Noticed the same thing. On my last server update, there was no updates available. Then two days ago I noticed that the version had jumped by two versions. I updated to 0.4.8.20 two days ago and now it tells me it's outdated. Version 0.4.8.21 doesn't even show up on my Almalinux servers for me to update.

Obviously I'm hoping this is due to glitch somewhere because I'm not going to update my servers every few days unless there's a serious security issue with 0.4.8.20


On 11/18/2025 8:31 PM, Nick Weaver via tor-relays wrote:
Was there an explicit decision made or an announcement about more rapid deprecating older server versions with the "Not recommended" flag?


My test relay (tor.icsi-berkeley.org <http://tor.icsi-berkeley.org/>, I use it as my own guard on some tests) was running 0.4.8.18, and I noticed today that it had gained the "Not Recommended" flag which meant my client(s) would not connect to it as the choice of guard.

I updated to 0.4.8.20 (as 0.4.8.21, although technically available, wasn't announced or linked to at the time on the Tor website).  It lost the "not recommended" flag but regained it again as the current consensus now only has 0.4.8.21 and 0.4.9.3-alpha as acceptable versions.

(so, well, update again)?


Was this a deliberate decision or in response to a problem patched in 0.4.8.21 (and not announced as high enough severity to require immediate updating?)  Is this going to be a policy going forward that relays should be updated within <12 hours of patch announcement?


(also, tor26 basically likes everything BUT 0.4.8.21 because that hasn't gotten added to it, I think the Tor network might be disrupted if there is no agreement at all between the 3 authorities selecting recommended version, I think there could be a situation where there is no consensus on "recommended versions" if this isn't fixed)


As of time of writing, from https://consensus-health.torproject.org/

moria1 client-versions 0.4.8.19, 0.4.8.20, 0.4.8.21, 0.4.9.3-alpha
moria1 server-versions 0.4.8.20, 0.4.8.21, 0.4.9.3-alpha

tor26 client-versions 0.4.8.4, 0.4.8.5, 0.4.8.6, 0.4.8.7, 0.4.8.8, 0.4.8.9, 0.4.8.10, 0.4.8.11, 0.4.8.12, 0.4.8.13, 0.4.8.14, 0.4.8.15, 0.4.8.16, 0.4.8.17, 0.4.8.18, 0.4.8.19, 0.4.9.1-alpha, 0.4.9.2-alpha, 0.4.9.3-alpha, (Strikethrough: 0.4.8.20, 0.4.8.21 )

tor26 server-versions 0.4.8.4, 0.4.8.5, 0.4.8.6, 0.4.8.7, 0.4.8.8, 0.4.8.9, 0.4.8.10, 0.4.8.11, 0.4.8.12, 0.4.8.13, 0.4.8.14, 0.4.8.15, 0.4.8.16, 0.4.8.17, 0.4.8.18, 0.4.8.19, 0.4.9.1-alpha, 0.4.9.2-alpha, 0.4.9.3-alpha,  (Strikethrough: 0.4.8.21 )

gabelmoo client-versions 0.4.8.19, 0.4.8.20, 0.4.8.21, 0.4.9.3-alpha

gabelmoo server-versions 0.4.8.21, 0.4.9.3-alpha

consensus client-versions 0.4.8.19, 0.4.8.20, 0.4.8.21, 0.4.9.3-alpha
server-versions 0.4.8.21, 0.4.9.3-alpha

-Nick

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