---
title: "Security patching\n    | Ubuntu"
description: Ubuntu is an open source software operating system that runs from the
  desktop, to the cloud, to all your internet connected things.
url: https://ubuntu.com/security/certifications/docs/fips-updates?format=md
keywords: index, follow
---

*Submit*

Version 24.04
Version 22.04
Version 20.04
Version 16.04 / 18.04

# Security patching

Each FIPS 140 certificate for a package can take several months to complete and is valid for 5 years. However, as vulnerabilities happen security-critical fixes may need to be included faster than a certification cycle. For that, we provide two ways to consume validated packages: a stream called `fips`, where the exact packages validated by NIST are present; and another stream called `fips-updates` where the validated packages are present, but are updated with security fixes. The `fips-updates` stream also allows access to the packages during the validation phase, enabling early application development and testing. Both streams are revalidated periodically during Ubuntu standard support phase.

## Switching from ‘fips’ to ‘fips-updates’

If you are on a system with the `fips` stream enabled such as *Ubuntu Pro FIPS*, you can switch to the `fips-updates` stream with the following command.

```
sudo pro enable fips-updates
```

---

[Previous

Enabling FIPS](https://ubuntu.com/security/certifications/docs/fips-enablement)
[Next

Detailed certification information](https://ubuntu.com/security/certifications/docs/fips-details)

This page was last modified 3 years ago. [Help improve this document in the forum](https://discourse.ubuntu.com/t/security-patching/24779).