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TuxCare BlogThe Security Gap: Why Canonical’s Livepatch Falls Short of True Protection
by Joao Correia
March 10, 2025 - Technical Evangelist
Continuous system availability and protection against vulnerabilities are non-negotiable for enterprises. Live patching solutions promise to deliver security updates without the disruption of reboots or maintenance windows. However, not all live patching solutions deliver equal protection—and the differences can leave your systems dangerously exposed.
Our comprehensive analysis reveals critical gaps in Canonical’s Livepatch solution that significantly undermine its effectiveness as a security tool. These findings highlight why organizations seeking genuine protection are increasingly turning to more robust alternatives like TuxCare’s KernelCare Enterprise.
The Coverage Crisis: 90-95% of Vulnerabilities Left Unpatched
Perhaps the most alarming discovery about Canonical’s Livepatch is its extremely limited coverage of actual vulnerabilities. Despite marketing claims, our research confirms that Livepatch addresses only 5-10% of all Ubuntu CVEs.
This means that up to 95% of known vulnerabilities in Ubuntu systems remain unpatched when relying solely on Livepatch—creating a dangerous false sense of security for system administrators who believe their systems are protected.
On the other hand, KernelCare Enterprise provides up to 100% coverage for vendor-addressed CVEs. This comprehensive approach extends beyond the baseline to include patches for vulnerabilities that vendors haven’t addressed but are actively exploited in the wild (as documented in CISA’s catalog of known exploited vulnerabilities).
The practical implication is clear: with Livepatch, administrators are still forced to schedule disruptive reboots to fully secure their systems—defeating the primary purpose of implementing a live patching solution in the first place.
The Hidden Reboot Requirement: Canonical’s Ticking Clock
Canonical imposes a strict and often overlooked limitation on Livepatch users: a mandatory reboot after some months. This “sliding support window” means that any Ubuntu LTS GA kernel that hasn’t been rebooted within that timeframe will stop receiving live patches entirely.
This constraint directly contradicts the core promise of live patching technology—eliminating the need for maintenance windows and system reboots. Instead, Livepatch merely postpones the inevitable, forcing organizations to adjust their operations around Canonical’s arbitrary timeline rather than their own business needs.
KernelCare Enterprise eliminates this artificial constraint, offering a practically unlimited kernel patching lifetime. Our solution enables organizations to maintain continuous protection for existing kernels without enforced reboot deadlines, providing the flexibility that true live patching should deliver.
The Rollback Problem: Trapped in a Patched State
When security patches have unintended consequences—such as the significant performance impacts seen with Spectre and Meltdown mitigations—administrators need the ability to quickly revert changes. However, Canonical Livepatch offers no mechanism for rebootless rollbacks.
If a Livepatch creates issues in your environment, you’re faced with an impossible choice: endure the problems or schedule a disruptive system reboot to remove the patch. Either option can result in costly service interruptions and resource allocation challenges.
KernelCare Enterprise solves this critical limitation with built-in rebootless rollback functionality. With a single command, administrators can instantly restore the previous system state without any downtime—maintaining both security and operational stability on your terms.
Beyond Kernel Security: The Complete Protection Gap
While kernel vulnerabilities receive significant attention, they represent only part of the security equation. Critical userspace components like OpenSSL and glibc are frequent targets for attackers, with vulnerabilities in these libraries leading to some of the most devastating security incidents in recent history.
Canonical Livepatch addresses only kernel-level vulnerabilities, leaving these critical userspace components exposed. This means that despite implementing Livepatch, organizations must still schedule disruptive reboots to apply security fixes for these essential libraries.
KernelCare Enterprise extends protection beyond the kernel to include critical shared libraries, providing true end-to-end rebootless security. This comprehensive approach ensures that your systems remain protected across the entire stack without the need for maintenance windows or service disruptions.
The Multi-Distribution Challenge
Many enterprise environments rely on multiple Linux distributions, each optimized for different workloads. Canonical Livepatch supports only Ubuntu systems, creating significant gaps in any live patching strategy for heterogeneous environments.
KernelCare Enterprise eliminates these limitations by supporting over 60 enterprise-grade Linux distributions and more than 9,000 distribution-kernel version combinations. This includes Ubuntu, Debian, RHEL, Oracle Linux, AlmaLinux, Rocky Linux, Amazon Linux, and many others—ensuring consistent protection across your entire Linux infrastructure.
The Cost Equation: Value vs. Investment
While security should never be compromised for cost considerations, the value proposition cannot be ignored. Canonical Livepatch is available only as part of Ubuntu Pro subscriptions, with costs ranging from $225 to $3,400 per machine per year depending on the tier. If you just need Livepatch, there’s no option available – you have to take the whole package, regardless of actually having a use case for it or not.
KernelCare Enterprise delivers superior coverage, functionality, and flexibility at less than $50 per server per year—a fraction of Canonical’s cost for significantly greater protection and operational benefits.
The Clear Choice for Enterprise Security
The evidence is clear: Canonical’s Livepatch fails to deliver on the core promises of live patching technology. Its limited vulnerability coverage (addressing only 5-10% of CVEs), forced reboot requirements, inability to roll back problematic patches without reboots, and restricted distribution support create significant security and operational gaps for organizations.
KernelCare Enterprise overcomes these limitations with up to 100% vulnerability coverage, no enforced reboot deadlines, seamless rollback functionality, and broad multi-distribution support—all at a substantially lower cost.
For organizations serious about maintaining continuous security without sacrificing system availability, the choice between these solutions is evident in the facts. KernelCare Enterprise delivers what Livepatch only promises: true rebootless security that eliminates downtime, reduces risk, and simplifies operations across your entire Linux environment.
