Just sent 61 messages to admins running very outdated copies of either Mastodon or Misskey.

No one should be using, for example, Mastodon 3.x. There is a vulnerability that allows someone to obtain limited access to the owner account.

A few people were using 4.2.x, which is so old and discontinued that the final release at the time suggested upgrading to 4.3.x — which is also now discontinued and has several known security vulnerabilities.

If you're using Mastodon 4.4.0, as legacy, know that 4.4.24 already recommends you upgrade to at minimum 4.6. or newer, The current release is 4.7.1.

No one is saying you need to always run the bleeding-edge release. But if you're going to host other people, you should attempt to keep your site relatively current. The older the site, the harder it can be to upgrade, so not falling too far behind is good planning. If you cannot do that, you really should consider joining someone else's site as opposed to running your own.

#FediAdmin #MastoAdmin

en

Replying to @⁨Gazimoff@gamepad.club⁩

@Gazimoff

Yes, I do receive replies concerning the security updates.

Often, it is simply a case of someone not being aware that there was an update because, for whatever reason, they missed the announcement. Other times — as shown in the screenshot, though I removed the names and URLs for privacy — I learn that some sites are managed by multiple people, and perhaps the person who handles the updates just needed a small nudge.

That said, the vast majority of people who receive a message concerning their site being out of date are often thankful to have been informed. 😇

A screenshot where I wrote the message: "I noticed your site is using a pre-release of Mastodon-Glitch: 4.4.0-alpha.4. The stable release of 4.4.0 came out on July 8, 2025, which means your version is quite outdated. Unfortunately, several security issues have been discovered, and at a minimum, you should be using 4.4.24 if you plan to remain on the 4.4.x branch.

However, the 4.4.x branch is reaching its end of life soon, and both Mastodon and Mastodon-Glitch recommend upgrading to 4.6.x or newer. The current release is 4.7.1."

Someone replied and tagged another user with the following reply: "when you get a moment, could you look at this?"
ALT