Welcome to Database Patch News, Buda Consulting’s newsletter of current patch information for Oracle and Microsoft SQL Server. Here you’ll find information recently made available on patches—including security patches—and desupported versions.

Why should you care about patching vulnerabilities and bugs? Two big reasons:

  • Unpatched systems are a top cyber attack target. Patch releases literally advertise vulnerabilities to the hacker community. The longer you wait to patch, the greater your security risk.
  • Along with running a supported database version, applying the latest patches ensures that you can get support from the vendor in case of an issue. Patching also helps eliminate downtime and lost productivity associated with bugs.

Here are the latest patch updates for Oracle and SQL Server:

Oracle Patches:

January 19, 2021 Quarterly Patch Updates:
21c – Released January 13, 2021, Version 21.1; no Quarterly patch yet

19c – Release Update 19.10 is available (32218494 and 321266828)

18c – Release Update 18.13 is available (32204699 and 32126855)

12cR2 – Release Update 210119 is available (32228578 and 32126871)
Regular support ends in Mar 2023 and extended support ends in Mar 2026.

12cR1 – Release Update 210119 is available (32132231 and 32126908)
Regular support ended in July 2019 and extended support ends in July 2021.

11gR4 – Patch Set Update 201020 is available (31720776)
Regular support ended in October 2018 and extended support ended December 31, 2020.

SQL Server Patches:

SQL Server 2019
Cumulative update 8 (Latest build) Released Oct 1, 2020
Mainstream support ends Jan 7, 2025
Extended support ends Jan 8, 2030

SQL Server 2017
Cumulative update 22 (Latest build) Released Sept 10, 2020
Mainstream support ends Oct 11, 2022
Extended support ends Oct 12, 2027

SQL Server 2016 Service Pack 2
Cumulative update 15 Release date: Sept 28, 2020
Mainstream support ends Jul 13, 2021
Extended support ends Jul 14, 2026

SQL Server 2014 Service Pack 3
Cumulative update 4 Release date: Feb 11, 2019
Mainstream support ended Jul 9, 2019
Extended support ends Jul 9, 2024

SQL Server 2012 Service Pack 4
Release date: Oct 5, 2017
Mainstream support ended Jul 11, 2017
Extended support ends Jul 12, 2022

Note: All other SQL Server versions not mentioned are no longer supported.