Red Hat Advanced Cluster Security for Kubernetes Support Policy

Overview

Red Hat provides a published product life cycle for Red Hat Advanced Cluster Security for Kubernetes (“RH ACS” or “ACS”), in order for customers and partners to effectively plan, deploy, and support their infrastructure. Red Hat publishes this life cycle in an effort to provide as much transparency as possible and may make exceptions from these policies as conflicts may arise.

Red Hat Advanced Cluster Security for Kubernetes provides a time-delineated, phased life cycle. Starting with RH ACS 4.4, Red Hat aims to forecast releases at a 4 month cadence, providing customers ample opportunity to plan for upgrades.

All released errata will remain accessible to active subscribers across the entire life cycle.

RHACS detailed compatibility and support matrix is available here.

Life Cycle Dates

The Red Hat Advanced Cluster Security for Kubernetes Life Cycle dates are described in the table below:

Life Cycle Phases

Full Support

This phase begins at the GA/release of the minor version and ends after a 6 month period.

Full support is provided according to the published Scope of Coverage and Service Level Agreement.

During the Full Support Phase, qualified Critical and Important Security Advisories (RHSAs) will be released as they become available. Urgent and Selected High Priority Bug Fix Advisories (RHBAs) will be released as they become available; all other available fix and qualified patches may be released via periodic updates. In order to receive security and bug fixes, customers are expected to upgrade their RH ACS environment to the most current supported micro (4.x.z) version.

Maintenance Support

Available for RH ACS 4.4 releases and newer

This phase commences after the Full Support phase for the respective minor version and ends at 10 months after GA, providing 4 months of Maintenance Support per release.

During the Maintenance Support phase, qualified Critical and Important Security Advisories (RHSAs) will be released as they become available. Urgent and Selected High Priority Bug Fix Advisories (RHBAs) may be released as they become available. Other Bug Fix and Enhancement (RHEA) Advisories may be released at Red Hat’s discretion, but should not be expected. New features or enhancements will not be provided.

At the end of the maintenance support phase, software and documentation will continue to be available to customers however no technical support will be provided except assistance to upgrade to a supported version.

Scope of Coverage

Disclaimer: RHACS External Security Data Sources

Red Hat Advanced Cluster Security for Kubernetes ("RHACS") uses vulnerability data integrated from various sources and third-party providers when conducting security scanning. As a user of RHACS, you should review the following important considerations:

  • Security Data Providers: RHACS aggregates security intelligence from Red Hat Product Security published security data as well as independent third-party data sources. The specific security data sources are documented in RHACS Documentation here.
  • Availability and Data Integrity: Because these data sources are managed independently of RHACS, Red Hat cannot guarantee their ongoing availability, format compatibility, completeness, precision, or refresh frequency. For example, third-party providers might alter data schemas, deprecate feeds, adjust delivery systems, or terminate services at any time without notifying Red Hat.
  • Consequences for Vulnerability Scanning: Any disruption, discontinuation, or incompatible formatting change in a data source might degrade or disable RHACS vulnerability reporting capabilities. When detectable, RHACS will indicate relevant issues affecting these data sources. Red Hat will make commercially reasonable efforts to adapt to any data source feed modifications in subsequent product versions.
  • Recommendation: To maximise compatibility with Red Hat Product Security published security data as well as third-party security data feeds, you are strongly advised to keep your RHACS environment updated to the latest release.