FreeRDP 3.31 has been released today as a security and bug-fix update to the popular open-source implementation of Microsoft’s Remote Desktop Protocol.
The project describes this as a “huge bugfix and security release,” addressing many smaller and more serious reports since the previous version. The release announcement links to 22 GitHub Security Advisories covering issues addressed in this version.
There are also some welcome performance improvements. According to the developers, the most noticeable user-facing change is an optimization to the YUV decoder that should result in faster client-side graphics during AVC/H.264 Remote Desktop sessions.
H.264 support has received some additional attention as well, with FreeRDP now supporting more hardware decoders. This can allow compatible systems to offload more of the video decoding work to dedicated hardware rather than relying entirely on the CPU.
AV1 decoding has also changed, with FreeRDP now using the widely adopted dav1d decoder for handling AV1 content.
Moreover, the SDL client now stops drawing when its update queue is empty, reducing unnecessary CPU usage. The release also corrects scaled drawing and adds image clipboard support for the SDL client.
Linux desktop users get several smaller fixes too. The X11 client now handles invalid monitor indexes more safely, fixes an infinite clipboard request loop, and addresses hardware GDI surface creation. FreeRDP also fixes RemoteApp window maximization behavior under the Cinnamon desktop.
Clipboard handling received further corrections on both the client and server sides, while authentication, smart card handling, USB redirection, audio, dynamic channels, and gateway functionality all saw various stability and safety improvements.
FreeRDP 3.31 is available now from the project’s official download servers and GitHub repository. For more information, see the release announcement and the full GitHub changelog.
