Technical advisory 69874 (cockroachdb#11232)

Relating to version upgrades

_data/advisories.yml

@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+- advisory: 69874
+  summary: CockroachDB v21.1.8 can not be downgraded
+  versions: 21.1.8
+  date: September 7, 2021
 - advisory: 68005
   summary: <code>sql.trace.txn.enable_threshold</code> cluster setting causes crash loops
   versions: 21.1.0-21.1.6

_data/releases.yml

@@ -2,9 +2,10 @@
   releases:
     - date: Aug 30, 2021
       version: v21.1.8
-      latest: true
+      withdrawn: true
     - date: Aug 9, 2021
       version: v21.1.7
+      latest: true
     - date: Jul 20, 2021
       version: v21.1.6
     - date: Jul 2, 2021

advisories/a69874.md

@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+---
+title: Technical Advisory 69874
+summary: CockroachDB v21.1.8 can not be downgraded
+toc: true
+---
+
+Publication date: September 7, 2021
+
+## Description
+
+A bug was introduced in CockroachDB v21.1.8 which would prevent downgrading to earlier v21.1.x patch versions. For this reason, we have removed v21.1.8 from our releases page.
+
+## Statement
+
+Patch releases are expected to maintain upgrade/downgrade/mixed-version compatibility, so a user can upgrade (for example) from v21.1.3 to v21.1.7 and back down to v21.1.5 at will.
+
+A recent change was [backported to the release-21.1 branch](https://github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pull/69157/files#diff-8f32466c40e6960b988c87d7e2453c01a591d420af123f0963959da8e580f2e4), that included a new cluster version, which was then included in the v21.1.8 release. This means a cluster that deploys v21.1.8 (and has the default automatic finalization enabled) will be unable to downgrade to v21.1.7 or earlier.
+
+A future release, currently in development, will resolve this issue.
+
+## Mitigation
+
+Users should not upgrade to v21.1.8.
+
+If you have already upgraded to v21.1.8, no action is necessary, but your v21.1.8 cluster is in a state where you must not downgrade to a previous patch release.
+
+If you are running v21.1.7 or earlier, no action is necessary.
+
+## Impact
+
+Users who are running v21.1.8 cannot downgrade to a previous patch release.
+
+Tracking issue: [#69874](https://github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/issues/69874)
+
+

releases/v21.1.8.md

@@ -6,6 +6,11 @@ summary: Additions and changes in CockroachDB version v21.1.8 since version v21.
 
 ## August 30, 2021
 
+{{site.data.alerts.callout_danger}}
+This patch release has been withdrawn due to [this technical advisory](../advisories/a69874.html).
+{{site.data.alerts.end}}
+
+
 - For a comprehensive summary of features in v21.1, see the [v21.1 GA release notes](v21.1.0.html).
 - To upgrade to v21.1, see [Upgrade to CockroachDB v21.1](../v21.1/upgrade-cockroach-version.html).