Go 1.6 End of Life
Support dates, vulnerabilities published since end of life, and upgrade guidance — rebuilt from live data.
Go 1.6 reached end of life on 16 Feb 2017. It no longer receives security fixes.
Support timeline
Official dates, read directly from go.dev.
| Milestone | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Initial release | 17 Feb 2016 | 10y 8mo ago |
| Supported ended | 16 Feb 2017 | 9y 8mo ago |
| Latest release | 1.6.4 · 1 Dec 2016 | final |
The cost of staying: CVEs since end of life
169 Go vulnerabilities have been published since 16 Feb 2017. All were fixed in supported branches — 1.6 received none of them. Source: NVD.
Go CVEs published since 1.6's EOL, by year
22 of the 169 are rated critical · data refreshed 2026-10-05
Published 5 Feb 2026 · rated critical — fixed in supported branches only, never in 1.6. Details
Published 5 Oct 2017 · rated critical — fixed in supported branches only, never in 1.6. Details
Published 18 Oct 2017 · rated critical — fixed in supported branches only, never in 1.6. Details
Where to go from 1.6
Recommended target: Go 1.27.
The newest actively supported branch is Go 1.27 (latest release 1.27.1). Review go.dev before upgrading.
Frequently asked questions
Is Go 1.6 still safe to use?
No. Go 1.6 stopped receiving security fixes on 16 Feb 2017. Since then, 169 Go vulnerabilities have been published and fixed in supported branches — Go 1.6 received none of those fixes.
Can I still download Go 1.6?
Yes — the final release (1.6.4) generally remains available from vendor archives and OS package mirrors, but installing it means running software with known, unpatched vulnerabilities.
What should I upgrade Go 1.6 to?
Upgrade to Go 1.27, the newest actively supported branch.