Rocky Linux 9.8 Released with Enhanced Security and Developer Toolchain Updates

The Rocky Linux Foundation has released version 9.8 of its enterprise-grade operating system, which serves as a downstream rebuild of Red Hat Enterprise Linux. The update brings improved security through updated cryptographic libraries and patches OpenSSH to version 9.9. It also ships with updated developer toolchains and performance monitoring packages.

Enterprise operating system update brings post-quantum cryptography to x86_64, ARM, and RISC-V platforms alongside updated developer packages.

The release targets a wide range of hardware architectures, including AMD and Intel x86_64 systems, ARM aarch64, PowerPC ppc64le, IBM Z s390x, and RISC-V riscv64. Users can download regular ISO images for these platforms or use generic cloud images designed for AWS AMI, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure. The distribution also provides full and minimal Docker (OCI) images alongside desktop workstation live images featuring GNOME, KDE, MATE, GNOMELITE, XFCE, and CINNAMON.

Security updates form a core part of this release. OpenSSH has been updated to version 9.9 to address known vulnerabilities. GnuTLS is now at version 3.8.10, incorporating ML-KEM hybrid key exchange and ML-DSA post-quantum algorithms for enhanced encryption standards. The update also includes p11-kit 0.26.1 and fapolicyd 1.4.3 to further secure system access and file policies.

Developer packages have received significant updates across multiple languages and databases. MariaDB is now at version 11.8, while PostgreSQL has been updated to version 18. Ruby has reached version 4.0, and Node.js is available in version 24. The update includes recent developer packages such as MariaDB 11.8, PostgreSQL 18, Ruby 4.0, and Node.js 24 to support contemporary application requirements.

System toolchains and performance monitoring tools are also current with this release. The GCC compiler sits at version 11.5, paired with glibc 2.39. Build and debugging utilities include Annobin 12.98, Binutils 2.35.2, GDB 16.3, Valgrind 3.26.0, SystemTap 5.4, and PCP 6.3.7. New toolsets are available for LLVM (21.1.8), Rust (1.92.0), and Go (1.26.2). The image building process now handles advanced disk partitioning and supports WSL2.

Rocky Linux 9.8 is available for immediate download across all supported architectures and cloud platforms. Download links for all supported platforms are available on the project's official webpage.

Source: NotebookCheck