Rails and Ruby Compatibility in 2025: Which Setups Will Be Unsupported After October 1st?

Rails 7.1 has been a dependable workhorse since its release in 2023. But on October 1, 2025, Rails 7.1.x will lose official security support opens a new window . That means no more patches for new vulnerabilities, no more backports, and no safety net if a zero-day exploit lands in your stack.

If you’re running Rails 7.1, your risk level depends heavily on which Ruby version you pair it with. Some Rails and Ruby combinations will be doubly unsupported after October 1st, creating “dangerous pairings” that should be upgraded immediately.

In this post, we’ll break down:

• Which Ruby on Rails setups will lose support after October 1, 2025.
• Why those combinations are risky.
• How to quickly check your environment using our table below.
• What to do if you are using a vulnerable pair.

The State of Rails and Ruby Support in 2025

Rails follows a straightforward maintenance policy opens a new window :

• The newest major/minor release gets full support.
• Minor releases receive security fixes for two years after the first release in its series.
• All older branches are end-of-life (EOL).

Ruby’s policy is that each major version is supported for about 3 years, followed by 1 year of security-only support.

Things get tricky when your app sits at the intersection of an EOL Rails version and an EOL Ruby version.

Dangerous Rails/Ruby Pairings After Oct 1, 2025

Here are the most common parings of Ruby and Rails versions and what happens to them after October 1st:

Why Unsupported Pairings Are Dangerous

Running on an unsupported pairing leaves you exposed in multiple ways:

1. Security Holes Stay Open
   • Any new CVEs in Rails 7.1 after October 1st will remain unpatched.
   • If your Ruby version is also end-of-life (like 3.0), vulnerabilities in Ruby’s core (YAML parsing, OpenSSL integration, etc.) also go unpatched.
2. Gem Incompatibility
   • As gem authors move forward, they drop support for older Rails/Ruby combinations. You’ll start hitting upgrade walls when bundling or deploying.
3. Compliance Red Flags
   • For regulated industries (finance, healthcare, etc.), running end of life software can cause issues with compliance opens a new window .
4. Operational Risk
   • Hosting platforms, CI/CD pipelines, and even OS package managers stop testing against old versions. You may hit unexpected runtime issues.

How to Check If You’re at Risk

Here’s a quick readiness checklist:

• Run rails -v and ruby -v in your project.
• Cross-reference your versions with the information in our table above.
• Identify whether you have a high risk pairing, for example, Rails 7.1 + Ruby 3.0/3.1.
• Even if you’re in a “medium” zone (Rails 7.1 + Ruby 3.2/3.3), mark October 1st as the latest date to schedule your upgrade.

What to Do Next

If you’re running Rails 7.1 after October 1st, you’ll need to upgrade to Rails 7.2 or 8.0 to stay supported. Here’s what you should do next:

1. Inventory your environment
   • Use our compatibility table to confirm your pairing’s status.
2. Plan your Rails upgrade
   • Our new automated roadmap tool opens a new window can help you and your team plan the best way to tackle your upgrade.
3. Update Ruby strategically
   • If you’re still on Ruby 3.0 or 3.1, plan to move to 3.2 or 3.3 alongside your Rails upgrade. Our step by step guide opens a new window can help ensure your Ruby upgrade goes as smoothly as possible.

Conclusion

October 1, 2025 is a hard stop for Rails 7.1 security support. If your app is paired with Ruby 3.0 or 3.1, you’re looking at double exposure — an outdated framework and runtime.

Don’t wait until a critical CVE forces your hand. Contact us to find out exactly where your setup stands opens a new window or consider our automated roadmap tool opens a new window to help you develop a plan to ensure your app stays safe, compliant, and future-proof.