Anonymizing Linux: Tails 6.9 updates core components

The Tails maintainers have released version 6.9 of the anonymizing Linux for the USB stick in the host pocket. There are no major new features, but the update brings the important core components up to date.

In the release announcement from the Tails project, the developers list the new versions of the core software. The Tor Browser now comes with version number 14.0.1, while the Tor Client is now at version 0.4.8.13. The mail program Thunderbird is now available in the extended stable version 115.16.0.

Tails with minor bug fix

The developers of Tails have nevertheless fixed a minor bug. During automatic upgrades, an abort could occur with the error message "The upgrade could not be downloaded". This happened despite a successful download. This no longer happens, the programmers explain.

The project maintainers do not mention any other changes. As always, the current image of Tails is available for installation on a USB stick on a separate download page, while the Tails ISO image for burning to DVD or for use in a virtual machine is available for download on another website.

Tails can be used to boot third-party computers with a known, trusted operating system. Users can then surf the web without leaving any traces on the computer, such as cookies, transferred data or similar. The anonymizing Linux thus offers privacy protection.

In version 6.8 of Tails, released at the beginning of October, and the hotfix 6.8.1 released shortly afterwards, the project maintainers improved the handling of persistent memory. They also plugged a security hole in the Firefox web browser and Thunderbird mail program. The vulnerability has already been attacked in the wild. Firefox is the basis of the Tor browser, which is why the update was necessary.

(dmk)