UnrealIRCd Forums

serving thousands of networks since 1999. It runs on Linux, OS X and Windows and is currently the most widely deployed IRCd with a

UnrealIRCd is a highly advanced IRCd with a strong focus on modularity and security. It uses an advanced and highly configurable configuration file.

Other key features include: full IRCv3 support, SSL/TLS, cloaking, advanced anti-flood and anti-spam systems, GeoIP, remote includes, and

We are also particularly proud on our extensive online documentation.

UnrealIRCd 6.2.7.1 released & hot-patch to fix 9 security issues, including one CRITICAL (CVE-2026-114713)

The critical issue (CVE-2026-114713) allows normal users to execute commands with server/IRCOp authority [..] On almost all UnrealIRCd 6 networks all these security issues can be hot-patched without restart [..]

Upcoming critical UnrealIRCd security release on Saturday 7-Nov-2026

On Sat 7 November 2026 at 15:00 UTC we will release UnrealIRCd 6.2.7.1 along with a hot-patch for UnrealIRCd 6 (no restart needed). This fixes multiple security issues in UnrealIRCd, including one issue rated as CRITICAL [..] We also recommend today to run a hot-patch test [..]

Get notified via email new UnrealIRCd releases and important announcements.

No spam. This is a low-volume mailing list with only one message every 1-2 months.

UnrealIRCd 6.2.7 released & hot-patch to fix security issues

As promised, here is the 6.2.7 release and the hot-patch to fix the issues without restart. The UnrealIRCd 6.2.7 release fixes multiple issues in the webserver module...

UnrealIRCd 6.2.6 enables multiline by default, adds TKL IDs and tracking of hit counts on *LINES/Spamfilter. New crule functions were added to fetch server flood counts. Guidance to admins for server linking with 'spkifp' has been improved. A crash bug in the multiline implementation has been fixed as well.

UnrealIRCd 6.2.6-rc1 available for testing

The Release Candidate for 6.2.6 is now available for testing.

UnrealIRCd 6.2.5 released & hot-patch for IPv6 networks

This UnrealIRCd 6.2.5 release is mostly improving IPv6 clone detection. If your IRC network has IPv6 connectivity then hot-patching without restart or upgrading is highly recommended. If you don't have IPv6 then this release is less important.

UnrealIRCd 6.2.4 comes with optional multiline support and a lot of new conditional config and crule functions, plus a new GeoIP engine.

UnrealIRCd 6.2.4-rc1 available for testing

The Release Candidate for 6.2.4 is now available for testing.

This release comes with several new features, improved security, and a number of bug fixes.

UnrealIRCd 6.2.3-rc2 available for testing

The second Release Candidate for 6.2.3 is now available for testing. This is to get more security hardening and other changes tested before a stable release later in March.

UnrealIRCd 6.2.3-rc1 available for testing

The Release Candidate for 6.2.3 is now available for testing.

UnrealIRCd 6.2.2 released & wrapping up the year

UnrealIRCd 6.2.2 is just a small maintenance release to fix a few minor issues. If you are still running 6.0.x or 6.1.x then we highly recommend to upgrade to 6.2.x in December 2025. The 6.2.x series have proven to be stable and are a nice leap forward in terms of security

UnrealIRCd 6.2.1 focusses on performance improvements, but it also comes with various new features and fixes, such as: webhooks, UTF8ONLY, IRCv3 draft/extended-isupport, support for multiple certificate/keys

UnrealIRCd 6.2.1-rc2 available for testing

The second Release Candidate for 6.2.1 is now available for testing.

UnrealIRCd 6.2.1-rc1 available for testing

The first Release Candidate for 6.2.1 is now available for testing.

UnrealIRCd 6.2.0 has channel flood protection turned on by default, UTF8 Text Analysis and Spamfilter enhancements, new best practices regarding plaintext port 6667 and TLS certificates, PQC enhancements, etc. All this to make chatting on IRC more secure and with less spam.

UnrealIRCd 6.2.0-beta3 available for testing

The third beta version for future UnrealIRCd 6.2.0 is now available for testing.

UnrealIRCd 6.2.0-beta2 available for testing

The second beta version for future UnrealIRCd 6.2.0 is now available for testing.

UnrealIRCd 6.2.0-beta1 available for testing

The first beta version for future UnrealIRCd 6.2.0 is now available for testing.

This night there was a spam wave and Central Blocklist failed to catch it. Instead admins that use CBL got error messages in their UnrealIRCd logs.

UnrealIRCd 6.1.10 is now available. This is mostly a maintenance release with a few small new features.

UnrealIRCd 6.1.10-rc1 available for testing

The release candidate for 6.1.10 is now available for testing.

It's the end of the year, so why not take an opportunity to look back on it. ...

For the 40-50 people who already upgraded to 6.1.9: it had a bug if you were using an RSA certificate ...

UnrealIRCd 6.1.9 is now available. This release fixes a number of bugs, such as IPv6 hosts not resolving in UnrealIRCd 6.1.8/6.1.8.1 and 100% CPU usage in some circumstances. It also changes the SSL/TLS defaults to make things a little safer/better.

UnrealIRCd 6.1.8.1 fixes two bugs in 6.1.8. If you use the new auto-vhost functionality...

I'm happy to announce the release of UnrealIRCd 6.1.8 stable. This is mostly a bug fix release but also adds a new extban ~inherit and auto-login support for vhosts.

UnrealIRCd 6.1.8-rc1 available for testing

The release candidate for 6.1.8 is now available for testing.

Today I have released 6.1.7.2. It fixes an issue for people using Central Blocklist when the central blocklist server is down. For almost everyone there is no reason to upgrade, it is mostly for new installations.

It has been only a month since release, but I'm happy to announce UnrealIRCd 6.1.7(.1). The main focus of this release is to add new features, such as ASN support, more flexible ban user { } and require authentication { } blocks

UnrealIRCd 6.1.7-rc1 available for testing

The release candidate for 6.1.7 is now available for testing.

Today I'm happy to announce the release of UnrealIRCd 6.1.6 stable. This is mostly a bug fix release but also comes with some enhancements.

UnrealIRCd 6.1.6-rc1 available for testing

The release candidate for 6.1.6 is now available for testing.

This month UnrealIRCd celebrates its 25th birthday. IRC changed over all those years. There's a clear consolidation with fewer IRC networks now than before, but IRC is still alive and kicking.

Today I have released UnrealIRCd 6.1.5 stable. This is a regular release with various enhancements and bug fixes.

Launch of Sponsorship program & Merchandise shop

Today we are officially launching the sponsorship program and our merchanise shop. Although UnrealIRCd is a free program, we do put a great deal of time, effort, and money into keeping UnrealIRCd alive. Running the related services, like Central Blocklist, costs money too. If you like UnrealIRCd and want to support us then please consider making a donation or buy yourself something nice from the shop.

UnrealIRCd 6.1.4 release and hot-patch for crash issue

UnrealIRCd 6.1.0 through 6.1.3 contain a bug which makes it possible for a websocket user to crash the IRC server. For the issue to trigger you need to have a listen block with websockets enabled.

UnrealIRCd 6.1.4 has been released to fix this issue. However, *NIX users can also fix the issue without restart by using a "hot-patch". The hot-patch takes less than a minute to install and causes no downtime.

Heads up: important UnrealIRCd hot-fix/release on Saturday

This is a 48 hours heads up, so UnrealIRCd admins know they should be around to patch their server on Saturday, December 16, 2023.

The main focus of this release is adding countermeasures against large scale spam/drones. We do this by offering a central API which can be used for accessing Central Blocklist, Central Spamreport and ...

UnrealIRCd 6.1.3-rc1 available for testing

The release candidate for 6.1.3 is now available for testing. You can help us by testing and reporting any issues

The UnrealIRCd Central Blocklist is an attempt to detect and block spammers. It works similar to DNS Blacklists but the central blocklist receives many more details the user that is trying to connect and therefore can make a better decision on whether a user is likely a spammer or not.

This dot release fixes a possible crash if you have parse errors in your conf and REHASH. Also, if you use UTF8 regexes in spamfilter { } blocks (which is a new feature in 6.1.2) then these were not working when booting the IRCd

This 6.1.2.2 release fixes a few issues that were in 6.1.2/6.1.2.1.

This 6.1.2(.1) release mainly focuses on spamfilter features but also contains fixes and other new features. See the release notes for full details.

UnrealIRCd 6.1.2-rc2 available for testing

The second release candidate for 6.1.2 is now available for testing. It mainly focuses on spamfilter features but also contains fixes and other new features. See the release notes for full details.

UnrealIRCd 6.1.2-rc1 available for testing

The release candidate for 6.1.2 is now available for testing, it mainly focuses on spamfilter features but also contains fixes and other new features. See the release notes for full details.

Since a few days, there are waves of spam hitting many IRC networks. The spam uses this tool

After 3,5 years UnrealIRCd 5 has reached its end of life. The only supported branch is now UnrealIRCd 6.

This release fixes a small bug related to maxperip handling in 6.1.1 that affects some people, but certainly not everyone.

This release comes with various bug fixes and performance improvements, especially for channels with thousands of users. It also has more options to override settings per security group

UnrealIRCd 6.1.1-rc1 available for testing

The release candidate for 6.1.1 is now available for testing.

This release contains several channel mode +f enhancements and introduces a new channel mode +F which works with flood profiles like +F normal and +F strict. It is much easier for users than the scary looking mode +f. UnrealIRCd 6.1.0 also contains lots of JSON-RPC improvements

UnrealIRCd 6.1.0-rc2 available for testing

The second (and probably last) release candidate for 6.1.0 is now available for testing. This release contains channel mode +f enhancements and introduces a new channel mode +F which should be much easier for users than the scary looking +f.

UnrealIRCd 6.1.0-rc1 available for testing

The first release candidate for 6.1.0 is now available for testing. This release contains channel mode +f enhancements and introduces a new channel mode +F which should be much easier for users than the scary looking +f.

Reminder: UnrealIRCd 5 is near its EOL-date

This is a friendly reminder that UnrealIRCd 5 will be End Of Life after July 1, 2023. After that date, it will be completely unmaintained and won't even get security fixes anymore.

UnrealIRCd 6.0.7 makes WHOWAS show more information to IRCOps and adds an experimental spamfilter feature. It also contains other enhancements and quite a number of bug fixes.

The main objective of this release is to enhance the new JSON-RPC functionality. [..] The new UnrealIRCd Administration Webpanel (which uses JSON-RPC) is very much usable now.

UnrealIRCd 6.0.5 adds experimental JSON-RPC support, a new TLINE command, the ./unrealircd restart command has been improved to check for config errors, logging to files has been improved and there are several other enhancements.

New attempt at UnrealIRCd admin panel (call for help)

The JSON-RPC API in UnrealIRCd 6.0.5 can be used to create an UnrealIRCd admin panel. Even a basic panel, where one could go through the *LINES and Spamfilters and have an easy interface to add/remove such bans, would be much welcome functionality.

UnrealIRCd 6.0.5-rc2 available for testing

The second release candidate for UnrealIRCd 6.0.5 is now available for testing. If you have some time during the holidays and would like to try it out ...

UnrealIRCd 6.0.5-rc1 available for testing

The release candidate for UnrealIRCd 6.0.5 is now available for testing

Today we released another small update to UnrealIRCd 6.0.x.

Today we released a small update to fix two issues in UnrealIRCd 6.0.x. We only suggest upgrading if you are impacted by these problems. Most users will probably wait for 6.0.5.

We are envisioning an "admin panel" where IRCOps would be able to do a number of server tasks, starting with a status overview / dashboard and..

UnrealIRCd 6.0.4 comes with lots of features and enhancements. In particular, security groups and mask items now allow you to write cleaner and more flexible configuration files. There are also JSON logging enhancements and several bug fixes.

UnrealIRCd 6.0.4-rc2 available for testing

The second release candidate for UnrealIRCd 6.0.4 is now available for testing

UnrealIRCd 6.0.4-rc1 available for testing

The release candidate for UnrealIRCd 6.0.4 is now available for testing

A number of serious issues were discovered in UnrealIRCd 6. We recommend everyone who is running UnrealIRCd 6 to upgrade to 6.0.3.

OpenSSL issue causing 100% CPU and unresponsive server

OpenSSL and LibreSSL have a bug in their SSL/TLS library that most likely also affects UnrealIRCd. An attacker could cause UnrealIRCd to enter a 100% CPU loop. This makes UnrealIRCd unresponsive to any commands. The ircd will appear "frozen" or "stalled".

UnrealIRCd 6.0.2 offers much more than just the announced crash fix. It contains other fixes and also new features such as logging to channels, a new CLI tool and some other tweaks.

Fix for crash issue in UnrealIRCd 5 and UnrealIRCd 6

If you have any deny dcc { } blocks or a spamfilter on the dcc target on UnrealIRCd 5 or UnrealIRCd 6 then the server can be crashed by a regular user when they send a certain command. We recommend admins to apply the hot-patch to fix the issue with zero downtime.

Heads up: important UnrealIRCd release on Friday (Jan 28)

Here's a heads up, so UnrealIRCd admins know they should pay attention Friday

UnrealIRCd 6.0.2-rc1 available for testing

The release candidate for UnrealIRCd 6.0.2 is now available for testing

Two new releases today: UnrealIRCd 6.0.1.1 and UnrealIRCd 5.2.3. Both of them fix a number of small issues.

We are happy to announce UnrealIRCd 6.0.0! This is the first stable release of UnrealIRCd 6.

This is the second Release Candidate for UnrealIRCd 6. The plan is to have a stable 6.0.0 release the week before Christmas, so please help us test this (possibly last) Release Candidate to ensure it's good!

I'm pleased to announce the first Release Candidate for UnrealIRCd 6. The "Release Candidate" stage means that the code is (soon) expected to be of production quality. It should no longer crash or have major issues, but we need help from the public to verify that this is indeed the case.

UnrealIRCd 6.0.0-beta4 available for testing

The fourth beta for UnrealIRCd 6 is now available for testing. It fixes a serious bug where regular users could

UnrealIRCd 6.0.0-beta3 available for testing

The third beta for UnrealIRCd 6 is now available for testing. Compared to beta2 it contains more than ten fixes. It contains all the planned features for U6 and now we need the help of the public to test these beta's.

UnrealIRCd 6.0.0-beta2 available for testing

The second beta for UnrealIRCd 6 is now available for testing. Compared to beta1 there are a number of fixes. It contains all the planned features for U6 and now we need the help of the public to test these beta's.

UnrealIRCd 6.0.0-beta1 available for testing

The first beta for UnrealIRCd 6 is now available for download. It contains all the planned features for U6 and we now need the help of the public to test these beta releases.

New staff member, heads up on UnrealIRCd 6 & support for UnrealIRCd 5

In this update I want to post 3 things: our new staff member, k4be, a heads up on UnrealIRCd 6 and the support schedule of UnrealIRCd 5.

The release turned out to be good and stable. This UnrealIRCd 5.2.2 release contains only some minor changes.

If you are still using UnrealIRCd 5.0.x then we recommend you to upgrade to 5.2.2 in the few weeks/months.

UnrealIRCd 5.2.1.1 released & small security issue

UnrealIRCd 5.2.1 is out and a hot-patch was released for a small security issue in 5.0.9, 5.2.0(.x) and 5.2.1-rc1.

UPDATE: Download updated to 5.2.1.1 to fix a SASL issue.

UnrealIRCd 5.2.1-rc1 available for testing

The release candidate for 5.2.1 is now available for testing.

There have been two dot releases since 5.2.0

UnrealIRCd 5.2.0 is out! This is release comes with lots of new features but the two big new things are

UnrealIRCd 5.2.0-rc1 available for testing

The first release candidate for 5.2.0 is now available for testing.

UnrealIRCd 5.0.9.1 released and update on OpenSSL crashbug

UnrealIRCd 5.0.9.1 was released today (no need to upgrade from 5.0.9!), and it is confirmed, the OpenSSL crashbug also crashes UnrealIRCd on *NIX.

UnrealIRCd and the recent OpenSSL advisory

Today, the OpenSSL project issued a security advisory (CVE-2021-3449). It basically means most SSL/TLS servers on the Internet can be crashed

UnrealIRCd 5.0.9 is out! This release comes with improved connection notices and logging for admins, global maxperip limit, dated log file names, max connections bumped to 16384, ...

The release candidate for 5.0.9 is now available for testing.

The main purpose of this release is to enhance the reputation functionality. There have also been some other changes and minor bug fixes.

After five years it is time to say goodbye to the old UnrealIRCd 4 series. As of today, UnrealIRCd 4.x is no longer supported. This should be no surprise, given that the end-of-life announcement was in July 2019.

The release candidate for 5.0.8 is now available for testing.

UnrealIRCd 5.0.7 is now available. This release mainly consists of fixes for the 5.x stable series, with some minor enhancements.

The release candidate for 5.0.7 is now available for testing.

UnrealIRCd 5.0.6 is now available. This is a small small maintenance release for the stable 5.x series.

Reminder: UnrealIRCd 4 will be EOL at the end of 2020

UnrealIRCd 4 will be maintained until 31 December 2020 (security fixes only!). After that date UnrealIRCd 4 is no longer supported. Admins are recommended to upgrade to UnrealIRCd 5 soon.

UnrealIRCd 5.0.5.1 is now available. It removes the new UTF8 Spamfilter feature that was added in 5.0.5 due to a bug in the PCRE2 library.

UnrealIRCd 5.0.5 is now available. This releases focuses mainly on new features, while also fixing a few bugs.

It has been 2 months since UnrealIRCd release and the world has changed a lot. We hope everyone is alright in these times. This new 5.0.4 version fixes quite a number of bugs

UnrealIRCd 5.0.3.1 released (fixes crash issue in 5.0.3)

UnrealIRCd 5.0.3 which was released last Saturday turned out to introduce a new crash bug. Existing 5.0.3 admins can again use a "hot patch" to fix the issue without a restart.

UnrealIRCd 5.0.3 released (fixes flood issue)

UnrealIRCd 5.0.3 is out. It fixes a user-triggerable flood issue. We recommend users running 5.0.0/5.0.1/5.0.2 to apply the "hot patch" to fix the issue without a restart.

UnrealIRCd 5.0.2 released (fixes desync issue)

UnrealIRCd 5.0.2 is out. It fixes a desync issue with halfops. When two servers link, users with halfops will not appear on the other side of the link, creating a so called "ghost user". There is also a "hot patch" which can be applied to existing 5.0.0 and 5.0.1 installations to fix the issue without server restart.

This UnrealIRCd 5.0.1 release fixes a few issues present in 5.0.0.

UnrealIRCd 5 is here! After more than 6 months of hard work UnrealIRCd 5 is now our new "stable" branch.

The second release candidate for UnrealIRCd 5 is out: 5.0.0-rc2. Focus is 100% on fixing bugs and have a stable UnrealIRCd 5 release in December 2019. You can help us a lot by testing this release.

I'm pleased to announce 5.0.0-rc1, which is the first Release Candidate for UnrealIRCd 5. There will be no module API changes anymore and no new features will be added in the "release candidate" stage. Focus is 100% on fixing bugs and have a stable UnrealIRCd 5 release in December 2019. You can help us a lot by testing this release.

After four 5.0.0 alpha versions we can now release the first beta. The fact that UnrealIRCd 5 is in "beta" means it's mostly feature-complete but not yet suitable for production servers. Now it's time to test things thoroughly and get rid of bugs.

This is the fourth alpha version of UnrealIRCd 5. This is not a stable version, it is for testing only and the server may misbehave. Some planned functionality for UnrealIRCd 5 is still missing, but 90% is there.

This is the third alpha version of UnrealIRCd 5. This is not a stable version, it is for testing only and the server may misbehave. Some planned functionality for UnrealIRCd 5 is still missing, but 90% is there.

This is the second alpha version of UnrealIRCd 5, called 5.0.0-alpha2. This is not a stable version, it is for testing only and the server may misbehave. Some planned functionality for UnrealIRCd 5 is still missing, but 90% is there.

Major UnrealIRCd 5 news. First of all, U5 development is now public. On GitHub, the repository is called 'unreal50' and on the bug tracker we made all U5 bug reports and feature requests public as well. We are also releasing the first alpha version, 5.0.0-alpha1.

UnrealIRCd 4.2.4.1 and 4.x/5.x release plans

A new 4.2.4.1 release for Debian 10 and an update on UnrealIRCd 4.x and 5.x release plans...

UnrealIRCd 4.2.4 released (also fixes crash issue)

This release fixes a crash issue if UnrealIRCd is configured to use utf8 or chinese character sets in set::allowed-nickchars. We don't expect many users to run their IRCd with this enabled, as the utf8 support was tagged as experimental and the chinese/gbk implementation is incomplete.

This release also contains a number of other fixes and enhancements. In particular the reputation and connthrottle modules are now working better and there were some major Windows fixes.

UnrealIRCd 20 years: a look at the past and the future (U5)

This month UnrealIRCd celebrates its 20th birthday. I'm involved with the project for 18 years now. I feel dedicated to the project and feel a responsibility to IRC as a whole. Still, I think the people who really deserve a thanks are the people who support the project by running IRC servers,

UnrealIRCd 4.2.3 (stable) is now available for download. This release adds new modules to combat drones, it bumps the default concurrent user limit, and UnrealIRCd can now easily deal with 1 million *LINE's placed on *@IP without any noticeable performance impact.

UnrealIRCd 4.2.3-rc1 available for testing

The Release Candidate for UnrealIRCd 4.2.3 is now available for testing.

UnrealIRCd 4.2.2 (stable) is now available for download. It contains several major enhancements, in particular with regards to flood controls.

It also fixes a crash issue in the websocket module. Note that this is module is not loaded by default

UnrealIRCd 4.2.2-rc2 available for testing

The second Release Candidate for UnrealIRCd 4.2.2 is now available for testing.

UnrealIRCd 4.2.2-rc1 available for testing

The Release Candidate for UnrealIRCd 4.2.2 is now available for testing.

UnrealIRCd 4.2.1.1 released, fixes compile problems on Debian

UnrealIRCd 4.2.1.1 is now available. This version fixes a problem with compiling UnrealIRCd on Debian stretch. If you are already running 4.2.1 then there is no reason to upgrade. Similarly, the Windows version is unchanged and still 4.2.1. See the 4.2.1 release announcement for more information on what's new.

UnrealIRCd 4.2.1 (stable) is now available for download. This version enhances support for authentication. Also new is a module to combat mixed UTF8 character spam, a rewrite of the operclass privileges and more secure password hashing with Argon2.

UnrealIRCd 4.2.1-rc1 available for testing

The Release Candidate for UnrealIRCd 4.2.1 is now available for testing.

There have been so many changes in this and last few 4.0.x versions, it justifies calling this release UnrealIRCd 4.2.0.

Marking the beginning of the 4.2 series, this release introduces features such as "soft klines" and "soft actions". A significant number of optional modules are now loaded as default, including timed channel bans and textbans. Also, a lot more smaller changes are included in this release, such as fixes for TLSv1.3 and experimental WHOX support.

UnrealIRCd 4.0.18 (stable) is now available for download. This is a recommended upgrade because it fixes some memory leaks / security issues present in 4.0.17 and earlier versions. There's no need to rush the upgrade (there is no imminent threat), but it is advised to upgrade somewhere in the few weeks.

Naturally there are also enhancements and other bug fixes

UnrealIRCd 4.0.18-rc2 available for testing

The second Release Candidate for UnrealIRCd 4.0.18 is now available for testing.

UnrealIRCd 4.0.18-rc1 available for testing

The first Release Candidate for UnrealIRCd 4.0.18 is now available for testing.

Some people still use the unrealircd.com or unrealircd.net domains. Today I've dropped all subdomains (except www) of those. This means that for example irc.unrealircd.

UnrealIRCd 4.0.17 (stable) is now available for download. This release comes with two new optional modules: "timed bans" (remove ban after X minutes) and "msgbypass". It also adds experimental support for utf8 in set::allowed-nickchars.

UnrealIRCd 4.0.16.1 fixes a couple of issues that affected only a few users. If your UnrealIRCd 4.0.16 is working fine then I'm not recommending an upgrade at this point. Just use it for new installations.

Also available is an early first release candidate for release, UnrealIRCd 4.0.17-rc1.

UnrealIRCd 4.0.16 (stable) is now available for download. This release consists of a huge amount of enhancements and other changes.

UnrealIRCd 4.0.16-rc1 available for testing

The first Release Candidate for UnrealIRCd 4.0.16 is now available for testing.

Crash issue: apply hot fix or upgrade to 4.0.15

All UnrealIRCd versions up to and including 4.0.14 can be crashed by a remote user. Please apply the hot-fix which allows you to fix this issue without a server restart, or upgrade to UnrealIRCd 4.0.15.

UnrealIRCd 4.0.14 (stable) is now available for download. This release consists of several SSL/TLS related improvements.

The first Release Candidate for UnrealIRCd 4.0.14 is now available.

UnrealIRCd 4.0.13 adds support for two SSL/TLS-related features: STS (Strict Transport Security) and SNI (Server Name Indication). This release also fixes a number of bugs, the most annoying ones being related to 'simple' spamfilters and the previously introduced +Z user mode.

UnrealIRCd 4.0.12 is now available for download. It fixes a number of bugs and adds a new user mode +Z which SSL/TLS users may find useful.

A note to everyone who uses 3rd party modules

Currently more than 95% of the crashes reported to us are due to faulty 3rd party modules. Third party modules are modules coded by authors other than the UnrealIRCd team. We do not investigate such bug reports. These bugs are caused by and should be resolved by the module author(s). Keep this in mind if your server crashes: try unloading all (recently) installed 3rd party modules and see if the crash issue disappears. Also, check for updates of 3rd party modules, your crash issue may very well be fixed already.

Crash issue in UnrealIRCd: apply hot fix ASAP or upgrade to 4.0.11

UnrealIRCd versions 4.0.8 - 4.0.10 on *NIX can be crashed by a remote user. This is due to a buffer overflow issue. The issue is actually present in all UnrealIRCd versions but because the data overflows into unused variables after the buffer previously went undetected and caused no harm. [..] The Windows version does not crash. For *NIX, we have released a "hot fix" which can patch your server without requiring an UnrealIRCd restart. Or you can upgrade to UnrealIRCd 4.0.11

LibreSSL, the library we use for SSL/TLS on Windows, has released an update. There seemed to be a security issue in the way they implemented ECDSA. This is only an issue if you use elliptic curve certificates

Nine modules have been added to UnrealIRCd. One of them brings support for WebSockets so you can access IRC directly from your web browser. A number of bugs have been fixed as well. In particular a bug in all 4.0.x versions where occasionally incorrect bans would be added

This is the second release candidate for 4.0.10. Please help us test this release so we can release a stable 4.0.10, which is scheduled for Friday the 13th. Nine new modules were added including an experimental websocket module.

This is the first release candidate for 4.0.10.

If you are still running UnrealIRCd 3.2.x then this is a friendly reminder to upgrade to UnrealIRCd 4 before the end of the year. As announced a year ago, all support for UnrealIRCd 3.2.x will stop after December 31, 2016. This also means no more security updates. UnrealIRCd 4 is in use by many networks and has proven to be stable and reliable. Many third party modules have been converted as well.

Upgrading from 3.2.x to 4.x should be relatively easy. Your configuration file can be updated to the new format automatically.

An issue was discovered in the UnrealIRCd 4.0.x series which allows users to create a "ghost" user. We have released a "hot fix" which can patch your server without requiring an UnrealIRCd restart (for *NIX only). Or you can upgrade to UnrealIRCd 4.0.9.

There have been a number of point releases to fix possible compile problems. If you already successfully installed UnrealIRCd then there is no need to upgrade. The Windows version is unchanged (4.0.8).

The *NIX download has been replaced with 4.0.8.1. This version fixes a problem if using a self-compiled curl from your directory. It also fixes a compile problem on FreeBSD if using clang. These issues only affect a small number of users. If you already successfully installed UnrealIRCd then there is no need to upgrade. The Windows version is unchanged (4.0.8).

UnrealIRCd 4.0.8 enables several hardening options by default on *NIX to make several type of exploits more difficult and in some cases impossible. On Windows releases are now signed by default.

UnrealIRCd 4.0.8-rc1 is the (first) release candidate for upcoming 4.0.8.

Windows: UnrealIRCd releases now digitally signed

From now on our Windows UnrealIRCd 4.x releases are signed with signtool. If you run the installer the publisher will show as "Open Source Developer, Bram Matthys" rather than "Unknown publisher". Not only the installer itself is signed, also all .EXE and .DLL files which are installed.

UnrealIRCd 4.0.7 has been released. SSL/TLS security has been strengthened and an issue preventing SSL server linking on FreeBSD has been resolved. For a more detailed list of changes...

UnrealIRCd 4.0.7-rc1 is the (first) release candidate for upcoming 4.0.7.

Security: SASL security issue (UnrealIRCd 4.0.6 & 3.2.10.7 released)

A security issue was detected in a number of IRCd's, including UnrealIRCd. If you use services and have SASL enabled (you need to do this explicitly) then you should patch or upgrade as soon as possible. While this only affects 2% of our userbase, for those networks which are affected this is a very serious issue.

to see if your server is vulnerable or not!

There was a problem with the 4.0.5 download where it killed innocent users. The download has now been replaced with a fixed version. This only affected 41 people / 28 unique IP's who downloaded the early 4.0.5 version with the bug. Automated tests failed to detect this problem. Sorry for the trouble!

UnrealIRCd 4.0.5 released. Fixes security issues.

UnrealIRCd 4.0.5 has been released today. We recommend everyone to upgrade to this version as it fixes some serious issues.

As you may have found out by now we have a new release policy where we try to push out a new 4.0.x release at least every 2 months. This UnrealIRCd 4.0.4 release addresses a small GLINE/KLINE bug, two rare crashes and a few minor issues.

Stay informed on new releases and security fixes

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Subscribing not only keeps you informed on the latest changes but also makes sure you don't miss out on security announcements.

The *NIX/Source download has been replaced with 4.0.3.1. This version only fixes a compile problem on FreeBSD and OpenBSD. If you are using Linux or Windows then there's no reason to upgrade.

This release fixes a crash which can be triggered by IRCOps only (not by regular users). It also fixes a few issues on Windows and improves the crash reporter.

This release fixes a few crash bugs and improves the crash reporter. We also changed the way the Windows version is built. This is a release candidate. If no major issues show up this will soon become 4.0.3.

This release addresses a number of minor issues in the UnrealIRCd 4 series.

This release fixes 2 crash issues: one if you removed an active listen { } block and the other could hapen on-link. It also fixes a number of smaller issues and adds some improvements to UnrealIRCd 4.

UnrealIRCd 4 is here! We have been working hard over the past few years to replace the successful but aging 3.2.x series with a more modern code base. At the same time we have implemented suggestions from...

The 6th - and possibly last - release candidate for UnrealIRCd 4 is now available for download.

UnrealIRCd 3.2.10.6 released & deprecation of 3.2.x series

UnrealIRCd 3.2.10.6 has been released today to address a possibly user-triggerable crash issue in the Windows SSL version. At the same time we are announcing the phase-out of the 3.2.x series

The fifth release candidate for UnrealIRCd 4 is now available for download.

The fourth release candidate for UnrealIRCd 4 is now available for download.

The third release candidate for UnrealIRCd 4 is now available for download.

The second release candidate for UnrealIRCd 4 is now available for download.

The first release candidate for UnrealIRCd 4 is available for download. The development version was previously called 3.4.x but has been renamed to indicate the many changes in the codebase and to end-users. We're still aiming for an UnrealIRCd 4.0.0 stable release by the end of 2015.

This release fixes a number of major bugs and adds some security enhancements.

We have also released a new beta for the 3.4 series. 3.4-beta3 finally introduces IPv6 support on Windows XP and fixes a number of major bugs and compile problems.

Security: UnrealIRCd crash issue if SASL is enabled

If SASL support is enabled in UnrealIRCd (this is not the default)

and is also enabled in your services package then a malicious user with

a services account can cause UnrealIRCd to crash. Most people have not enabled SASL, and those who do can easily fix

this potential crash issue without a server restart. See

The second BETA version for UnrealIRCd 3.4.x has been released. This fixes a bunch of major bugs in the first beta that came up during testing.

After more than 2 years of development I'm happy to announce the first BETA version of UnrealIRCd 3.4.x. This means we are on schedule to deliver an UnrealIRCd 3.4 stable release by Q4 this year.

UnrealIRCd 3.4-alpha4 (development) released

And another 3.4.x alpha version has been released. This time the oper privilege system received a complete makeover, allowing you to grant/restrict oper privileges in a very fine matter. Also even more things have been moved to modules.

Security: DoS in OpenSSL affecting UnrealIRCd (again)

Several security issues were found in the OpenSSL library. The OpenSSL library is used by UnrealIRCd if you compiled with SSL support. Several of these issues result in a server crash (

UnrealIRCd 3.4-alpha3 (development) released

Development of 3.4.x is going well! alpha version was released only a month ago but all the changes since then warrant a 3.4-alpha3 release. In 1-2 months we plan to move 3.4.x to 'beta' stage so we can have a 'stable' release by the end of this year (2015).

UnrealIRCd 3.4-alpha2 (development) released

The second alpha version for UnrealIRCd 3.4 has been released. I've worked on this together with Heero and we also had a number of contributions from Adam, DBoyz and others. Thanks everyone! ...

In the past month me (Syzop) and Heero have been writing technical documentation which should be very useful to Module Coders. If you thinking writing UnrealIRCd modules or already have some experience with it, have a look at the

Security: DoS in OpenSSL affecting UnrealIRCd

Several security issues were found in the OpenSSL library. The OpenSSL library is used by UnrealIRCd if you compiled with SSL support. At least one issue is a server crash (

UnrealIRCd 3.4-alpha1 (development) released

The very first alpha of the new UnrealIRCd 3.4 series has been released. This version contains major enhancements but is not stable yet. Hopefully some users want to help us with testing. Just don't run it on a production server! (

A minor update for the 3.2.x stable series has been released. This release fixes a compile problem on FreeBSD and other OS's where clang is the default compiler. Also some minor problems with newer services such as anope 2.0 have been fixed (

Another update to latest stable release is out: 3.2.10.3. This release consists mostly of a few bug fixes. There's no need to update existing servers unless you are experiencing problems or if you are using SASL and have ping-cookie disabled (neither is the default).

It all started when Stskeeps created UnrealIRCd in May 1999. When I first joined the project as a coder in 2001 UnrealIRCd was already very popular. Now, in 2014, it is still the most widely deployed IRCd with a market of over 50% (

We finally have a new website! With our 15th anniversary we really needed something new. I'd like to thank n0kS for all his hard work on this and hope everyone (or almost everyone) appreciates the new design.

If you are missing something or are experiencing any errors, then

Security advisory: SSL Heartbeat & UnrealIRCd

A serious issue in OpenSSL was reported yesterday, the so called 'Heartbleed' bug. It affects many applications, including UnrealIRCd. It's very serious because it gives remote users the ability to read highly sensitive data.

UPDATE: we now suggest users to create a new SSL Certificate & keys too! (

We have released a second update to latest stable: UnrealIRCd 3.2.10.2. We recommend 3.2.10 & 3.2.10.1 users to upgrade somewhere in the few weeks. (

We've launched an UnrealIRCd survey at survey.unrealircd.com. The purpose of this survey is to give us a good idea of how people think UnrealIRCd, how it's being used, and - even more important - in what areas we should improve. The results of the survey will help us decide where to work on, mainly with regards to the development of the new Unreal3.4.x series, but also in other areas. (

I've released an update to latest stable release. There were a few issues in 3.2.10 that couldn't wait until a 3.2.11 release. Note that if you are not experiencing any of these issues then there isn't much reason to upgrade!

Here's the list of issues that are fixed since 3.2.10... (

UnrealIRCd 3.2.10 released & UnrealIRCd 3.4 development

First of all, Merry Christmas everyone! Today we have released UnrealIRCd 3.2.10. This release contains quite a number of new features and also a couple of bug fixes for minor issues. For a summary of the changes, see the Release Notes below. I would also like to announce that we have started development on UnrealIRCd 3.4... (

Security: Crash issue in UnrealIRCd Windows SSL versions 3.2.9 and 3.2.10-rc1

A serious issue has been found in the Windows SSL versions of UnrealIRCd 3.2.9 and 3.2.10-rc1. This issue allows someone to remotely crash the server. This issue does not affect *NIX users or Windows users using the non-SSL version. See

UnrealIRCd 3.2.10-rc1 released for testing

I've released UnrealIRCd 3.2.10-rc1 (Release Candidate 1) for testing today.

Everyone is welcome to test this version and check if there are any major release critical bugs (such as crash bugs) present, so they can be corrected before the real 3.2.10 release. Note that we do not recommend running this version on production servers.

You can download 3.2.10-rc1 by clicking on the the Downloads link on the left side of this page.

You can help us by testing specific items which can be found on our the Unreal3.2 testing forum. Be sure to read the first post 'READ THIS! (how to use)'.

Summary of the new features and fixes: ... (