Linux kernel 7.3

 

Linux kernel 7.3 was officially released on 18 October 2026, bringing major performance improvements, expanded hardware support, new filesystem features, and significant scheduler and memory‑management updates.

Overview

Linux 7.3 is a large, feature‑rich release with 18,765 non‑merge commits from 3,021 developers, including 807 first‑time contributors. 

It introduces improvements across I/O, memory management, scheduling, filesystems, virtualization, and hardware enablement.

Key Highlights

Performance Improvements

• Faster I/O on modern systems, especially PCIe Gen4/Gen5 NVMe storage. 
• Noticeable gains in database workloads (PostgreSQL, MariaDB, TigerBeetle). 
• Faster kernel micro‑benchmarks (forking, IO_uring, mutexes). 
• Improved code‑compilation performance and small boosts in CPU‑based AI workloads. 

Hardware Support

• Preparations for AMD Zen 6 platforms. 
• Support for Apple M3 Pro/Max/Ultra SoCs (initial mainline boot). 
• New and updated drivers for GPUs (Adreno A704, AMD Barco), Intel UFS 4.0, Steam Controller 2026, and many laptop models. 

Filesystem & Storage

• New failfs filesystem that intentionally fails all operations. 
• NTFS3 alternative data‑stream support and major security hardening. 
• OverlayFS gains id‑mapped mount support. 
• Improved Btrfs, EXT4, FUSE io_uring, and multi‑filesystem mounting. 

Scheduling & Memory Management

• sched_ext subsystem completed, enabling hierarchical sub‑scheduling. 
• Major memory‑management optimizations, including zsmalloc contention fixes and rmap_walk_ksm performance improvements. 

Virtualization & Security

• Working‑set tracking for virtual machines via userfaultfd. 
• New sysctl for AF_ALG cryptographic API access control. 
• Compressed AppArmor policies and stricter BPF program verification. 

Networking

• SMB server improvements, including Apple Time Machine support and SMB3 per‑share encryption. 
• Support for big TCP packets in UDP tunnels. 

Release Status

• Official stable release: 18 October 2026. 
• Considered a strong candidate for the year’s Long Term Support (LTS) kernel. 

Linux 7.3 represents one of the most substantial kernel updates of 2026, with broad improvements across performance, hardware support, and system reliability.