Upgrade Ubuntu on VA Connectors?

[jmorton1]

The Hyper-V image for the Cisco VA connectors, even the ones I downloaded today, are running on Ubuntu 20.04, which is outdated and has a ton of critical vulnerabilities. Does anyone know if there is a way to upgrade the OS on a VA connector? Or do we simply have to wait or Cisco to update their image with on that runs on a newer version of Ubuntu?

[adamwin · Accepted solution]

We are actively working to release an updated version of the VA with a newer base operating system. 

Because it's a hardened virtual appliance there is no option for customers to upgrade the base OS themselves. 

[jmorton1]

@adamwinThank you so much!
Is there any way we can check on when this new image will be available? Can it be requested via TAC, or do we need to wait for it to be released to the public?

[howe]

Just asking for understanding - Ubuntu 20.04 is still under LTS until 2025 - are there unpatched vulnerabilities that are addressed only in 24.04?  Assuming these are unpatched by Ubuntu, are they mitigated by the hardening provided by Cisco?

[jmorton1]

I am not actually sure if they are patched in the latest version of Ubuntu, and after I posted this, I thought too about how the version on the VA Connector could be the LTS version, but was not sure. I know very little about Ubuntu, so I just assumed the issue was due to it being an older version.