# What's New in MariaDB Enterprise Server 11.8 {% hint style="info" %}

The most recent release of MariaDB Enterprise Server 11.8 is:

MariaDB Enterprise Server 11.8.6-3 Download Now

{% endhint %} MariaDB Enterprise Server 11.8 introduces a wide range of enhancements spanning developer productivity, security, compatibility, observability, and support for modern workloads like vector search. The MariaDB Enterprise Server 11.8.2-0 Technical Preview adds the innovations from the MariaDB Community Server releases 11.5 to 11.8 to MariaDB Enterprise Server 11.4. ## Vector Search MariaDB Enterprise Server 11.8 continues to expand its native vector search capabilities, positioning MariaDB for AI-powered applications such as semantic search and recommendation systems. Already available in the MariaDB Enterprise Server 11.4 are: * **New Data Type**: `VECTOR(N)` to store multi-dimensional embeddings * **Vector Indexing**: Efficient similarity search with `VECTOR INDEX` * **Distance Functions**: * `VEC_DISTANCE_EUCLIDEAN()` for L2 distance * `VEC_DISTANCE_COSINE()` for angular similarity * **Conversion Functions**: * `Vec_FromText(json_array)` and `Vec_ToText(vector_column)` transform between the text and binary vector formats * [**System Variables**](/docs/server/ha-and-performance/optimization-and-tuning/system-variables.md) **for Index Tuning**: * `mhnsw_max_cache_size`, `mhnsw_default_distance`, `mhnsw_default_m`, `mhnsw_ef_search` ### Added to MariaDB Enterprise Server 11.8 * **Distance Functions**: * `VEC_DISTANCE()` auto-selects the best distance function based on the index configuration. * Optimization that makes vector search 30-50% (depending on the data) faster for the same recall * Enabled automatically for applicable vectors * Vectors are applicable if they can be gradually truncated to trade some recall for speed * For example matryoshka embeddings as produced by OpenAI are applicable * Namespace support was added to HashiCorp Vault in MariaDB * See the [Hashicorp namespaces documentation](https://developer.hashicorp.com/vault/docs/enterprise/namespaces) for details * [Audit logging buffer writes](/docs/server/reference/plugins/mariadb-enterprise-audit.md#audit-logging-buffer-writes) are possible now ## Backported Features ### [MariaDB Enterprise Server 11.8.5-2](/docs/release-notes/enterprise-server/11.8/11.8.5-2.md) * Log write buffering added to the [SERVER\_AUDIT](/docs/server/reference/plugins/mariadb-audit-plugin.md) and [SERVER\_AUDIT2](/docs/server/reference/plugins/mariadb-enterprise-audit.md) plugins ([MENT-2438](https://jira.mariadb.org/browse/MENT-2438)) * The buffering is controlled by the added variables: * `server_audit_file_buffer_size` - defines the size of the buffer. The default value is 0 meaning there's no buffering at all. Setting non-zero value enables the buffering with the buffer of the specified size aligned by 8192. The maximum value is 65536. * `server_audit_sync_log_file` - flushes the buffer to the log file. While the log record is in the buffer, it cannot be seen in the log file. And if there are not many events to log, the time before records can be observed can be significant. So user can do `SET GLOBAL server_audit_log_file=1` to this variable to force write the buffer to the file, to make sure he doesn't miss the recent records. * Two new fields are available via `SHOW REPLICA STATUS` ([MENT-2129](https://jira.mariadb.org/browse/MENT-2129)) 1. `Connects_Tried`, which provides the number of attempts the replica has made to connect to the primary, and 2. `Master_Retry_Count`, which provides the number of times the replica will attempt to connect to a primary before giving up. * The authentication plugin `caching_sha2_password` has been added, not loaded by default ([MDEV-37600](https://jira.mariadb.org/browse/MDEV-37600)) ### Emergency Recovery Across Major Versions * **Behavioral change:** A MariaDB 11.x server can now start with data files from MariaDB 10.x when [innodb\_force\_recovery](/docs/server/server-usage/storage-engines/innodb/innodb-system-variables.md#innodb_force_recovery) is set to `6` * This is a last-resort emergency-recovery path for extracting a logical dump from a corrupted or incompatible database, **not** a substitute for the normal upgrade procedure * See [Configure the InnoDB Redo Log: Emergency Recovery Across Major Versions](/docs/server/server-usage/storage-engines/innodb/mariadb-enterprise-server-innodb-operations/configure-the-innodb-redo-log.md#emergency-recovery-across-major-versions) ([MDEV-39303](https://jira.mariadb.org/browse/MDEV-39303), available in Enterprise Server 11.8 builds based on MariaDB 11.8.7 and later) ## Indexes, SQL Functions, and Query Enhancements * **UUID Generation**: New functions `UUID_v4() and UUID_v7()` for modern and time-ordered UUIDs * **Multi-Table DELETE Enhancements**: Support for `ORDER BY and LIMIT` * **Single-Table DELETE Enhancements**: Now it allows index hints * **NEW SHOW CREATE SERVER**: Recreate server objects similar to [SHOW CREATE TABLE](/docs/server/reference/sql-statements/administrative-sql-statements/show/show-create-table.md) * **DBMS\_OUTPUT:** Messages submitted by `DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE()` are not sent to the client until the sending subprogram or trigger completes ## Performance Improvements * Optimization that makes vector search 30-50% faster (more details in the [Vector Search](#vector-search) section) * Segmented key cache for [Aria storage engine](/docs/server/server-usage/storage-engines/aria.md) * [aria\_pagecache\_segments](/docs/server/server-usage/storage-engines/aria/aria-system-variables.md#aria_pagecache_segments) system variable * Add [analyze\_max\_length](/docs/server/server-management/variables-and-modes/server-system-variables.md#analyze_max_length) option to not collect statistics for long char/varchars * See [Skipping Long CHAR/VARCHAR Columns](/docs/server/reference/sql-statements/table-statements/analyze-table.md#skipping-long-char-varchar-columns) for more information ## Data Types and Compatibility * **UTF-8 by Default**: `utf8mb4` replaces `latin1` and legacy `utf8`, ensuring full Unicode support, including emojis * **Default Collation**: `utf8mb4_uca1400_ai_ci` is now the standard for Unicode character sets * **Extended TIMESTAMP Range**: Increased upper bound to 2106 on 64-bit systems * **ROW Type Enhancements**: * ROW types are now usable as stored function return values * The support for `%ROWTYPE, TYPE OF, and RECORD(...)` declarations for Oracle-like compatibility: ```sql DECLARE TYPE DeptRecTyp IS RECORD ( dept_id NUMBER(4), dept_name VARCHAR2(30), mgr_id NUMBER(6), loc_id NUMBER(4) ); ``` * **Triggers**: * `BEFORE UPDATE OF col1, col2` limits trigger execution to specific column updates: ```sql CREATE TRIGGER mytrigger BEFORE UPDATE OF col1, col2 ON t1 FOR EACH ROW … ``` * Use of `SIGNAL SQLSTATE '02TRG'` allows skipping a row operation * Stored Procedures: Now support default parameter values: ```sql CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE p1(param1 INT, param2 INT DEFAULT 1) ``` * Associative arrays: `DECLARE TYPE .. TABLE OF .. INDEX BY` * Added `caching_sha2_password` plugin, see [Authentication Plugin - SHA-256](/docs/server/reference/plugins/authentication-plugins/authentication-plugin-sha-256.md) for more information ## Enhancements to System Versioned Tables * System Versioned Tables is a powerful feature for auditing changes to data. Enabling System Versioned Tables is as easy as creating a table by using ```sql CREATE TABLE contracts (...) WITH SYSTEM VERSIONING; ``` Or enabling the feature for an existing table by using ```sql ALTER TABLE contracts ADD SYSTEM VERSIONING; ``` In both cases, invisible fields will be created in the table to track the timestamps and period for which the data is valid. A DBA/DevOps might want these fields to be visible * It is now possible to change such implicit fields to explicit ones by the following types of statements: ```sql SET @@system_versioning_alter_history= keep; ALTER TABLE contracts ADD COLUMN rs TIMESTAMP(6) AS ROW START, ADD COLUMN re TIMESTAMP(6) AS ROW END, ADD PERIOD FOR SYSTEM_TIME (rs,re); ``` ## Security * **New** [**Authentication Plugin—PARSEC**](/docs/server/reference/plugins/authentication-plugins/authentication-plugin-parsec.md): * Based on elliptic curve cryptography * Mitigates the replay and man-in-the-middle attacks\ Example on how to create a user using the new [authentication plugin](/docs/server/reference/plugins/authentication-plugins.md): ```sql CREATE USER 'MariaDBUser'@'%' IDENTIFIED VIA PARSEC USING PASSWORD('MyPassword123!'); ``` This will result in: ```sql SHOW GRANTS FOR MariaDBUser@'%'; ``` ``` Grants for MariaDBUser@% GRANT USAGE ON *.* TO `MariaDBUser`@`%` IDENTIFIED VIA parsec USING 'P0:lhXyNv1cIxpB8EnTxR7ON7S7:1l3rWRW1/jw45yrvYXB8eh02wzk7lcJcz4CMc Ww2b+8' ``` \\ * Unix Socket Enhancements: * Now supports explicit OS user mapping via `IDENTIFIED VIA UNIX_SOCKET AS` `'user'` * It is also possible to specify more than one OS user with the usual OR syntax: ```sql CREATE USER dba IDENTIFIED VIA UNIX_SOCKET AS 'jack' OR IDENTIFIED VIA UNIX_SOCKET AS 'jill'; ``` ## Replication & Clustering * Improved Replication Lag Monitoring: * [SHOW REPLICA STATUS](/docs/server/reference/sql-statements/administrative-sql-statements/show/show-replica-status.md) now includes: ``` Master_last_event_time Slave_last_event_time Master_Slave_time_diff ``` * [Information Schema Table](/docs/server/reference/system-tables/information-schema/information-schema-tables.md) for [Replication Status](/docs/server/reference/system-tables/information-schema/information-schema-tables/information-schema-slave_status-table.md):\\ ```sql MariaDB [test]> SELECT Master_last_event_time,Slave_last_event_time,Master_Slave_time_diff FROM information_schema.slave_status\G *************************** 1. row *************************** Master_last_event_time: 2024-08-13 07:32:38 Slave_last_event_time: 2024-08-13 07:32:37 Master_Slave_time_diff: 1 ``` * **New Option – `--slave-abort-blocking-timeout`**: Kills blocking non-replication queries after a timeout * **Galera SST Automation**: SST user is now auto-created and managed internally * **Backported** [MDEV-35304](https://jira.mariadb.org/browse/MDEV-35304) : Add `{{Connects_Tried}}` & `{{Master_Retry_Count}}` from [CS-12.0](/docs/release-notes/community-server/old-releases/12.0/what-is-mariadb-120.md) ## Key Management * [**KMS Plugin**](/docs/server/security/encryption/data-at-rest-encryption/key-management-and-encryption-plugins.md) **Enhancement**: The file\_key\_management plugin can now read keys from a **Unix socket**, not just from files * **File Key Management Encryption Plugin:** Added key rotation capability; see [this page](/docs/server/security/encryption/data-at-rest-encryption/key-management-and-encryption-plugins/file-key-management-encryption-plugin.md#key-rotation) for details. In addition, a new Information Schema table was added, [FILE\_KEY\_MANAGEMENT\_KEYS](/docs/server/reference/system-tables/information-schema/information-schema-tables/information-schema-file_key_management_keys.md) ## Observability & Information Schema * Temporary File Disk Space Limits: * `max_tmp_session_space_usage` and `max_tmp_total_space_usage` prevent runaway disk usage * New Status Variables: `tmp_space_used, max_tmp_space_used` * New [Information Schema](/docs/server/reference/system-tables/information-schema.md) Views: * `SLAVE_STATUS` to view replication lag via SQL * [USERS](/docs/server/reference/system-tables/information-schema/information-schema-tables/information-schema-users-table.md) for password state and expiration monitoring * [SEQUENCES](/docs/server/reference/system-tables/information-schema/information-schema-tables/information-schema-sequences-table.md) to introspect auto-generated sequences: ```sql SELECT * FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.SEQUENCES\G *************************** 1. row *************************** SEQUENCE_CATALOG: def SEQUENCE_SCHEMA: test SEQUENCE_NAME: s_name DATA_TYPE: tinyint NUMERIC_PRECISION: 8 NUMERIC_PRECISION_RADIX: 2 NUMERIC_SCALE: 0 START_VALUE: 100 MINIMUM_VALUE: -127 MAXIMUM_VALUE: 126 INCREMENT: 10 CYCLE_OPTION: 0 ``` * **Enhanced ANALYZE FORMAT=JSON**: * Includes `r_index_rows, r_icp_filtered` * **Thread Naming for Diagnostics**: Thread names are now more descriptive * **Galera Information Schema:** New [WSREP\_BF\_ABORTS](/docs/server/reference/system-tables/information-schema/information-schema-tables/information-schema-wsrep_bf_aborts.md) Information Schema table * **Galera Information Schema:** New [WSREP\_THD\_STATE](/docs/server/reference/system-tables/information-schema/information-schema-tables/information-schema-wsrep_thd_state.md) and [WSREP\_THD\_STATE\_HISTORY](/docs/server/reference/system-tables/information-schema/information-schema-tables/information-schema-wsrep_thd_state_history.md) Information Schema tables * **Galera Information Schema:** New Information Schema table [WSREP\_CONNECTIONS](/docs/server/reference/system-tables/information-schema/information-schema-tables/information-schema-wsrep_connections.md) * **Galera Information Schema:** New Information Schema [WSREP\_CERT\_KEYS](/docs/server/reference/system-tables/information-schema/information-schema-tables/information-schema-wsrep_cert_keys.md) and [WSREP\_CERT\_KEYS\_HISTORY](/docs/server/reference/system-tables/information-schema/information-schema-tables/information-schema-wsrep_cert_keys_history.md) tables ## PL/SQL Support for Oracle-stype `INDEX BY` tables (associative arrays) was backported from [MariaDB 12.1](/docs/release-notes/community-server/old-releases/12.1/changes-and-improvements-in-mariadb-12.1.md) in stored routines and anonymous blocks, with this declaration syntax: ```sql TYPE type_name TABLE OF rec_type_name INDEX BY idx_type_name; ``` Where: * `type_name` supports explicit and anchored data types (e.g `t1.col1%TYPE`) * The `INDEX BY` clause supports integer and string data types * `rec_type_name` supports scalar and record data types The implementation supports the following associative array methods: * `FIRST` * `LAST` * `NEXT` * `PRIOR` * `COUNT` * `EXISTS` * `DELETE` ## Tool Improvements * **mariadb-dump**: * The `--dir=` dumps each database to its subdirectory * Supports parallel dumps and restores * New `--update-history` converts `row_end TIMESTAMPs` during export * **mariadb-import**: * `--dir=` restores from the dumped directory structure * Supports `--database, --table, --ignore-database, --ignore-table` for selective restore * `--innodb-optimize-keys`: defers index creation to speed up data loads * **mariadb-test (mtr):** * `mtr` can be started with the `--enable_serveroutput` option to enable `DBMS_OUTPUT` messages * See [this section](/docs/server/clients-and-utilities/testing-tools/mariadb-test/mariadb-test-overview.md#options) for details. * **mariadb (command-line client)** * New `--enable_serveroutput` option to enable `DBMS_OUTPUT` messages at start time * See [this section](/docs/server/clients-and-utilities/mariadb-client/mariadb-command-line-client.md#options) for details * New `serveroutput` and `noserveroutput` command to enable and disable those messages at runtime * See [this section](/docs/server/clients-and-utilities/mariadb-client/mariadb-command-line-client.md#mariadb-commands) for details. ## Userstat Plugin Enhancements * Improved Insights: * Index usage via `QUERIES` in `INDEX_STATISTICS` * Query operation counts: `ROWS_INSERTED`, `ROWS_UPDATED`, `KEY_READ_HITS`, etc... * New stats in `CLIENT_STATISTICS`, and `USER_STATISTICS` * Table I/O metrics: `PAGES_ACCESSED`, and `PAGES_READ_FROM_DISK` ## Security Vulnerabilities (CVE) Fixed in MariaDB Enterprise Server 11.8 For a complete list of security vulnerabilities (CVE) fixed across all versions of MariaDB Enterprise Server, see the [Security Vulnerabilities Fixed in MariaDB Enterprise Server](/docs/server/security/cve/enterprise-server.md) page. | CVE ID (with cve.org link) | CVSS base score (v3.1) | Enterprise Server 11.8 Release | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | | [CVE-2026-49261](https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-49261) | 10.0 | [11.8.6-4](/docs/release-notes/enterprise-server/11.8/11.8.6-4.md) | | [CVE-2026-48165](https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-48165) | 8.0 | [11.8.6-4](/docs/release-notes/enterprise-server/11.8/11.8.6-4.md) | | [CVE-2026-48163](https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-48163) | 8.0 | [11.8.6-4](/docs/release-notes/enterprise-server/11.8/11.8.6-4.md) | | [CVE-2026-44168](https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-44168) | 8.0 | [11.8.6-4](/docs/release-notes/enterprise-server/11.8/11.8.6-4.md) | | [CVE-2026-32710](https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-32710) | 8.6 | [11.8.6-3](/docs/release-notes/enterprise-server/11.8/11.8.6-3.md) | | [CVE-2026-35549](https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-35549) | 6.5 | [11.8.6-3](/docs/release-notes/enterprise-server/11.8/11.8.6-3.md) | | [CVE-2026-34303](https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-34303) | 6.5 | [11.8.6-3](/docs/release-notes/enterprise-server/11.8/11.8.6-3.md) | | [CVE-2026-21968](https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-21968) | 6.5 | [11.8.5-2](/docs/release-notes/enterprise-server/11.8/11.8.5-2.md) | | [CVE-2025-13699](https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-13699) | 7.0 | [11.8.5-2](/docs/release-notes/enterprise-server/11.8/11.8.5-2.md) | ## Available Versions | Version | Release Date | Release Status | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------ | -------------- | | [11.8.6-4](/docs/release-notes/enterprise-server/11.8/11.8.6-4.md) | 2026-06-02 | Stable (GA) | | [11.8.6-3](/docs/release-notes/enterprise-server/11.8/11.8.6-3.md) | 2026-03-17 | Stable (GA) | | [11.8.5-2](/docs/release-notes/enterprise-server/11.8/11.8.5-2.md) | 2025-12-11 | Stable (GA) | | [11.8.3-1](/docs/release-notes/enterprise-server/11.8/11.8.3-1.md) | 2025-10-22 | Stable (GA) | | [11.8.2-0](/docs/release-notes/enterprise-server/11.8/11.8.2-0.md) | 2025-06-04 | Tech Preview | See also: [All MariaDB Enterprise Releases](/docs/release-notes/enterprise-server/all-releases.md) ## Installation Instructions * [Deploy MariaDB Enterprise with Repositories](/docs/server/server-management/install-and-upgrade-mariadb/mariadb-package-repository-setup-and-usage.md) * [Deploy MariaDB Enterprise with Package Tarballs](/docs/server/server-management/install-and-upgrade-mariadb/installing-mariadb/binary-packages/package-tarballs.md) * [Deploy MariaDB Enterprise with Docker](/docs/server/server-management/automated-mariadb-deployment-and-administration/docker-and-mariadb/deploy-mariadb-enterprise-server-with-docker.md) ## Upgrade Instructions * [Upgrade to MariaDB Enterprise Server 11.8](/docs/server/server-management/install-and-upgrade-mariadb/upgrading/upgrade-paths/mariadb-enterprise-server-11.8/upgrade-to-mariadb-enterprise-server-11.8.md) ## What's new in older release series * [What's New in MariaDB Enterprise Server 11.4](/docs/release-notes/enterprise-server/11.4/whats-new.md) * [What's New in MariaDB Enterprise Server 10.6](/docs/release-notes/enterprise-server/10.6/whats-new.md) * [What's New in MariaDB Enterprise Server 10.5](/docs/release-notes/enterprise-server/old-releases/10.5/whats-new-in-mariadb-enterprise-server-10-5.md) * [What's New in MariaDB Enterprise Server 10.4](/docs/release-notes/enterprise-server/old-releases/10.4/whats-new-in-mariadb-enterprise-server-10-4.md) * [What's New in MariaDB Enterprise Server 10.3](/docs/release-notes/enterprise-server/old-releases/10.3/whats-new-in-mariadb-enterprise-server-10-3.md) * [What's New in MariaDB Enterprise Server 10.2](/docs/release-notes/enterprise-server/old-releases/10.2/whats-new-in-mariadb-enterprise-server-10-2.md) *This page is: Copyright © 2025 MariaDB. 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