What happened

During a routine security check on a production Amazon Linux 2023 server, I ran the usual command:

$ sudo dnf updateinfo list --security Last metadata expiration check: 0:12:34 ago # (nothing)

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Nothing. So: "zero pending security updates." I reported it as fully patched.

The next day, while working on something else, I ran dnf check-release-update — and the picture changed:

$ sudo dnf check-release-update WARNING: A newer release of "Amazon Linux" is available.

Available Versions: Version 2023.9.20261104: Run the following command to upgrade to 2023.9.20261104: dnf upgrade --releasever = 2023.9.20261104

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A newer release existed. Re-running the security check with --releasever=latest :

$ sudo dnf updateinfo list --security --releasever = latest ALAS2023-2026-xxxx Important/Sec. openssh- * ALAS2023-2026-xxxx Important/Sec. libxml2- * ALAS2023-2026-xxxx Medium/Sec.…