PipeWire, the widely used open-source multimedia server powering audio and video on many Linux systems, has released version 1.6.2. It is primarily a bugfix update, remaining fully compatible with previous 1.6.x versions at both the API and ABI levels.
One important fix addresses a potential crash caused by freeing incorrect memory. Developers also resolved an issue with shared memory optimization across certain links.
Several improvements target the audio filter stack. The release fixes initialization problems affecting SOFA and biquad filters in the filter graph. It also corrects default minimum and maximum values used by LADSPA and LV2 plugins and ensures the correct default control input is applied.
Additionally, changes in PipeWire’s modules prevent crashes when a client aborts before allocating buffer memory. Previously, the system could attempt to free invalid memory or close invalid file descriptors.
The Simple Plugin API components received several updates as well. These include support for the ACP_IGNORE_DB flag in udev, improved handling of hexadecimal values by consistently using the 0x prefix, and marking properties as write-only in libcamera. The audio mixer also received a small optimization.
Finally, the JACK compatibility layer has been updated. The jack_port_type_id() function now returns values compatible with both JACK1 and JACK2 implementations, improving interoperability with JACK-based audio software.
For more details, see the changelog. PipeWire 1.6.2 is available now as source code and is expected to reach Linux distribution repositories soon.
