Why can't we get a proper installation method to keep OpenSSL at the latest revision for Linux?

[Tomas Mraz]

If you use a supported distro (i.e., one that is not out of life) then
the distro is expected to supply CVE issue fixes in form of updates.
They usually do not upgrade the version to the upstream one but just
backport the security fixes and that's the reason why the version does
not change.

Tomas

On Mon, 2021-05-31 at 11:01 +0000, Michael McKenney via openssl-users
wrote:
> My wordpress servers are under constant attack.  My Fortinet 60E
> firewall logs are filled.  Openssl is constantly reported on The
> Hacker News and other sites.   So I don’t need to worry about
> upgrading OpenSSL in the future to 1.1.1k or above?   I can just use
> what the distro has to offer by apt?  Ubuntu 20.04 started with
> 1.1.1f.    My Kali server is mainly used for Try Hack Me challenges
> and learn cyber security. 
>  
> From: Jan Just Keijser <janjust at nikhef.nl> 
> Sent: Monday, May 31, 2021 5:55 AM
> To: Michael McKenney <mike.mckenney at scsiraidguru.com>; 
> openssl-users at openssl.org
> Subject: Re: Why can't we get a proper installation method to keep
> OpenSSL at the latest revision for Linux?
>  
> On 30/05/21 14:05, Michael McKenney wrote:
> > Why can't we get a proper installation method to keep OpenSSL at
> > the latest revision for Linux?
> > 
> > My biggest compliant with Linux is it is so difficult to get best
> > practice installations for services like OpenSSL.   Ubuntu is still
> > on 1.1.1f.    I have been trying to upgrade to 1.1.1k.   Openssl
> > version -a states I am on 1.1.1k.   When programs in Wordpress that
> > use OpenSSL show I am using 1.1.1.f.   Spending hours of time on
> > various sites like AskUbuntu.com, only to be disappointed.  
> > Microsoft has best practices guides for installations.   Why can’t
> > we get them for Linux.
> >  
> >  
> 
> this is both very hard and undesirable: 
> openssl can be regarded as a low-level system library that is used by
> many applications across the entire Linux distribution. You cannot
> simply upgrade this low-level system library without breaking these
> applications. Admittedly, for an upgrade from 1.1.1f -> 1.1.1k the
> risk of introducing an API change is quite low, but for anything else
> (e.g. 1.1.0x -> 1.1.1k) you will almost certainly have to rebuild and
> relink all applications that depend on the OpenSSL libraries. 
> This is not something you can expect from the Linux distro
> maintainers. For them, it is far less risky to backport security
> fixes to the version of OpenSSL that they built their distro on (e.g.
> Ubuntu 20 > 1.1.1f; CentOS 7 -> 1.0.2k (yes!), etc).
> 
> Note that most update woes that Windows 10 has had over the past few
> years were related to library updates breaking applications - so even
> microsoft has problems with "best practices".
> 
> HTH,
> 
> JJK
-- 
Tomáš Mráz
No matter how far down the wrong road you've gone, turn back.
                                              Turkish proverb
[You'll know whether the road is wrong if you carefully listen to your
conscience.]