January Update for openSUSE Tumbleweed

In the latest monthly update for openSUSE Tumbleweed in January 2024, the distribution unveils a new format to better communicate major changes, improvements, and key issues. This update is now recommended by contributors involved in openSUSE’s marketing efforts.

Kernel and Hardware Support #

The Linux Kernel receives updates to versions 6.6.7, 6.6.9, 6.6.10, 6.6.11, and 6.7.1, addressing memory management and security vulnerabilities. Notable enhancements include PCI updates for Zhaoxin Root Ports, contributing to improved compatibility and performance for Zhaoxin’s CPUs and motherboards.

Browser and Graphics Updates #

Mozilla Firefox is updated to version 121.0 and 121.0.1, resolving issues such as hanging when loading sites with column-based layouts. The KDE Frameworks update to version 5.114.0 brings significant improvements, including fixes in Extra CMake Modules, holiday additions for Kenya, and adjustments for AVIF in KImageFormats.

The Mesa update to version 23.3.3 introduces a new Vulkan driver for NVIDIA hardware (NVK) in the experimental phase. This marks a step forward in support for NVIDIA GPUs, accompanied by enhancements in graphics performance and compatibility for Asahi and RADV.

System Management and PHP Enhancements #

Systemd sees updates to version 254.8, focusing on the cautious resolution of reported bugs and ensuring stability in device management systems. PHP is updated from version 8.2.14 to 8.2.15, bringing fixes for SSA integrity verification, improvements in CLI built-in web server timeouts, and resolving issues with stream wrapper registration.

Multimedia and Networking #

GStreamer is updated to version 1.22.8, addressing vulnerabilities in the AV1 video codec parser and making improvements in reverse playback and seeking in qtdemux. Samba sees updates to version 4.19.4, resolving issues related to the machine account password, improving documentation generation, and addressing critical vulnerabilities and bugs.

Security and Bug Fixes #

The update includes critical security patches across various packages, with notable improvements in Firefox, systemd, Samba, and PHP. Multiple Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs) are addressed in packages like xorg-x11-server, xwayland, gnutls, java-11-openjdk, and samba, enhancing overall security and stability.