Ubuntu 26.10 to complete transition to Rust-based core utilities

Ubuntu 26.10 will complete the transition of its core system utilities from GNU Coreutils to Rust-based versions provided by the uutils project. This move marks the final stage of a multi-year migration process initiated by Canonical to enhance system memory safety.

The upcoming release will replace the last three remaining GNU classical tools—cp, mv, and rm—with their Rust counterparts. These specific commands were previously retained in the 26.04 LTS version due to compatibility concerns and potential TOCTOU (time-of-check to time-of-use) vulnerabilities in the Rust implementation.

While the transition aims to prevent entire classes of memory-related errors, developers and system administrators are advised to test existing shell scripts, as subtle differences in behavior between GNU and uutils implementations may occur. Additionally, the switch changes the underlying licensing from GPLv3 to the MIT license. Ubuntu 26.10 is scheduled for release on October 15, 2026.