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SimpleSAMLphp

DEVOPS
Velocity5.0

SAML identity and service provider implementation in PHP

Two maintenance branches, patched in lockstep, with release notes that say nothing but a checksum.

samlidentitysecurity-releasesmaintenancedual-branch
◆Current state
SimpleSAMLphp is running parallel 2.4 and 2.5 maintenance branches and patching both whenever a fix lands. The August sequence is representative: a 2.4.9 bugfix, a coordinated 2.5.3 security drop re-tagged hours later as 2.5.3.1, and now a 2.4.10 bugfix closing the month on the older branch. Release bodies carry no changelog text at all, just a download link, an upgrade-notes pointer and SHA256 checksums, so the feed tells operators when to patch but never what changed.
◆Where it's heading
This is maintenance cadence, not product development, and the shape of it is stable enough to predict. Security issues get simultaneous twin tags across both supported branches; everything else lands as a branch-local bugfix point, alternating between 2.4 and 2.5 every few weeks. The only release in the window that documented its own content was v2.4.6/v2.5.1 in May, which listed three GHSA advisories — the exception that shows the notes could carry detail and normally do not.
◆Prediction
Expect the alternation to continue, with the next paired 2.4.x and 2.5.x tags arriving together whenever an advisory lands and content again deferred to the external changelog.

◆Recent moves

  1. 1mo ago

    Bugfix release on the 2.4 maintenance branch

    A bugfix point release on the older 2.4 branch, arriving three weeks after the 2.5 security drop with the same checksum-only body. It keeps the legacy branch current for sites that have not moved to 2.5, and describes nothing user-visible.

    View source ↗
  2. 2mo ago

    Security release on the 2.5 branch (re-tagged)

    A security release on the 2.5 branch, tagged v2.5.3.1 roughly seven hours after the v2.5.3 tag with different checksums — a re-tag of the same release rather than a second fix. Operators need to patch, but the body documents nothing beyond hashes.

    View source ↗
  3. 2mo ago

    Security release on the 2.5 branch

    The original v2.5.3 security tag, twinned with the v2.5.3.1 re-tag later the same day. Same maintenance rhythm as the rest of the feed: patch now, read the external changelog to find out why.

    View source ↗
  4. 2mo ago

    Bugfix release on the 2.4 maintenance branch

    A bugfix point release on the older 2.4 branch, landing a day before the 2.5 security drop. Nothing user-visible is described — it keeps the legacy branch current for sites that have not moved to 2.5.

    View source ↗
  5. 3mo ago

    Bugfix release on the 2.4 maintenance branch

    Another 2.4 bugfix point with a checksum-only body. It fits the branch-local maintenance half of the pattern, where non-security work ships alone rather than as a twin.

    View source ↗
  6. 4mo ago

    Bugfix release on the 2.5 branch

    A 2.5 bugfix release from June, documented only by its hashes. Paired in time with the 2.4.7 tag the day before, showing the branches move together even outside security events.

    View source ↗