Use ldd --version:

Copy$ ldd --version
ldd (GNU libc) 2.17
Copyright (C) 2012 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
This is free software; see the source for copying conditions.  There is NO
...

You can also run libc itself:

Copy$ /lib/libc.so.6
GNU C Library (GNU libc) stable release version 2.17, by Roland McGrath et al.
Copyright (C) 2012 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
This is free software; see the source for copying conditions.
...
Answer from John on Stack Overflow
🌐
GitHub
gist.github.com › zchrissirhcz › ee13f604996bbbe312ba1d105954d2ed
Ubuntu Distro GCC GLIBC GLIBCXX C++-Standard versions · GitHub
Ubuntu Distro GCC GLIBC GLIBCXX C++-Standard versions · Raw · versions.md · GLIBC versions: https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/glibc https://code.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/glibc · cat /etc/os-releases · Pick one of the following: ldd --version | head -n1 /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6 | head -n1 /lib64/libc.so.6 | head -n1 ·
Discussions

How do I update GLIBC?
Your best bet would probably be to run do-release-upgrade to upgrade to Ubuntu 24.04. It probably not feasible to upgrade just glibc because it's a dependency of basically everything. More on reddit.com
🌐 r/Ubuntu
13
2
July 24, 2025
How to upgrade Glibc library in Ubuntu 22.04 - Stack Overflow
I am currently running a Ubuntu 22.04 VM. It has by default Glibc 2.35. Due to a security vulnerability, I am trying to upgrade it to 2.39. I followed the following steps to download the gzipped bi... More on stackoverflow.com
🌐 stackoverflow.com
How to install GLIBC 2.29 or higher in Ubuntu 18.04 - Stack Overflow
Sorry but did not work even after reboot and ldd -version check. 2023-08-27T22:14:22.253Z+00:00 ... @Alex I got this error: *** These critical programs are missing or too old: make compiler, on Centos 7 2023-10-18T10:34:37.643Z+00:00 ... I am trying to install glibc 2.39 on ubuntu 22.04. More on stackoverflow.com
🌐 stackoverflow.com
How do I update GLIBC in ubuntu?

How do I update it to 2.32?

Ideally, you don't. glibc is the most central library on the system. Basically everything depends on it. If something goes wrong during the update or if there is an unexpected incompatibility, the whole system breaks and you won't even be able to use the most basic tools to fix it.

Instead, you could upgrade your whole system to a newer version of Ubuntu. Or you could run a newer version of Ubuntu in a chroot/container/VM. Or you could complie openmw-validator for your version of glibc (assuming its source code is available and can be compiled).

More on reddit.com
🌐 r/linux4noobs
2
4
July 29, 2021
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Ubuntu
launchpad.net › ubuntu › +source › glibc
glibc package in Ubuntu
Other versions of 'glibc' in untrusted archives. The following unsupported and untrusted Personal Archives (PPAs) provide packages of 'glibc': GCC x86-64-v2 owned by PPA for Ubuntu Toolchain Uploads (restricted)
Top answer
1 of 2
6

You can use following commands to bring in newer version of glibc in ubuntu 20.04, but note that as it is a system package, upgrading it may impact your system.

apt-get install gawk bison gcc make wget tar -y
wget -c https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/glibc/glibc-2.35.tar.gz
tar -zxvf glibc-2.35.tar.gz && cd glibc-2.35
mkdir glibc-build && cd glibc-build
../configure --prefix=/opt/glibc
make
make install
2 of 2
0

Introducing glibc will break your core binaries. Updated core binaries require a newer kernel which breaks hardware drivers (like NVIDIA) that need your old kernel. This "vicious cycle" makes it impossible to use new glibc w/o breaking your system.

The only solution is to compile the unsupported drivers somehow for the new kernel. So far this is not possible.

If you try using GLIBC without updating its dependencies, you will get complaints of a version mismatch on its dependencies which go all the way down to the kernel, which is why it is not possible.

Your options are limited and it is not possible unless you use a virtual machine. But likely VM is not what you want because VMs do not have the advantage of talking to your hardware directly. They have some VM extensions for making that better but they only cover CPU and RAM, not the video/sound card, that is all emulated.

Summary

If you want to run something that needs newer hardware, there is just no way around that:

  1. You cant use unsupported hardware on newer kernel, and therefore linker, and then GLIBC.

  2. You can't use unsupported GLIBC on older kernel which relies on the new kernel features. If you try to do it by force (point to new compiled version of the new binaries) you will get an error that the linker/kernel versions are incorrect.

  3. The only solution to this is if there was a way to update your hardware drivers. If that isn't your problem, then UPGRADE UBUNTU to the latest version. If that IS your problem, then you are out of luck.

  4. Companies like NVIDIA and AMD drop video support after a few years and leave you up a creek with no paddle, stranded on an old OS unless you buy yet another video card (even if your current one is fast and does just fine, they do NOT care).

  5. Sandboxing in flatpak still needs those libraries to be able to link with your kernel. Sandboxing only fixes dependencies that are above the base system level. HOWEVER, if any of those libraries were built against a binaries that recursively rely on newer core libraries, you will still be stuck and it will still not work, below is an example:

/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6: version `GLIBC_2.34' not found
(required by /tmp/.mount_my2newapp.a9fz3/usr/bin/../../usr/lib/liblzma.so.5)

As you can see here, even though the appimage/flatpak/snap was sandboxed, it still needed these new libraries further down the dependency chain.

🌐
GitHub
gist.github.com › wagenet › 35adca1a032cec2999d47b6c40aa45b1
glibc Versions - Gist - GitHub
Out of all versions with published EOLs, 2.12 is the oldest glibc still active, found in CentOS 6.8. If CentOS 6 and 7 are eliminated, the oldest glibc is 2.23 in Ubuntu and Slackware.
🌐
DEV Community
dev.to › bitecode › how-to-get-glibc-version-c-lang-26he
How to get glibc version - C Lang - DEV Community
April 27, 2020 - The easiest way is to use ldd command which comes with glibc and in most cases it will print the same version as glibc: $ ldd --version ldd (Ubuntu GLIBC 2.30-0ubuntu2.1) 2.30
🌐
LinuxGSM
docs.linuxgsm.com › requirements › glibc
glibc | LinuxGSM_
Distro · glibc · CentOS 7 · 2.17 · CentOS 8 · 2.28 · Debian 9 · 2.24 · Debian 10 · 2.28 · Debian 11 · 2.31 · Ubuntu 16.04 LTS · 2.23 · Ubuntu 18.04 LTS · 2.27 · Ubuntu 20.04 LTS · 2.31 · distrowatch.com is also a great source ...
Find elsewhere
🌐
Reddit
reddit.com › r/ubuntu › how do i update glibc?
r/Ubuntu on Reddit: How do I update GLIBC?
July 24, 2025 -

I’m currently using GLIBC 2.35 on Ubuntu 22.04, and I want to update it (for gaming purposes).

I’m also aware that updating it isn’t as simple as typing:

“sudo apt update GLIBC yada yada”

or whatever, so I’m not entirely sure how to update it properly without bricking my install.

Any ideas on what to do?

🌐
Lindevs
lindevs.com › check-glibc-version-in-linux
Check glibc Version in Linux | Lindevs
June 29, 2022 - The glibc version can be checked by running its binary. First, find out the path of libc.so as follows: ... GNU C Library (Ubuntu GLIBC 2.31-0ubuntu9.7) stable release version 2.31.
🌐
Narkive
ubuntu-users.narkive.com › dYoKFRqi › how-to-know-the-glibc-version-and-update-it-in-ubuntu
how to know the GLIBC version and update it in ubuntu?
Source: eglibc Version: 2.11.1-0ubuntu7.6 Replaces: belocs-locales-bin Provides: glibc-2.10-1 Below is my message: Package: libc6 Priority: required Section: libs Installed-Size: 9336 Maintainer: Ubuntu Core developers <ubuntu-devel-discuss at lists.ubuntu.com> Original-Maintainer: GNU Libc Maintainers <debian-glibc at lists.debian.org> Architecture: i386 Source: eglibc Version: 2.10.1-0ubuntu18 Replaces: belocs-locales-bin Provides: glibc-2.10-1 But when I try to configure lttv it shows the error below, should I miss any setting, such path, in my ubuntu?
🌐
Ubuntu
packages.ubuntu.com › search
Ubuntu – Package Search Results -- glibc
noble (24.04LTS) (utils): Tools and libraries that used to be part of glibc [universe] 0.0~git3.23fd2b9-0ubuntu1: amd64 arm64 armhf i386 ppc64el riscv64 s390x
🌐
Linuxier
linuxier.com › how-to-install-glibc-on-ubuntu
How to Install GLIBC on Ubuntu [22 Simple Steps] - Linuxier
May 12, 2024 - The output will show your Ubuntu version, such as Ubuntu 20.04 or Ubuntu 22.04. To install glibc, you need to set up the necessary development tools and packages.
🌐
Ubuntu
packages.ubuntu.com › source › focal › glibc
Ubuntu – Details of source package glibc in focal
September 1, 2022 - two or more packages specified (glibc focal) Content Copyright © 2026 Canonical Ltd.; See license terms. Ubuntu is a trademark of Canonical Ltd. Learn more about this site.
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Linux Questions
linuxquestions.org › questions › linux-software-2 › how-to-check-glibc-version-263103
how to check glibc version? - Linux
December 6, 2004 - hi, any method to check glibc version using in my linux box? anyone have idea on this? thanks, jim
🌐
Ubuntu Manpages
manpages.ubuntu.com › jammy › man(3)
Ubuntu Manpage: gnu_get_libc_version, gnu_get_libc_release - get glibc version and release
The function gnu_get_libc_version() returns a string that identifies the glibc version available on the system.