Debian LTS and ELTS - June 2025

[Sylvain Beucler <beuc@beuc.net>]

Here is my public monthly report.

Thanks to our sponsors for making this possible, and to Freexian for
handling the offering.
https://www.freexian.com/lts/debian/#sponsors


LTS

- dns-root-data
  - non-security upload: update DNSSEC-related reference data
  - DLA-4226-1
    https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/06/msg00024.html

- nginx
  - Specific upload for Lua scripting language integration CVEs,
    one of them from a $35K bounty reward
  - Specific testing (cf. documentation below)
  - DLA 4228-1
    https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/06/msg00026.html

- glibc
  - Following Bookworm 12.11, investigate rebuilding static C
    executables
    https://salsa.debian.org/lts-team/lts-updates-tasks/-/issues/227
    https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts/2025/06/msg00016.html

- While looking for packages to work on, drop 3 packages not
  DLA-worthy from the work queue, re-add 1 golang package with
  incomplete rebuild, clarify/update status for 4 others
  https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=1104729
  https://salsa.debian.org/lts-team/lts-updates-tasks/-/issues/187


ELTS

- mercurial
  - Take over Andreas' work, following difficult test suite regression
  - Re-enable failing test and identify dual regression source:
    - high closeness to Python validation for e-mails, as seen in April
    - actual regression in last Python 2.7 ELA (see python2.7 below)
  - Fix other testsuites issues, autopkgtests are now functional and
    should detect e.g. any new python2.7 regression early, in both
    ELTS CI and Salsa CI
  - Investigate multiple issues with ELTS CI (cf. tooling below)
  - ELA-1463-1
    https://www.freexian.com/lts/extended/updates/ela-1463-1-mercurial/

- python2.7
  - Fix regression in previous ELA (extra Unicode object conversion)
  - ELA-1347-2
    https://www.freexian.com/lts/extended/updates/ela-1347-2-python2.7/
    ELA-1348-2
    https://www.freexian.com/lts/extended/updates/ela-1348-2-python2.7/

- poppler (follow-up from last month)
  - Identify packages impacted by private API change: rebuild 'boomaga'
  - Salsa CI configuration
  - ELA-1467-1
    https://www.freexian.com/lts/extended/updates/ela-1467-1-poppler/
    ELA-1468-1
    https://www.freexian.com/lts/extended/updates/ela-1468-1-poppler/


Common documentation and tooling

- LTS Documentation

  - TestSuites
    - poppler: new page, API/ABI compatibility issues
      https://lts-team.pages.debian.net/wiki/TestSuites/poppler.html
    - dns-root-data: new page, Salsa CI limitations
      https://lts-team.pages.debian.net/wiki/TestSuites/dns-root-data.html
    - nginx: refresh stretch -> bullseye, and expand
      https://lts-team.pages.debian.net/wiki/TestSuites/nginx.html
    - autopkgtest: alternate local APT method; update bullseye LXC setup
      https://lts-team.pages.debian.net/wiki/TestSuites/autopkgtest.html
    - golang: clarification
      https://lts-team.pages.debian.net/wiki/TestSuites/golang.html#with-dose-extra

  - Development: new git tag check procedure
    https://lts-team.pages.debian.net/wiki/Development.html#publish-the-git-repository-and-tags

  - Code Sanitizers (ASan)
    - Merge pending request
      https://salsa.debian.org/lts-team/lts-team.pages.debian.net/-/merge_requests/19
    - How to disable LeakSanitizer during ./configure
      https://lts-team.pages.debian.net/howtos/lts-Development-Asan.html

  - Howto: Create an arm* VM: clarifications, improve APT setup,
    document limitations
    https://lts-team.pages.debian.net/howtos/arm-vm.html

- Debian Wiki

  - Salsa: new section on CI networking setup + links to/from SalsaCI
    https://wiki.debian.org/Salsa/Doc#Runners_networking

- Internal documentation

  - Extra hours: regroup and recap information send by coordinators

  - ublock-origin: document specific procedure (update for
    externally-supported ESR browser)

- Tooling

  - Salsa CI: extract-source job: report inadequate package sources
    https://salsa.debian.org/salsa-ci-team/pipeline/-/issues/452
    https://salsa.debian.org/salsa-ci-team/pipeline/-/issues/343#note_621811

  - ELTS CI
    - Investigate hardlinks-related CI failure with helmut, eventually
      tracked down to multi-filesystem overlayfs setup (now fixed)
      https://docs.kernel.org/filesystems/overlayfs.html#overlay-objects
    - Report another ELTS CI network performance issue, eventually
      tracked down to auto-apt-proxy bug
      https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=1107997
    - Report different package priority between build and test phases,
      for the staging repository (on-going investigation)

  - debusine
    - beta-test ELTS workflow (with nginx package)
      https://debusine.debian.net/debian/developers/work-request/101073/
    - piuparts task: report issue with conflicting binary packages
      from the same source
      https://salsa.debian.org/freexian-team/debusine/-/issues/952

- Discussions

  - Internal thread on handling not-affected CVEs with more certainty

  - Support for non-free and more specifically nvidia packages
    https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts/2025/06/msg00030.html

  - Exchanges with coordinator on thought process during Front-Desk
    packages triage

- Team Meeting (via Jitsi)
  https://lts-team.pages.debian.net/wiki/Meetings.html
  https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts/2025/06/msg00040.html
  Suggest setting up debugging tooling for ARM build and testing
  (PorterBox and post-build SSH access), which can be time-consuming,
  ELTS-specific, and hard to reproduce locally (even with a VM)

-- 
Sylvain Beucler
Debian LTS Team