From 1aeba33d8ffcc4882566881420e1106c9dff61f3 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Yu Watanabe <watanabe.yu+github@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 5 Jan 2026 13:24:21 +0900
Subject: [PATCH] Bump required minimum kernel version to 5.10 and the
 recommended baseline to 5.14.

The previous minimum required version 5.4 will be EOL on 2025-12.
Let's bump the required minimum kernel version to the next LTS release 5.10
(released on 2020-12-13, EOL on 2026-12, CIP support until 2031-01).

The new recommended baseline 5.14 is the version that CentOS 9 uses.
CentOS 9 will EOL on 2027-05.

See also #38608.
---
 README                | 23 +++++++++++------------
 src/basic/constants.h |  2 +-
 2 files changed, 12 insertions(+), 13 deletions(-)

diff --git a/README b/README
index 766863e4bc..ce25c1e3a1 100644
--- a/README
+++ b/README
@@ -47,25 +47,24 @@ REQUIREMENTS:
                      ≥ 5.3 for bounded loops in BPF program, keyring namespacing,
                                and nexthop support
                      ≥ 5.4 for pidfd and signed Verity images
-
-        ⛔ Kernel versions below 5.4 ("minimum baseline") are not supported at all,
-           and are missing required functionality as listed above.
-
-        Linux kernel ≥ 5.6 for getrandom() GRND_INSECURE
+                     ≥ 5.6 for getrandom() GRND_INSECURE
                      ≥ 5.7 for CLONE_INTO_CGROUP, cgroup2fs memory_recursiveprot option,
                                BPF links and the BPF LSM hook
+                     ≥ 5.8 for LOOP_CONFIGURE and STATX_ATTR_MOUNT_ROOT
+                     ≥ 5.9 for close_range()
 
-        ⚠️ Kernel versions below 5.7 ("recommended baseline") have significant gaps
+        ⛔ Kernel versions below 5.10 ("minimum baseline") are not supported at all,
+           and are missing required functionality as listed above.
+
+        Linux kernel ≥ 5.12 for idmapped mount
+                     ≥ 5.14 for cgroup.kill and quotactl_fd()
+
+        ⚠️ Kernel versions below 5.14 ("recommended baseline") have significant gaps
            in functionality and are not recommended for use with this version
            of systemd. Taint flag 'old-kernel' will be set. systemd will most likely
            still function, but upstream support and testing are limited.
 
-        Linux kernel ≥ 5.8 for LOOP_CONFIGURE and STATX_ATTR_MOUNT_ROOT
-                     ≥ 5.9 for close_range()
-                     ≥ 5.12 for idmapped mount
-                     ≥ 5.14 for cgroup.kill
-                     ≥ 5.14 for quotactl_fd()
-                     ≥ 6.3 for MFD_EXEC/MFD_NOEXEC_SEAL and tmpfs noswap option
+        Linux kernel ≥ 6.3 for MFD_EXEC/MFD_NOEXEC_SEAL and tmpfs noswap option
                      ≥ 6.5 for name_to_handle_at() AT_HANDLE_FID, SO_PEERPIDFD/SO_PASSPIDFD,
                                and MOVE_MOUNT_BENEATH
                      ≥ 6.6 for quota support on tmpfs
diff --git a/src/basic/constants.h b/src/basic/constants.h
index a26cff4062..ab1ae59437 100644
--- a/src/basic/constants.h
+++ b/src/basic/constants.h
@@ -68,4 +68,4 @@
 #define VARLINK_PATH_MACHINED_RESOLVE_HOOK "/run/systemd/resolve.hook/io.systemd.Machine"
 
 /* Recommended baseline - see README for details */
-#define KERNEL_BASELINE_VERSION "5.7"
+#define KERNEL_BASELINE_VERSION "5.14"