Frankly, setting LD_LIBRARY_PATH at all is a massive red flag. I’d remove it and see if anything breaks, likely nothing will, and some things may suddenly unbreak. Answer from TLATER on discourse.nixos.org
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/debian › debian 12 - apt "glibc_2.38 not found" issue after backup restore
r/debian on Reddit: Debian 12 - APT "GLIBC_2.38 not found" issue after backup restore
December 5, 2024 -

I have a Debian 12 install running on a laptop which has been great. I use BackInTime to take nightly backups of my OS in the event that the system becomes unstable or will not boot. Well that happened. I had a plasma issue occur and the machine failed to boot. So I restored one of my daily backups. Beautiful. Everything looks fine again. Until I try to upgrade with APT. The update looks fine on the surface at first. The apt update command finds a few packages that need to be updated. Nothing that appears to be related to GLIBC though.

Chrome is one of the updates as well as girl 1.2. If I perform the update, it processes as expected. However, if I run apt update or any other command after that, I receive the "GLIBC_2.38 not found error from anything I try to launch. Can anyone explain to me why this is happening?

Here are images of the apt update that processes successfully prior to the issue occurring.

And before anyone asks, no im not using Kali. Its vanilla Debian 12. That's just the user.Also a shot of APT sources. they are the standard sources.

Checking the gLibc version prior to the update shows that 2.36 is the current version

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Spotify Community
community.spotify.com › t5 › Desktop-Linux › New-version-from-Debian-repo-requires-GLIBC-2-38 › td-p › 7260853
New version from Debian repo requires GLIBC_2.38 - The Spotify Community
December 10, 2025 - $> spotify spotify: /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libm.so.6: version `GLIBC_2.38' not found (required by spotify) spotify: /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6: version `GLIBC_2.38' not found (required by spotify) $> /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6 | head -n1 GNU C Library (Debian GLIBC 2.36-9+deb12u13) stable release version 2.36.
Discussions

Too recent GLIBC requirement (GLIBC_2.38 not found on Debian12)..
I tried to run the x64 AppImage on my Debian12, which is a perfectly fine installation, not even 2 years old, but the AppImage complains about a too recent GLIBC. I often get this error on Debian12, it would be cool, if Linux developers could stretch the support window of distributions a bit longer. More on github.com
🌐 github.com
4
January 5, 2026
New install: Nix wants glibc 2.38, Debian 12 has 2.36
How can I get Nix working without hosing my system? ❯ nix-shell -p nix-info --run "nix-info -m" bash: /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6: version `GLIBC_2.38' not found (required by bash) Can confirm, I do have GLIBC 2.36-9 installed. ❯ ldd --version ldd (Debian GLIBC 2.36-9+deb12u3) 2.36 More on discourse.nixos.org
🌐 discourse.nixos.org
1
0
November 27, 2023
How do i get a newer version of glibc? (2.38 or above?)
Not on Debian stable. But you could run another distro's userspace (one that has a sufficiently new glibc) in a container or chroot. More on reddit.com
🌐 r/debian
11
11
June 9, 2024
"version 'GLIBC_2.38' not found" error on Debian 12, what do?
According to https://packages.debian.org/search?lang=en&suite=bookworm&searchon=names&keywords=libc6 , Debian 12 uses version 2.36. However, the program requires version 2.38. In this case, you will not be able to change anything. If you use a so-called stable distribution, you have to live with the fact that the packages used are not really up-to-date. More on reddit.com
🌐 r/linux4noobs
15
1
June 12, 2024
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Linux Mint Forums
forums.linuxmint.com › board index › debian edition support › lmde forums › hardware support
GLIBC_2.38 - Linux Mint Forums
January 6, 2025 - find: /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6: ... `GLIBC_2.38' not found (required by xargs) Last edited by LockBot on Sun Jul 06, 2025 10:00 pm, edited 1 time in total. Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed. ... Most all the software on your computer is compiled with the glibc version that came with it. For a Debian Bookworm based ...
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Debian
ftp.debian.org › debian › pool › main › g › glibc
Index of /debian/pool/main/g/glibc
Index of /debian/pool/main/g/glibc · Apache Server at ftp.debian.org Port 80
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GitHub
github.com › CyberTimon › RapidRAW › issues › 562
Too recent GLIBC requirement (GLIBC_2.38 not found on Debian12).. · Issue #562 · CyberTimon/RapidRAW
January 5, 2026 - I tried to run the x64 AppImage on my Debian12, which is a perfectly fine installation, not even 2 years old, but the AppImage complains about a too recent GLIBC. I often get this error on Debian12, it would be cool, if Linux developers could stretch the support window of distributions a bit longer.
Author   CyberTimon
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Google Groups
groups.google.com › a › chromium.org › g › chromium-os-dev › c › 6tkifbfiQEA
Error libc.so.6: version `GLIBC_2.38' not found
January 8, 2025 - On Wed, Jan 8, 2025 at 1:25 PM Antoine Beaubien <antoine....@gmail.com> wrote: > > Hi, > > I've upgraded my LDE and I got this error: > $ sudo apt update > apt: /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6: version `GLIBC_2.38' not found (required by /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libstdc++.so.6) The version of Debian that we ship with the Linux development environment (Crostini) is currently bookworm, which has glibc 2.36, not 2.38: https://packages.debian.org/bookworm/libc6 The apt shipped by Debian bookworm should also depend on that version of libc.so, so somehow you have a mismatched apt binary.
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/debian › how do i get a newer version of glibc? (2.38 or above?)
r/debian on Reddit: How do i get a newer version of glibc? (2.38 or above?)
June 9, 2024 -

Basically im trying to run a game but it requires at least glibc 2.38 but it seems debian only offers 2.36 at the moment. Any way i can get a newer vesion of it?

EDIT: ended up just downloading the windows version of the game and running it with wine, im an idiot and thought i was having a problem with the sound when i first downloaded, that's why i tried the linux binary, but when i ran it with wine again i found out that the game came muted by default and that i had to press + to get the volume up

Find elsewhere
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Debian
tracker.debian.org › news › 1534314 › accepted-glibc-238-12-source-into-unstable
Accepted glibc 2.38-12 (source) into unstable
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA512 Format: 1.8 Date: Sat, 01 Jun 2024 23:16:35 +0200 Source: glibc Architecture: source Version: 2.38-12 Distribution: unstable Urgency: medium Maintainer: GNU Libc Maintainers <debian-glibc@lists.debian.org> Changed-By: Aurelien Jarno ...
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The Mail Archive
mail-archive.com › debian-glibc@lists.debian.org › msg62198.html
glibc_2.38-2_source.changes ACCEPTED into experimental
August 25, 2023 - Thank you for your contribution to Debian. Accepted: -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA512 Format: 1.8 Date: Thu, 24 Aug 2023 23:41:23 +0200 Source: glibc Architecture: source Version: 2.38-2 Distribution: experimental Urgency: medium Maintainer: GNU Libc Maintainers <[email protected]> Changed-By: Aurelien Jarno <[email protected]> Changes: glibc (2.38-2) experimental; urgency=medium .
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Debian
buildinfo.debian.net › 53c46b3062ca800e7559b25bf03656feafc5a9e6 › glibc_2.38-12.1_all
glibc_2.38-12.1_all.buildinfo — buildinfo.debian.net
glibc · Version · 2.38-12.1 · Architecture · all amd64 · Build-Origin · Debian · Build-Architecture · amd64 · Build-Date · Wed, 9 Jul 2025 22:53:22 +0000 · Build-Path · /build/reproducible-path/glibc-2.38 · First submitted · Thu, 6 Jun 2024 16:30:50 +0000 ·
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Launchpad
launchpad.net › debian › +source › glibc › 2.38-7
glibc 2.38-7 source package in Debian - Launchpad
glibc (2.38-7) unstable; urgency=medium [ Samuel Thibault ] * debian/patches/hurd-i386/git-context.diff: Add hurd-amd64 version of *context. * debian/testsuite-xfail-debian.mk: Update hurd-amd64-specific xfails accordingly. * debian/patches/hurd-i386/local-no-bootstrap-fs-access.2.diff: Also ...
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Launchpad
launchpad.net › debian › +source › glibc › +changelog
Change log : glibc package : Debian - Launchpad
* debian/patches/any/local-qsort-memory-corruption.patch: Fix a memory corruption in qsort() when using nontransitive comparison functions. * Set urgency to critical given the security issues. -- Aurelien Jarno <email address hidden> Tue, 30 Jan 2024 19:20:04 +0100 ... glibc (2.38-6) experimental; urgency=medium * Merge from unstable.
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GitHub
github.com › FunkinCrew › Funkin › issues › 2607
Compiling help: [GLibC Library Incompatibility / version "GLIBC_2.38" not found] · Issue #2607 · FunkinCrew/Funkin
May 25, 2024 - I am compiling on Debian 12 (Bookworm) for HTML5 and here is the error: Warning: Could not generate *.woff web font for "assets/fonts/5by7.ttf" Warning: Could not generate *.woff web font for "assets/fonts/5by7_b.ttf" Warning: Could not generate *.woff web font for "assets/fonts/DS-DIGI.TTF" Warning: Could not generate *.woff web font for "assets/fonts/DS-DIGIB.TTF" Warning: Could not generate *.woff web font for "assets/fonts/DS-DIGII.TTF" Warning: Could not generate *.woff web font for "assets/fonts/DS-DIGIT.TTF" Warning: Could not generate *.woff web font for "assets/fonts/Inconsolata-Black
Author   FunkinCrew
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GitHub
github.com › apernet › tcp-brutal › issues › 18
libc.so.6: version `GLIBC_2.38' not found · Issue #18 · apernet/tcp-brutal
May 21, 2024 - DKMS make.log for tcp-brutal-1.0.2 ... gcc (Debian 12.2.0-14) 12.2.0 CC [M] /var/lib/dkms/tcp-brutal/1.0.2/build/brutal.o /var/lib/dkms/tcp-brutal/1.0.2/build/brutal.c:38:5: warning: no previous prototype for ‘tcp_sock_get_sec’ [-Wmissing-prototypes] 38 | u64 tcp_sock_get_sec(const struct tcp_sock *tp) | ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ./tools/objtool/objtool: /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6: version `GLIBC_2.38' not ...
Author   apernet
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Debian
packages.debian.org › src:glibc
I Challenge Thee
I Challenge Thee · AI scrapers break the web, to use this page you'll need JavaScript enabled
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Launchpad
blueprints.launchpad.net › debian › +source › glibc › 2.38-12.1
glibc 2.38-12.1 source package in Debian - Blueprints
June 6, 2024 - glibc (2.38-12.1) unstable; urgency=medium * Non-maintainer upload acked by Aurelien Jarno. * Move all aliased files including the dynamic loader to /usr. (DEP17, Closes: #1061248) + Install a protective diversion for the dynamic loader to avoid accidental deletion (DEP17 P1 M8).
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Launchpad
launchpad.net › debian › +source › glibc › 2.38-12.1
glibc 2.38-12.1 source package in Debian - Launchpad
June 6, 2024 - glibc (2.38-12.1) unstable; urgency=medium * Non-maintainer upload acked by Aurelien Jarno. * Move all aliased files including the dynamic loader to /usr. (DEP17, Closes: #1061248) + Install a protective diversion for the dynamic loader to avoid accidental deletion (DEP17 P1 M8).