Debian 12.5 brings a host of security updates and bug fixes to the popular Linux distribution

Debian is the oldest Linux distribution after Slackware, having first seen the light of day in 1993 and being actively developed ever since. Debian GNU/Linux is particularly valued for its stability and is therefore often used on servers, but can also be installed with a desktop such as Gnome. The point release Debian 12.5 therefore only contains bug fixes and security updates.

68 bug fixes and 42 security updates

The original version of Debian 12, codenamed "Bookworm", was released in June 2023 with the Linux 6.1 LTS ("long-term support") kernel and Gnome 43 or KDE Plasma 5.27, as well as numerous package updates. The 12.5 update, released two months after the 12.4 update, brings a total of 68 bug fixes and 42 security updates.

Among other things, security vulnerabilities in the Debian package versions of Firefox ESR ("Extended Support Release"), Thunderbird and LibreOffice are fixed, and a newly discovered vulnerability in the GNU C library (Glibc) is also among the security patches. The Linux kernel 6.1 LTS of Debian 12 receives a minor update to version 6.1.76-1 with the 12.5 update.

Many packages received updates to their stable package variants, including apktool, calibre, the Debian installer, Filezilla, MariaDB, NextCloud Desktop, PipeWire, Pluma, QEMU, systemd, usbutils and Xen. The previous Debian release "Bullseye" was also updated in parallel with version 11.9 with 70 bug fixes and 92 security updates.

Update via terminal or graphical package management

If you have already installed Debian 12, you can start the upgrade process to version 12.5 via the terminal with "sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade". Alternatively, you can use a software store such as Gnome Software or KDE's Discover, or a graphical package manager such as Synaptic. For new installations, updated ISO files are available for download as before.