ST-2026-004 · Runtimes & developer platforms
Kubernetes retires Ingress NGINX after March 2026
Kubernetes SIG Network and the Security Response Committee retired the community Ingress NGINX project after March 2026, ending releases, bug fixes and security updates while leaving existing deployments and installation artifacts available.
Previous state
Community Ingress NGINX receiving best-effort maintenance.
Current state
Read-only retired project with no further releases, fixes or security updates; existing deployments continue to run.
Affected users
Who needs to care
Kubernetes operators and platform teams running the community ingress-nginx controller.
Required response
What to do
Identify affected clusters and plan migration to Gateway API or another maintained ingress controller; continued operation should be treated as unsupported and security-risk-bearing.
Evidence boundary
What the source does not prove
Retirement does not remotely disable existing controllers or remove published artifacts. The official notice recommends alternatives but does not prescribe one replacement product or provide a universal migration procedure.
Lifecycle history
Dated event sequence
- Retirement announced
Kubernetes announced best-effort maintenance through March 2026 and recommended immediate migration planning.
- Maintenance halted
The official retirement point passed; no further releases, bug fixes or security updates are expected.
Evidence ledger
First-party sources
- 01Kubernetes Blog — Ingress NGINX Retirement: What You Need to Know
Official Kubernetes project announcement · 2025-11-11
Open official source ↗