MariaDB 11.8.6 (or 11.4.10/10.11.16/10.6.25) – what’s fixed and what to watch
The newest stable releases of the long‑term MariaDB series are now live. This article shows which bugs get squashed, why the upgrade matters for production servers, and where the update can still bite you.
Why bother with 11.8.6 (or its siblings)?
- InnoDB gets a handful of crash‑prevention patches – especially around TRUNCATE TABLE and doublewrite buffer recovery.
- Galera clusters receive protocol upgrades that stop accidental node downgrades and tighten SST handling.
- Several security‑related annoyances (permission checks on mariadb-dump --dir, ed25519 plugin loading) are finally resolved.
If a server has been flirting with “InnoDB: out‑of‑bounds write” errors after enabling innodb_undo_log_truncate=ON, the new build should put that nightmare to rest. The same goes for anyone who has seen “Compressed page checksum mismatch” spam their error log on compressed tables.
Quick upgrade checklist (with a twist)
Back up everything – not just a logical dump but also the InnoDB redo logs. A recent bug (MDEV‑38026) can leave .ibd files unrecoverable if the server is killed during a TRUNCATE.
The crash‑recovery code now expects a clean shutdown; an abrupt kill can corrupt the file‑creation flag.Test the dump directory permissions – on Unix, mariadb-dump --dir may fail when the dump process runs under a different OS user than the server (MDEV‑38226).
The tool checks file ownership before writing each fragment; mismatched users trigger “permission denied” even if both belong to the same group.If you run Galera, bump all nodes together – the new GCS protocol version blocks mixed‑version clusters. Trying to start a 10.6 node next to an upgraded 11.8 cluster will result in immediate SST failures.
The protocol handshake refuses unknown versions to avoid silent data divergence.Check innodb_buffer_pool_size – the release notes warn that too‑small pools can stall crash recovery (MDEV‑37558). Raise the pool until it comfortably covers your active dataset plus a safety margin for log flushing.
Run mysql_upgrade after the binaries are in place. The script will rebuild system tables and catch any lingering incompatibilities, such as the broken INSERT … RETURNING privilege check (MDEV‑37950).
Bugs that actually matter
| Area | Notable fix | Real‑world impact |
|---|---|---|
| InnoDB crash on heavy DDL (TRUNCATE/OPTIMIZE/DROP) | MDEV‑37755, MDEV‑38026 | Prevents the dreaded “InnoDB: out of bounds write” that can take a production replica offline. |
| Galera SST/IST confusion | MDEV‑31517, MDEV‑38374 | Stops endless SST loops that fill disk space and stall the whole cluster. |
| Permission leakage on INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TRIGGERS | MDEV‑37474 | Guarantees that users without TRIGGER privilege can’t peek at trigger definitions. |
| mariadb-dump --dir permission bug | MDEV‑38226 | Saves night‑shift DBAs from “Permission denied” errors when dumping as root on a multi‑user host. |
| JSON functions misbehaving | MDEV‑38356 | Avoids mysterious empty result sets that broke API responses in several web services. |
Things that still need a watchful eye
- Compressed tables – the checksum mismatch warning (MDEV‑37306) is gone, but older .ibd files may still trigger false alarms until they’re recreated with ALTER TABLE … ROW_FORMAT=COMPRESSED.
- innodb_encryption_threads – setting this variable concurrently can still cause a server hang (MDEV‑38271). Change it during a maintenance window and restart the instance.
- Parser joins crash – massive join graphs can still bring down the server (MDEV‑38168). If you generate queries with dozens of tables, consider breaking them into temporary result sets.
TL;DR
Upgrade if you’ve been hit by InnoDB crashes during DDL, run Galera clusters that need a clean protocol bump, or rely on mariadb-dump --dir in multi‑user environments. Follow the checklist above, keep an eye on buffer pool sizing, and run mysql_upgrade right after the binaries land.
MariaDB 11.8.6, 11.4.10, 10.11.16 and 10.6.25 now available
The MariaDB Foundation is pleased to announce the availability of MariaDB 11.8.6, MariaDB 11.4.10, MariaDB 10.11.16 and MariaDB 10.6.25, the latest stable releases in their respective long-term series (receiving regular maintenance and support for three years from their first stable release dates, and critical security fixes as source code releases for two additional years beyond).
MariaDB 11.8.6, 11.4.10, 10.11.16 and 10.6.25 now available - MariaDB.org
