Debian 11 (Bullseye) LTS ends August 31, 2026 — 29 days from this article's publication. After that: no free security updates at all. Why five-year-old Bullseye installs are the forgotten ones — appliances, CI runners, docker base images — the timeline, the honest migration paths, and the find-your-bullseye checklist.
Bullseye's timeline: release to wall
| Date | Event | What it meant |
|---|---|---|
| Aug 14, 2021 | Debian 11 "Bullseye" released | The new stable — full security-team coverage |
| Jun 10, 2023 | Debian 12 "Bookworm" released | Bullseye becomes oldstable; still fully patched, quietly deprioritized |
| Aug 14, 2024 | Standard security support ends | The Debian security team stops; the volunteer-and-sponsor LTS team takes over (Aug 15, 2024) |
| Aug 31, 2024 | Final point release, 11.11 | The last roll-up — everything since has been individual LTS security uploads |
| Aug 31, 2026 | LTS ends — the wall | Last free security updates, ever. No further Debian-project patches at any severity |
| Jun 30, 2031 | Freexian ELTS coverage listed through this date | Paid-only patches for subscribed packages — the bridge, not the destination |
What's covered
- The five-year-old install problem
- Bullseye's timeline: release to wall
- September 1: what breaks (nothing — that's the problem)
- The migration paths, with the wrinkle nobody mentions
- ELTS: the paid bridge
- The find-your-bullseye checklist
Full guide with every version, risk scores, and live updates: https://endoflife.ai/article-debian-11-lts-countdown
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