Ubuntu’s current LTS version (24.04) contains ffmpeg version 7:6.1.1-3ubuntu5 which has this buffer overflow vulnerability:
https://trac.ffmpeg.org/ticket/10952
https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2024-32230
On my only Ubuntu computer, my update widget says that I need to upgrade to ffmpeg version 7:6.1.1-3ubuntu5+esm2 but can only only do so with Ubuntu Pro. I’m not eligible for Ubuntu Pro.
Ubuntu claims that 24.04 is currently fully supported, and should have complete security updates. However, they seem to have paywalled this security update.
What should I do?
It sure seems that way. Their “extended security maintenance” spam says that there are security updates that are only available if you “subscribe”.
I asked the Linux community about this, and didn’t get a straight answer (not surprised.)
It was enough for me to switch to Debian, though. There’s no excuse for updates to be locked behind paywalls or sign-ups in the free software ecosystem.
Of course because you are also working for free, right? Btw. Ubuntu PRO is free for up to 5 devices…
The way I understand it is that the security team supports releases for 5 years. If you are running an older version of ubuntu than that and want security backports, you need to get the extended support. The difference in Debian is that when a release is too old, the security team simply doesn’t backport security fixes. You can pay someone to do it, but it’s not a part of what Debian as a project does.
The Ubuntu security team only supports the ~2,000 packages in “main”
Things like ffmpeg are in “universe” and only get security updates if you subscribe to Ubuntu Pro
ubuntu.com/security/esm
Debian’s security team has always been significantly more responsive than Ubuntu. It’s regularly had CVE fixes in older versions of Debian that newer versions of Ubuntu don’t bother to pull into universe