Skip to content

Distribution Packages

Antoine Martin edited this page May 24, 2024 · 17 revisions

And why you should avoid them

Apart from the obvious danger of running versions without any security updates, there are other problems with downstream packages:

See also: list of currently supported versions of xpra.

You can download the official packages here.

There is a very clear parallel to be made between security issues in vendor kernels and the lack of updates to downstream xpra packages - with the same consequences for users.

Remember: xpra gives remote access and usually gives full access to the user's home directory and applications. Do not take security issues lightly.


Specific Distributions

A great explanation of the Debian / Ubuntu packaging mess can be found here: ​Matthew Garrett: There's more than one way to exploit the commons and also here: Debian Distribution-Specific Issues.

The problems with the Ubuntu packages are so severe that they have their own wiki page

Debian's hand waving about backports is rightfully ignored here.


Proof

5.x release

This table was generated on the 2024-05-24 when 5.0.8 was the latest LTS version available. (6.0.1 released the day before)

Distribution Variant Version Shipped Known Issues
Fedora 39 and 40 ​5.0.6 Not too old, but the packaging needs updating
Ubuntu ​Focal aka 20.04 3.0.6 4 years without any fixes, numerous serious issues, dangerous
Ubuntu ​Jammy aka 22.04 ​3.1 Outdated version from a dead branch, likely unusable anyway
Ubuntu ​Noble aka 24.04 3.1.5 Outdated version from a dead branch, 1 year's worth of updates missing when released
Debian ​Buster ​2.4.3 5 years without any fixes, dangerous
Debian ​Bullseye ​3.0.13 3.5 years without any fixes, dangerous
Debian ​Bookworm ​3.0.13 3.5 years without any fixes, dangerous
Gentoo ​Stable ​4.4.5 Not a stable version, 1 year out of date
Gentoo ​Testing ​4.4.6 1 year out of date
​Arch n/a ​6.0 Great: fully up to date
3.0 release

This table was generated on the 2020-01-17 when 3.0.5 was the latest LTS version available.

Distribution Variant Version Shipped Known Issues
Fedora 30 and 31 ​3.0.3 OK: 3.0.5 in testing, their packaging unmercifully conflicts with the packages from xpra.org, also contains invalid and unnecessary dependencies
Ubuntu ​Xenial aka 16.04 ​0.15.8 over 4 years without any fixes, many known bugs and security vulnerabilities - do not use, very dangerous, missing components, etc
Ubuntu ​Bionic aka 18.04 ​2.1.3 2.5 years without any fixes, numerous serious issues, dangerous
Ubuntu ​Eoan aka 19.10 ​2.4.3 buggy, 14 months without any fixes
Debian ​Buster ​2.4.3 buggy, 14 months without any fixes
Debian ​Stretch ​0.17.6 3.5 years out of date, many known bugs and security vulnerabilities - do not use, very dangerous, missing components, etc
Gentoo ​Stable ​2.2.2 Dire: 2 years out of date!
Gentoo ​Testing ​3.0.2 Missing some important fixes, dubious patches applied
​Arch n/a ​3.0.5 Great: fully up to date
1.0 release

This table was generated on the 2017-03-18 when 1.0.4 was the latest LTS version available. (2.0 was released the day before)

Distribution Variant Version Shipped Known Issues
Fedora 24 and 25 ​1.0 missing critical updates
Ubuntu ​Trusty aka 14.04 0.12.3 not a single fix applied in 3 years, dangerous
Ubuntu Xenial aka 16.04 ​0.15.8 16 months without any fixes, based on a dead branch
Debian ​Jessie ​0.14.10 Awful: 2.5 years and 27 stable updates missing! Version no longer supported, includes known bugs, crashes and serious security vulnerabilities - dangerous!
Debian ​Jessie-backports 0.17.6 Backports an EOL version!?
Debian ​Stretch 0.17.6 EOL version, known bugs and security vulnerabilities - do not use
Gentoo ​Stable ​ 1.0.3 Not too bad: 1 minor update behind
Gentoo ​Testing 1.0.4 Good: up to date!
​Arch n/a 2.0 Great: most up to date
0.14 release

This table was last updated 2015-12-28, when 0.15.10 was the latest version available. (0.14.33 for LTS branch).

Distribution Variant Version Shipped Known Issues
Fedora 21 and 22 ​0.15.9 Up to date (0.15.10 in "testing" queue)
Ubuntu ​Precise aka 12.04 0.0.7.36 Far too many to list - not a single bug fix applied in 4 years!
Ubuntu ​Trusty aka 13.04 0.12.3 Far too many to list - not a single bug fix applied in 2 years, avoid
Ubuntu ​Vivid aka 15.04 0.14.10 Awful: 23 stable updates missing! version no longer supported, known bugs including crashes and vulnerabilities - avoid!
Debian ​Squeeze Backports 0.3.11 Fundamentally broken - do not use
Debian ​Wheezy 0.3.11 Fundamentally broken - do not use
Debian ​Wheezy-backports 0.14.10 Awful: 23 stable updates missing! version no longer supported, known bugs including crashes and vulnerabilities - avoid!
Debian ​Jessie 0.14.10 Awful: 23 stable updates missing! version no longer supported, known bugs including crashes and vulnerabilities - avoid!
Debian ​Jessie-backports 0.16.3 Not too bad
Gentoo ​Stable 0.15.6 Not too bad: 4 minor updates behind
Gentoo ​Testing ​0.15.9 Good: only one minor update behind
​Arch n/a ​0.15.9 Good: only one minor update behind
Clone this wiki locally