EOL Policy
Snort Subscriber Rule Set EOL Policy

Key Terms:

  • Branch Release: Change in the first or second decimal of the version number. Examples: Version 2.0 to 3.0, Version 2.8 to 2.9
  • Major Release: Change in the third decimal of the version number. Example: Version 2.9.6.0 to 2.9.7.0
  • Minor (or Patch) Release: Change in the fourth decimal of the version number. Example: Version 2.9.6.1 to 2.9.6.2
  • Current Version:The most recent “major” production release with the highest minor and patch releases
  • Prior Version: The major release previous to the current production release with the highest minor and patch releases
  • Legacy Version: Major releases prior to the Current and Prior Versions

The Talos Group provides updated rule sets for the Current Version and Prior Version of open source Snort available at www.snort.org. The following table depicts the versions of Snort supported by Talos under this Life Cycle Policy:

Snort Version Snort Certified Rule Set
Current Version Updates Provided
Prior Version Updates Provided*
Legacy Versions Updates cease 90 days following the notification of EOL on the Snort blog. This will occur when fewer than 10% of the userbase is using this version or 5 years, whichever is first.

*Rule updates for Prior Versions of Snort may not be identical to updates for the Current Version. Snort Subscriber Rules are developed to take advantages of the latest features in Snort. However Talos makes every effort to convert rules updates for supported Prior and Legacy Versions.

Once a new major production (stable) release of Snort is available at www.snort.org, that version now becomes the Current Version.
The following table illustrates the current Snort Subscriber Rule Set Lifecycle Policy:

Snort Version Released EOL
Snort 2.9.8.3 2016-06-22 TBD**
Snort 2.9.11.1 2018-01-04 2021-01-04
Snort 2.9.13.0 2019-01-04 TBD**
Snort 2.9.14.1 2019-08-02 TBD**
Snort 2.9.15.0 2019-10-10 2021-06-27
Snort 2.9.15.1 2020-01-06 TBD**
Snort 2.9.16.0 2020-04-15 2021-06-27
Snort 2.9.16.1 2020-08-05 TBD**
Snort 2.9.17.0 2020-11-19 TBD**
Snort 2.9.17.1 2021-03-29 TBD**
Snort 2.9.18.0 2021-06-15 2021-11-30
Snort 2.9.18.1 2021-09-01 TBD**
Snort 2.9.19.0 2021-12-02 TBD**
Snort 2.9.20.0 2022-06-07 TBD**
Snort 3.x.x.x 2021-01-19 TBD** The nature of Snort 3 allows us to keep versions around for a bit longer, so we have not set EOL schedules on Snort 3 yet. This is subject to change.

**TBD = To be determined

Cisco reserves the right to amend this policy at any time with or without notice.