Kubernetes Support Lifecycle & End-of-Life Schedule
Official release schedule, active LTS windows, and deprecation dates for Kubernetes. Avoid running unsupported versions in production.
Kubernetes Lifecycle Policy Summary
Kubernetes container orchestration release cadence. Minor versions receive approximately 14 months of maintenance and security support.
Branch Support Matrix & EOL Cutoffs
| Branch / Cycle | Status | Release Date | End of Life (EOL) | Latest Patch | Upgrade Recommendation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| v1.32 | 🟢 Active Support | 2024-12-11 | 2026-02-28 | 1.32.2 | ✓ Supported for production |
| v1.31 | 🟢 Active Support | 2024-08-13 | 2025-10-28 | 1.31.6 | ✓ Supported for production |
| v1.30 | 🟡 Maintenance Only | 2024-04-17 | 2025-06-28 | 1.30.10 | Plan upgrade to v1.32 |
| v1.29 | 🔴 End of Life (EOL) | 2023-12-13 | 2025-02-28 | 1.29.14 | ⚠️ Upgrade to v1.32 |
| v1.28 | 🔴 End of Life (EOL) | 2023-08-15 | 2024-10-28 | 1.28.15 | ⚠️ Upgrade to v1.32 |
Why Upgrading from EOL Versions is Critical
Once an open-source branch reaches End-of-Life, upstream maintainers no longer backport patches for Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs). Automated botnets routinely scan for publicly known exploits on unsupported runtime versions.