Ingress NGINX is retired on 24 March 2026: no more fixes, for about half of cloud native environments

2026-03-24 · Publisher : Kubernetes · Domain : Cloud & DevOps

On 24 March 2026, Kubernetes retires Ingress NGINX: no more releases or security fixes. On 29 January, the Steering Committee estimated that the controller served about half of cloud native environments.

### What changes On 24 March 2026, Kubernetes SIG Network and the Security Response Committee **retire Ingress NGINX**, as announced in November 2025. Since that date there are no more releases, bug fixes or updates for vulnerabilities. On 29 January 2026, the Kubernetes Steering Committee and Security Response Committee had published a joint warning, signed by Kat Cosgrove. ### Key facts - Impact estimate: about 50% of cloud native environments rely on this tool, according to internal Datadog research cited by the Steering Committee. - Existing deployments keep working, so you may not know you are affected until you are compromised; a `kubectl get pods` command filtered on the `ingress-nginx` label lets you check. - None of the alternatives is a direct drop-in replacement: migration requires planning and engineering time. - Staying on Ingress NGINX after retirement leaves users vulnerable to attack, according to the committee. - Helm charts and container images remain available, but will no longer receive updates. ### Why it matters Retiring a component this widespread is rare, and the Steering Committee's tone is unusually direct. For an IT services firm, the priority is inventory: spotting at each client the clusters using Ingress NGINX, including through managed offerings, then sizing the migration to Gateway API or another controller. The cost is mostly routing and annotation testing, application by application. ### Takeaway Since 24 March 2026, Ingress NGINX is no longer maintained: migration is no longer an option but a security obligation.

Tags : Kubernetes, Cloud natif, Sécurité, Open Source, Conteneurs