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Make sure you have the security repo enabled in /etc/apt/sources.list. It should be enabled by default. Just search that file for "security"
Then just run apt update, apt upgrade, and reboot.
~~I think apt upgrade wouldn’t upgrade the kernel. The correct one is apt dist-upgrade.~~
Edit: apt update would patch the kernel.
You're thinking of apt full-upgrade. dist-upgrade is the old name for it.
The only difference between upgrade and full-upgrade is that full-upgrade will delete packages if necessary (like if you have a program installed that conflicts with a new version of another program), whereas upgrade will never do that. upgrade is safer for day-to-day updates.
If you do an upgrade and there's packages that need you to run full-upgrade, you'll see a message saying that some packages have been held back.
full-upgrade is mostly safe. You just need to read the output carefully before continuing.
upgrade to next kernel version != patch the kernel with backported security fixes
Thank you for your reply.
I saw a post lately regarding this and my Debian kernel update was held back because I thought apt upgrade upgrades everything. After I ran apt dist-upgrade it was upgraded.
The post: https://lemmy.world/post/46322168
6.12.90 is the latest release, you’re good. Just make sure you’ve rebooted since installing it.
Debian is pretty good at ensuring security fixes are applied to their software. Even if the specific version of a program (or the kernel) is old they make sure to include security fixes of newer versions.
So like the other comment said just upgrading like normal should be enough.
this post was submitted on 30 May 2026
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