MySQL 5.7 end of life
MySQL 5.7 reached end of life on 31 October 2023, when Oracle's Extended Support for the line ended. The final release was 5.7.44, on 25 October 2023. Oracle has published no 5.7 release since. The supported route forward is 5.7 to 8.0 and then 8.0 to 8.4, because MySQL does not allow skipping a release series.
- End of life
- 31 October 2023
- Released
- Oct 2015
- Final release
- 5.7.44 (25 October 2023)
- Successor
- MySQL 8.0, then 8.4 LTS
Date published by Oracle Lifetime Support Policy and MySQL 5.7 release notes. We do not publish a lifecycle date we cannot source.
Last reviewed
What actually stops on 31 October 2023
- Community releases on the 5.7 line. Nothing has shipped since 5.7.44 in October 2023.
- Security fixes for vulnerabilities found after October 2023. Amazon has published twelve RDS Extended Support builds of 5.7.44, dated April 2024 to September 2026, each listing CVE fixes that no community release carries.
- Bug fixes for 5.7, including InnoDB and replication issues reported after the final release.
- Free standard support on managed services: Amazon RDS has billed Extended Support for 5.7 since 1 March 2024, and Azure Database for MySQL from 1 October 2026.
What actually breaks in the upgrade
Two hops: 5.7 to 8.0, then 8.0 to 8.4
A 5.7 server cannot go directly to 8.4. The first hop to 8.0 is the larger one, and 8.0 is itself end of life, so plan both hops as one programme rather than stopping at 8.0.
8.0 changed the data dictionary and the defaults
MySQL 8.0 moved metadata into a transactional data dictionary, made caching_sha2_password the default authentication plugin and changed the default character set from latin1 to utf8mb4. GROUP BY no longer sorts results implicitly. Each of these surfaces in application testing, not in the upgrade itself.
There is no downgrade from 8.0
Oracle does not support downgrading from 8.0 to 5.7. The only way back is to restore a backup taken before the upgrade, so take one, test the restore, and keep it until the application has run on 8.0 through a full business cycle.
Your options, costed honestly
Including the ones that do not involve buying anything from us.
| Option | What it is | Effort | Cost | Our view |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Upgrade through 8.0 to 8.4 | Two supported hops, ending on an LTS with Premier Support to April 2029. | Weeks to months, depending on application testing | Engineering time | The right destination. Budget for the 8.0 behaviour changes, which do most of the damage. |
| Move to MariaDB | MariaDB can upgrade data files from MySQL releases before 8.0. | Weeks, mainly compatibility testing | Engineering time | Worth evaluating if you already run MariaDB elsewhere. Behaviour has diverged, so test like any other migration. |
| OSSeva patched 5.7 builds | Signed 5.7 Community builds with security fixes backported. | Days | Subscription, priced per cluster | Covers the servers that cannot move until an application vendor certifies 8.0 or later. |
| Stay on 5.7.44 unpatched | Three years of fixes missing and growing. | None | Zero now | Hard to defend in any audit. The gap is now larger than for 8.0. |
What OSSeva does for MySQL 5.7
OSSeva patches this line
OSSeva backports security fixes to MySQL 5.7 Community Edition and ships signed packages and container images on the Patch, Assure and Operate tiers. Assure adds the two-hop upgrade plan through 8.0 to 8.4, and Operate runs it. Enterprise-only components are not part of these builds.
MySQL extended supportWhat your auditor will say
The database is a system component in its own right. An unsupported MySQL version with no patch source is a finding; a documented third-party patch stream is the usual remediation.
Auditors ask for evidence that production systems receive security fixes. A MySQL line past end of life fails that test unless another supplier ships the fixes and can show which CVEs they close.
For EU financial entities, the ICT risk and third-party provisions apply when a critical service depends on a database with no support arrangement in place.
MySQL 5.7: common questions
When did MySQL 5.7 reach end of life?
On 31 October 2023, when Oracle's Extended Support for 5.7 ended. The final release was 5.7.44, on 25 October 2023.
Is MySQL 5.7 still supported on AWS?
Only under paid RDS Extended Support, which started on 1 March 2024 and runs to 30 June 2029.
Is MySQL 5.7 still supported on Azure?
Standard support ended on 30 September 2026. Azure Database for MySQL enrolled 5.7 servers in paid Extended Support from 1 October 2026, to 31 March 2029.
Can I upgrade MySQL 5.7 directly to 8.4?
No. MySQL does not allow skipping a series, so 5.7 upgrades to 8.0 first and then to 8.4.
Can I get security patches for MySQL 5.7?
Yes. OSSeva ships patched, signed MySQL 5.7 Community builds for self-managed servers. Amazon RDS and Azure patch 5.7 instances on their own services under paid extended support.
Still running MySQL 5.7?
Tell us the versions and the estate size. We will tell you honestly whether to upgrade or to buy cover — and we say 'upgrade' more often than you would expect.