Linux Kernel 7.0 Released, This is What’s New

Linux kernel 7.0 has been released, but the jump in version number does not signal a major shift in development. As Linus Torvalds has done in the past, the move from 6.19 to 7.0 is mainly a version reset after the minor number grew large—not an indication of a disruptive release. With that in mind, here’s what’s new.

One of the most significant updates is that Rust support is no longer labeled experimental. While this doesn’t mean Rust is replacing C in kernel development, it marks steady progress toward broader adoption.

On the security front, the kernel introduces ML-DSA post-quantum signatures for module authentication and drops support for older SHA-1-based signing methods.

Linux 7.0 also adds BPF-based filtering for io_uring operations, giving administrators more control in restricted environments. BTF type lookups have been optimized as well, now using binary search for improved performance.

This release continues internal cleanup work. The removal of legacy linuxrc initrd code moves the kernel fully toward initramfs as the standard early userspace mechanism. A new NULLFS is introduced—an empty, immutable root filesystem designed for systems that mount the real root later.

Core subsystems also see improvements. Preemption handling has been simplified across most architectures, alongside enhancements to restartable sequences, workqueues, RCU internals, slab allocation, and type-based hardening.

In storage and filesystems, non-blocking timestamp updates now work correctly, and filesystems must explicitly enable leases instead of receiving them by default. Btrfs gains support for direct I/O with block sizes larger than the system page size, while EROFS enables LZMA compression by default and treats DEFLATE and Zstandard as stable. XFS adds autonomous self-healing, laptop mode has been removed, and F2FS continues its transition to large folios.

Memory management also improves, with zram now able to write back compressed pages without decompressing them first, reducing overhead. The swap subsystem has been simplified with a new swap table design.

Other notable changes include a dynamically scalable thread pool in NFSD, NFS v4.1 becoming the default, and restrictions on exporting special kernel filesystems like pidfs and nsfs. Experimental POSIX ACL support has also been added to NFSD.

Networking and virtualization updates include enabling AccECN by default, adding multiqueue support to CAKE for better traffic shaping across CPUs, and introducing network namespace support for VSOCK in virtual machines. Initial groundwork for Wi-Fi 8 (802.11bn) is also part of this release.

Virtualization improvements extend to KVM, which now includes more accurate CPUCFG reporting for LoongArch guests, AMD ERAPS support, improved interrupt handling controls, and enhanced PMU support for better profiling. Hyper-V adds a debugfs interface for monitoring hypervisor statistics.

Linux kernel 7.0 is available for download from kernel.org. Rolling-release distributions will receive it first, with wider adoption expected over the coming weeks.