, 2024 |
*For cPanel & WHM users that cannot upgrade to CentOS 7, a move to CloudLinux OS 6 with Extended Support provides up to three years of full updates.
CloudLinux OS
| Product | End-of-Life Date |
| CloudLinux OS 5 | March 31, 2017 |
| CloudLinux OS 6 | November 30, 2020* |
| CloudLinux OS 7 | June 30, 2024 |
*For cPanel & WHM users, full updates are available for up to three years through CloudLinux OS 6 Extended Support.
Microsoft
| Product | End of Support Date |
| SQL Server 2008 and 2008 R2* | July 9, 2019 |
| Windows Server 2008 and 2008 R2* | January 14, 2020 |
| Windows Server 2016 Standard | January 11, 2022 |
| Windows Server 2019 Standard | January 9, 2024 |
*For those that cannot upgrade, security updates are available for up to three years through Microsoft’s Extended Security Update program.
Ubuntu
| Currently Supported Versions | End of Standard Support | # of Years | End of Life |
| Ubuntu 14.04.6 LTS | April 2019* | 3 years | April 2022 |
| Ubuntu 16.04.6 LTS | April 2021* | 3 years | April 2024 |
| Ubuntu 18.04.3 LTS | April 2023* | 5 years | April 2028 |
*For those that cannot upgrade, Extended Security Maintenance is available through Ubuntu Advantage.
Adobe ColdFusion
| Product name | Version | Build | General availability | End of core support | End of extended support |
| ColdFusion | 8.x.x |
| 7/30/2007 | 7/31/2012 | 7/31/2014 |
| ColdFusion | 9.x |
| 10/5/2009 | 12/31/2014 | 12/31/2016 |
| ColdFusion | 10.x |
| 5/15/2012 | 5/16/2017 | 5/16/2019 |
| ColdFusion | 11.x |
| 4/29/2014 | 4/30/2019 | 4/30/2021 |
| ColdFusion | 2016 |
| 2/16/2016 | 2/17/2021 | 2/17/2022 |
| ColdFusion | 2018 |
| 7/12/2018 | 7/13/2023 | 7/13/2024 |
PHP
| Branch | Initial Release | Active Support Until | Security Support Until |
| 5.6 | Aug 28, 2014 | Jan 19, 2017 | Dec 31, 2018 |
| 7.0 | Dec 3, 2015 | Dec 3, 2018 | Jan 10, 2019 |
| 7.1 | Dec 1, 2016 | Dec 1, 2018 | Dec 1, 2019 |
| 7.2 | Nov 30, 2017 | Nov 30, 2019 | Nov 30, 2020 |
| 7.3 | Dec 6, 2018 | Dec 6, 2020 | Dec 6, 2021 |
| 7.4 | Nov 28, 2019 | Nov 28, 2021 | Nov 28, 2022 |
Railo
| Version | Release Date | Notes |
| 4.2.2.005 | 12-18-2014 | Current stable release of Railo* |
*Railo is no longer supported. Transitioning to Lucee is recommended.
Lucee
| Version | Support |
| 4.5 | Not Supported |
| 5.0 | Not Supported |
| 5.1 | Not Supported |
| 5.2 | Not Supported |
| 5.3 | Supported* |
*In Vivio’s experience, only the most recent release of Lucee is officially supported.
WordPress
| Version | Support |
| 5.0 | Not Supported |
| 5.1 | Not Supported |
| 5.2 | Not Supported |
| 5.3 | Supported* |
*Only the most recent release of WordPress is officially supported. All previous releases are not safe to use.
The best defense from ransomware and malware that exploit software vulnerabilities is to patch for vulnerabilities as soon as possible. Planning for future software upgrades and scheduling them into your project calendar can be a helpful way to stay on top of significant upgrades. Creating processes to check for updates and apply security patches regularly will also help you to stay current. The time and resources invested in maintaining software provide your business with another layer of protection from ransomware attacks.
As always, let us know how we can help!
References:
https://www.ic3.gov/media/2019/191002.aspx
www.centosblog.com/centos-eol-dates/
blog.cpanel.com/centos-6-eol-cloudlinux-6-os-and-you/
support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4487594/prepare-now-for-end-of-support-in-2019-and-2020
support.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/search
wiki.ubuntu.com/Releases
helpx.adobe.com/support/programs/eol-matrix.html#CD
www.php.net/supported-versions.php
download.lucee.org/
codex.wordpress.org/Supported_Versions
wordpress.org/download/releases/