General changes

• Switch package manager from opkg to apk
• Integration of attended Sysupgrade into default LuCI installation
• The shell history is stored in RAM till the next reboot
• Integration of video feed
• Wi-Fi scripts converted to ucode

Target changes

• Extend realtek target with support for more switch SoCs like 10G Ethernet switches.
• Extend qualcommax target with support for ipq50xx and ipq60xx SoCs.
• Added siflower target for Siflower SF21A6826/SF21H8898 SoCs
• Added sunxi/arm926ejs subtarget for Allwinner F1C100/200s SoCs

Many new devices added

OpenWrt 25.12 supports over 2180 devices. Support for over 160 new devices was added in addition to the device support by OpenWrt 24.10.

Core components update

Core components have the following versions in 23.05.0-rc1:

• Updated toolchain:
  • musl libc 1.2.5
  • glibc 2.41
  • gcc 14.3.0
  • binutils 2.44
• Updated Linux kernel
  • 6.12.62 for all targets
• main packages:
  • cfg80211/mac80211 from kernel 6.18.0
  • hostapd master snapshot from August 2025
  • dnsmasq 2.91
  • dropbear 2025.89
  • busybox 1.37.0

In addition to the listed applications, many others were also updated.

Upgrading to 25.12

Sysupgrade can be used to upgrade a device from 24.10 to 25.12, and configuration will be preserved in most cases.

:!: Sysupgrade from 23.05 to 25.12 is not officially supported.

Full release notes and upgrade instructions are available at https://openwrt.org/releases/25.12/notes-25.12.0-rc1

In particular, make sure to read the regressions and known issues before upgrading: https://openwrt.org/releases/25.12/notes-25.12.0-rc1#known_issues

For a detailed list of all changes since 24.10 branching, refer to https://openwrt.org/releases/25.12/changelog-25.12.0-rc1

To download the 25.12.0-rc1 images, navigate to: https://downloads.openwrt.org/releases/25.12.0-rc1/targets/ Use OpenWrt Firmware Selector to download: https://firmware-selector.openwrt.org?version=25.12.0-rc1

As always, a big thank you goes to all our active package maintainers, testers, documenters and supporters.

Have fun!

The OpenWrt Community