Clarification on Go 1.24.x Support Status and Go 1.25.x Compatibility
emtarao rao
Hello Go Team,
We are currently upgrading one of our production systems (a Kubernetes operator written in Go) to Go 1.24.13 in order to address recently disclosed security vulnerabilities.
We manage and maintain our operator project by strictly following the official Operator SDK upgrade instructions and version compatibility guidelines. Our current Operator SDK version specifies Go 1.24 as the required version.
While reviewing lifecycle information on various third-party sites, we noticed some conflicting information suggesting that Go 1.24 may have reached end-of-support as of February 2026. However, based on our understanding of the official Go release policy (that a minor version remains supported until two newer minor versions are released), it appears that Go 1.24 should still be within its supported window.
Could you please clarify:
Is Go 1.24 (including patch releases such as 1.24.13) still receiving security and critical fixes?
Has Go 1.24 officially reached end-of-life, or is it still supported under the current two-release policy?
Is there an official reference page that explicitly lists the current support status of each minor version?
Additionally, from a Go compatibility and support perspective, would upgrading to Go 1.25.x (for example 1.25.7) be considered safe and fully supported, assuming all builds and tests pass? We would like to ensure alignment with both security best practices and official Go support guidance while continuing to follow Operator SDK compatibility recommendations.
This clarification will help us align our upgrade and compliance strategy correctly for production systems.
Thank you for your guidance.
Best regards,
M. Tarkeshwar Rao
Camila Macedo
Dear Tarkeshwar,
I hope that the following answers your questions.
From the Operator SDK side, the Go version is mainly driven by the upstream dependency chain:
Operator SDK (is built on top of/ depends on) -> Kubebuilder (that scaffolds code which uses) -> controller-runtime / controller-tools -> (which depends on) Kubernetes
Given that, the Go version of the code scaffold by the tools Operator-SDK/Kubebuilder is the same as controller-runtime, which is the same as Kubernetes
Because these projects cannot test every possible combination, it’s best to follow their tested compatibility matrices:Note: However, this does not mean it will not work. It just means projects cannot realistically test and confirm every possible version combination.
- controller-runtime compatibility: https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/controller-runtime?tab=readme-ov-file#compatibility
- Kubebuilder versions/supportability: https://book.kubebuilder.io/versions_compatibility_supportability
Practical guidance:
Note: controller-runtime usually does not pin to a specific Go patch version (like 1.24.13) because that would force every project that depends on it to upgrade to that exact patch or higher
- If your current controller-runtime dep version is based on Go 1.24, then using any Go 1.24.x patch release (for example 1.24.13) is normally fine.
- Usually, is not recommend jumping to a different Go minor version (1.24 -> 1.25)
Instead, it targets a Go minor version (like 1.24) so consumers can use any Go 1.24.x patch they already have.
This makes the library easier to adopt, since not all teams can move to the very latest patch at the same time for valid reasons.
About Go’s official support policy (this is Go itself, not Operator SDK/Operator Framework question persei):
But Go supports the last two minor releases. Security and critical fixes seems that are provided only for supported releases.
- Official policy reference: https://go.dev/doc/devel/release#policy
- Go release policy and history: https://go.dev/doc/devel/release
- Go release cycle / maintenance rule: https://go.dev/wiki/Go-Release-Cycle
Best Regards,
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