GNOME 49.5, the fifth maintenance update for the old-stable GNOME 49 series, has just been released, introducing updates to core components, including GNOME Shell 49.5, Mutter 49.5, Nautilus 49.5, GNOME Control Center 49.6, Epiphany 49.7, and GLib 2.86.4.
Additional updates include GTK+ 3.24.52, GVFS 1.58.4, Libadwaita 1.8.5.1, and libsoup 3.6.6, plus multiple security fixes in GLib 2.86.4, addressing vulnerabilities such as buffer underflows and out-of-bounds memory access during base64 handling and content parsing.
The GNOME Shell update resolves several user-facing issues, including stale folder icons after pinning applications, incorrect logout actions in menus, and keyboard layout changes after entering a password. It also includes accessibility improvements to app folders, general stability fixes, and memory-leak cleanups.
On the compositor side, Mutter 49.5 addresses crashes and input issues, including touchscreen behavior after power-saving mode and the correct delivery of touch input. Additional fixes improve plane switching across CRTCs and overall stability.
Nautilus 49.5 file manager resolves a crash when searching starred locations and eliminates unnecessary delays before enabling the “Skip” button. GNOME Web (Epiphany) 49.7 restores its previous adblock filter set to address site compatibility regressions from earlier 49.x updates.
GTK+ 3.24.52 includes bug fixes, such as crash resolutions related to Wayland and improved accessibility event handling. GVFS updates address FTP security issues and enhances stability. Libsoup 3.6.6 provides fixes for HTTP handling, including validation and memory safety improvements.
Other updated components include GNOME Remote Desktop with crash fixes, GNOME Online Accounts with SMTP configuration corrections, and Orca 49.6, the screen reader, with enhancements to screen reader behavior, braille handling, and speech output consistency.
Several modules remain unchanged, including GNOME Software, GNOME Settings Daemon, and GNOME Terminal components, indicating this release is focused on maintenance rather than new features.
For more information, visit the announcement or review all the changes here.
For users already on GNOME 49, updating to GNOME 49.5 is straightforward through their distribution’s regular update mechanism.
