FreeBSD 14.3 Released: Wi-Fi Upgrades, Jail Enhancements, and Better Hardware Support

On June 10, 2025, the FreeBSD project announced the release of FreeBSD 14.3, a new stable version in the 14.x series. Installation images are available for multiple architectures, including amd64, i386, armv7, aarch64, and riscv64. Cloud-ready builds are also offered for Amazon EC2, Google Cloud, and Vagrant. This release continues the 14.x line, which will be the last to support 32-bit platforms. FreeBSD 15.x, set to launch later in 2025, will support only 64-bit systems, though 32-bit applications will still be runnable through compatibility layers.

Major Changes in FreeBSD 14.3

• Wi-Fi Improvements
  LinuxKPI now supports Wi-Fi 4 (802.11n) and Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac). These features are enabled in the updated iwlwifi driver for Intel wireless chips. Firmware for this driver is now installable via ports using fwget. The Realtek rtw88 driver was stabilized and now properly supports RTL8723DE, RTL8821CE, and RTL8822* chipsets.
• Updated Core Tools
  Key components were upgraded, including LLVM 19.1.7, OpenSSH 9.9p2, OpenZFS 2.2.7, and OpenSSL 3.0.16.

Security and Jail Enhancements

• A new syscall setcred was added for atomic credential changes. It supports a new utility, mdo, as a secure alternative to su.
• Jail environments received expanded sysctl support, including per-jail parameter control via sysctl -j.
• The packet filter pf now supports default packet dropping per vnet.
• Hot-plugging of PCIe devices is now supported on ARM64.
• FreeBSD 14.3 will be supported until June 30, 2026, and the 14.x branch will receive updates until November 30, 2028.