Release Date: Aug. 24, 2023

This is a security release of Python 3.8

Note: The release you're looking at is Python 3.8.18, a security bugfix release for the legacy 3.8 series. Python 3.11 is now the latest feature release series of Python 3. Get the latest release of 3.11.x here.

Security content in this release

• gh-108310: Fixed an issue where instances of ssl.SSLSocket were vulnerable to a bypass of the TLS handshake and included protections (like certificate verification) and treating sent unencrypted data as if it were post-handshake TLS encrypted data. Security issue reported as CVE-2023-40217 by Aapo Oksman. Patch by Gregory P. Smith.

No installers

According to the release calendar specified in PEP 569, Python 3.8 is now in the "security fixes only" stage of its life cycle: 3.8 branch only accepts security fixes and releases of those are made irregularly in source-only form until October 2024. Python 3.8 isn't receiving regular bug fixes anymore, and binary installers are no longer provided for it. Python 3.8.10 was the last full bugfix release of Python 3.8 with binary installers.

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