OpenBSD 8.0 lands with Intel Arc graphics, a 512 GB kernel address space and post-quantum defaults
The 61st OpenBSD release pulls in DRM from Linux 6.18.53, lifts the amd64 kernel VA limit from 4 GB to 512 GB, makes X25519MLKEM768 the preferred TLS 1.3 group and quietly retires Loongson.
Theo de Raadt released OpenBSD 8.0 today as the 61st release of this BSD operating system.
Comprehensive take
Upgrade existing OpenBSD routers, firewalls and mail hosts now; the httpd/relayd/smtpd hardening and the LibreSSL post-quantum default are worth the reboot. Desktop users with Intel Arc A-Series cards can try 8.0 for the first time. Loongson users have to stay on 7.8.
Use cases
Edge firewall or VPN gateway
pf, isakmpd payload size checks and the secure TLS cipher default in relayd make 8.0 a conservative, well-hardened choice for a perimeter box.
Large-memory virtualisation host
The 512 GB kernel address space and 64-vCPU vmm guests with x2APIC extend OpenBSD's own hypervisor into territory previously left to KVM and bhyve.
Intel Arc workstation
With inteldrm(4) supporting DG2/Alchemist cards via the Linux 6.18.53 DRM sync, an Arc A-Series desktop is now a workable OpenBSD development machine.
Post-quantum TLS pilot
libtls preferring X25519MLKEM768 by default makes 8.0 a ready-made test bed for hybrid PQ key exchange without hand-configuring OpenSSL.
Specs
| Release | OpenBSD 8.0, 61st release source |
|---|---|
| DRM | drm(4) synced to Linux 6.18.53; inteldrm(4) adds Intel Arc A-Series (DG2/Alchemist) source |
| amd64 kernel VA | 4 GB → 512 GB; direct map randomly placed source |
| vmm/vmd | Up to 64 vCPUs per guest; x2APIC; IOAPIC/LAPIC emulation source |
| Crypto | LibreSSL 4.4.0 (X25519MLKEM768 preferred TLS 1.3 group); OpenSSH 10.6 (mldsa44-ed25519 experimental) source |
| Packages (amd64) | 13,060 pre-built source |
| Retired platform | Loongson removed (incompatible with Clang 22) source |
Insights
- Syncing DRM to a 6.18-series Linux kernel is the smallest graphics lag OpenBSD has carried in several releases.
- Randomising the direct map extends OpenBSD's address-space randomisation into a region most kernels leave fixed.
- OpenBSD ships a post-quantum TLS default in libtls before most mainstream Linux distributions have done the same.
- Dropping Loongson over a Clang 22 incompatibility shows the project prioritises a single modern toolchain over platform breadth.
Axion Scorecard
Overall: 8.1
Not yet scored — no cited data
Free, BSD-licensed, with 13,060 amd64 packages pre-built. source
Not yet scored — no cited data
Post-quantum TLS default, randomised direct map and 512 GB kernel VA in one release. source
Broad arch coverage (seven package-count platforms) but Loongson dropped and desktop app ecosystem remains thinner than Linux. source
Released and downloadable today per Phoronix. source
Coherent security-first defaults across httpd, relayd, smtpd, pax and OpenSSH in a single release. source
OpenBSD releases arrive on a six-month cadence with little ceremony, and 8.0 is no exception. But the changelog on openbsd.org/80.html carries more hardware news than usual, and two of the items reshape what kind of machine you can reasonably run OpenBSD on.
Graphics finally catches up
The headline for desktop users is that drm(4) has been synced to Linux 6.18.53 and inteldrm(4) now supports Intel Arc A-Series (DG2/Alchemist) discrete cards. OpenBSD's graphics stack is a port of the Linux DRM subsystem, so it inherits Linux's driver coverage on a lag; closing that gap to a 6.18-series kernel is the shortest the lag has been in several releases and means Arc desktops are now a viable OpenBSD workstation target.
A much bigger kernel
On amd64, the kernel virtual address space has been raised from 4 GB to 512 GB, and the kernel's direct map is now randomly placed. The first change removes a long-standing constraint on large-memory servers; the second extends OpenBSD's randomisation philosophy to the direct map, making kernel addresses harder to predict for an attacker with a partial leak.
Virtualisation and other platforms
vmm(4) and vmd(8) guests can now use up to 64 vCPUs, with x2APIC support and emulation of the i82093aa IOAPIC and i82489dx-compatible LAPIC. arm64 gains hibernate support and bounce buffers. riscv64 adds kernel support for the V vector extension and the Sstc timer plus imsic(4) and aplic(4) interrupt drivers, and SpacemiT K3 support lands in smtclock(4) and dwpcie(4). On the other side of the ledger, Loongson support has been removed because it does not work with Clang 22, a reminder that OpenBSD prunes platforms it cannot keep building.
Crypto defaults move post-quantum
LibreSSL 4.4.0 makes X25519MLKEM768 the preferred TLSv1.3 group in libtls. OpenSSH 10.6 adds experimental mldsa44-ed25519 post-quantum signatures and disables the LZ77 dictionary coder to close a possible side-channel. httpd(8) now rejects CL.TE request framing, relayd(8) and httpd(8) default to the secure TLS cipher set, and pax(1) refuses to extract archives outside the working directory.
Packages
The pre-built package counts are 13,060 on amd64, 12,907 on aarch64, 11,116 on riscv64, 10,659 on i386, 10,621 on sparc64, 9,564 on powerpc64 and 9,072 on mips64. Notable versions include GCC 16.1.0, LLVM/Clang 22.1.8, Firefox 157.0, Node.js 24.21.0, PostgreSQL 18.6 and Python 3.14.7.
Verdict
OpenBSD 8.0 is a release for people who already know why they want OpenBSD. The Arc support and the 512 GB kernel address space widen the hardware it runs well on, and the post-quantum TLS default arrives before most Linux distributions have made the same move. If you run OpenBSD firewalls or mail servers, this is a straightforward upgrade. If you were waiting for a reason to try it on a desktop with an Intel discrete GPU, this is the first release where that is sensible.