Description

This policy identifies standalone Amazon RDS for MySQL, PostgreSQL, and MariaDB instances whose engine major version is outside AWS standard support. It uses the instance's collected AWS lifecycle calendar rather than a fixed version list or the latest release.

Rationale

Running beyond standard support creates an upgrade obligation and can incur additional Extended Support charges. Extended Support provides temporary maintenance for eligible MySQL and PostgreSQL versions, with a published end date; it does not satisfy this policy's standard-support requirement. MariaDB has no RDS Extended Support option.

Findings require a tested major-version upgrade or a time-limited exception with verified support coverage. A finding during Extended Support does not mean that AWS has stopped providing all security fixes.

Impact

Engine upgrades can change database behavior and require downtime. Test application compatibility, extensions, replication, backups, and the upgrade path before modifying production databases. Delaying migration can increase costs and leave less time before final support expiry or an AWS-initiated upgrade.

Audit

This policy marks an AWS RDS Instance as INCOMPLIANT if its Engine Lifecycle Support Info shows that the open-source-rds-standard-support phase for its current Engine and Engine Version Name ended before the evaluation day.

An instance is COMPLIANT when the evaluation day is within its published standard-support period.

Instances are INAPPLICABLE when Cluster or Cluster ARN identifies cluster membership, or Status is deleting. Cluster members, including Aurora and Multi-AZ DB cluster members, are assessed by the cluster engine support policy. Standalone Single-AZ and Multi-AZ DB instances and read replicas remain in scope. Stopped instances and other non-deleting states retain their support dependency; an ongoing upgrade does not prove that the current version has changed.

Only Engine values mysql, postgres, and mariadb are assessed. All other nonempty engine values are INAPPLICABLE, including commercial engines, separate services, and unrecognized or newly introduced engines; this exclusion does not establish their support status. Missing optional calendar enrichment is INAPPLICABLE, not proof of support; an empty collected array is an incomplete calendar and is UNDETERMINED.

AWS lifecycle criteria

Engine major version	Last day of RDS standard support	Last day of RDS Extended Support
MySQL 5.7	February 29, 2024	June 30, 2029
MySQL 8.0	July 31, 2026	July 31, 2029
MySQL 8.4	July 31, 2029	July 31, 2032
PostgreSQL 13	February 28, 2026	February 28, 2029
PostgreSQL 14	February 28, 2027	February 28, 2030
MariaDB 10.5	August 31, 2026	Not available
MariaDB 10.6	December 31, 2026	Not available