This update brings below changes over the previous stable releases.

Fixed

• Fixed AzureKeyVaultProvider package key caching to serialize Azure key fetch
  operations. (#3477)

Changed

• Marked AKV provider as trimmable and enabled AOT support. (#3401)
• Changed Microsoft.Data.SqlClient version range to [6.1.1,7.0.0). (#3569)

Target Platform Support

• .NET Framework 4.6.2+ (Windows ARM64, Windows x86, Windows x64)
• .NET 8.0+ (Windows x86, Windows x64, Windows ARM64, Windows ARM, Linux, macOS)

Dependencies

.NET Framework

• Azure.Core 1.47.1
• Azure.Security.KeyVault.Keys 4.7.0
• Microsoft.Data.SqlClient 6.1.1
• Microsoft.Extensions.Caching.Memory 8.0.1

.NET 8.0

• Azure.Core 1.47.1
• Azure.Security.KeyVault.Keys 4.7.0
• Microsoft.Data.SqlClient 6.1.1
• Microsoft.Extensions.Caching.Memory 8.0.1

.NET 9.0

• Azure.Core 1.47.1
• Azure.Security.KeyVault.Keys 4.7.0
• Microsoft.Data.SqlClient 6.1.1
• Microsoft.Extensions.Caching.Memory 9.0.4

This update includes the following changes since the 6.1.0 release:

Fixed

• Reverted changes related to improving partial packet detection, fixup, and replay functionality. This revert addresses regressions introduced in 6.1.0. (#3556)
• Applied reference assembly corrections supporting vector, fixed JSON tests, and ensured related tests are enabled. #3562
• Fixed SqlVector<T>.Null API signature in Reference assembly. #3521

Changed

• Upgraded Azure.Identity and other dependencies to newer versions. (#3538) (#3552)

Release Notes

Stable Release 6.1.0 - 2025-07-25

This update brings the following changes since the 6.0.2 stable release:

Added

Added dedicated SQL Server vector datatype support

What Changed:

• Optimized vector communications between MDS and SQL Server 2025, employing a custom binary format over the TDS protocol. (#3433, #3443)
• Reduced processing load compared to existing JSON-based vector support.
• Initial support for 32-bit single-precision floating point vectors.

Who Benefits:

• Applications moving large vector data sets will see beneficial improvements to processing times and memory requirements.
• Vector-specific APIs are ready to support future numeric representations with a consistent look-and-feel.

Impact:

• Reduced transmission and processing times for vector operations versus JSON using SQL Server 2025 preview:
  • Reads: 50x improvement
  • Writes: 3.3x improvement
  • Bulk Copy: 19x improvement
  • (Observed with vector column of max 1998 size, and 10,000 records for each operation.)
• Improved memory footprint due to the elimination of JSON serialization/deserialization and string representation bloat.
• For backwards compatibility with earlier SQL Server Vector implementations, applications may continue to use JSON strings to send/receive vector data, although they will not see any of the performance improvements noted above.

Revived .NET Standard 2.0 target support

What Changed:

• Support for targeting .NET Standard 2.0 has returned. (#3381)
• Support had previously been removed in the 6.0 release, with the community voicing concerns.

Who Benefits:

• Libraries that depend on MDS may seamlessly target any of the following frameworks:
  • .NET Standard 2.0
  • .NET Framework 4.6.2 and above
  • .NET 8.0
  • .NET 9.0
• Applications should continue to target runtimes.
  • The MDS .NET Standard 2.0 target framework support does not include an actual implementation, and cannot be used with a runtime.
  • An application's build/publish process should always pick the appropriate MDS .NET/.NET Framework runtime implementation.
  • Custom build/publish actions that incorrectly try to deploy the MDS .NET Standard 2.0 reference DLL at runtime are not supported.

Impact:

• Libraries targeting .NET Standard 2.0 will no longer receive warnings like this:
  • warning NU1701: Package 'Microsoft.Data.SqlClient 6.0.2' was restored using '.NETFramework,Version=v4.6.1, .NETFramework,Version=v4.6.2, .NETFramework,Version=v4.7, .NETFramework,Version=v4.7.1, .NETFramework,Version=v4.7.2, .NETFramework,Version=v4.8, .NETFramework,Version=v4.8.1' instead of the project target framework '.NETStandard,Version=v2.0'. This package may not be fully compatible with your project.

Other Additions

• Added packet multiplexing support to improve large data read performance. (#2714, #3161, #3202)
• Added support for special casing with Fabric endpoints. (#3084)

Fixed

• Fixed distributed transactions to be preserved during pooled connection resets. (#3019)
• Fixed application crash when the Data Source parameter begins with a comma. (#3250)
• Resolved synonym count discrepancies in debug mode. (#3098)
• Addressed warnings for down-level SSL/TLS versions. (#3126)
• Fixed missing <NeutralLanguage> property. (#3325)
• Fixed injection of UTF-8 BOM during bulk copy. (#3399)
• Fixed SqlCachedBuffer async read edge case. (#3329)
• Fixed SqlSequentialTextReader edge case with single-byte reads. (#3383)
• Fixed an incorrect error message when parsing connection string PoolBlockingPeriod. (#3411)
• Added missing ToString() override to SqlJson. (#3427)
• Fixed missing socket error codes on non-Windows platforms. (#3475)
• Fixed primary/secondary server SPN handling during SSPI negotiation. (#3478)
• Fixed AzureKeyVaultProvider package key caching to serialize Azure key fetch operations. (#3477)
• Fixed a rare error related to multi-packet async text reads. (#3474)
• Fixed some spelling errors in the API docs. (#3500)
• Fixed a rare multi-packet string corruption bug. (#3513)

Changed

SqlDecimal type workarounds conversions

What Changed:

• Changed how SqlDecimal type workarounds perform conversions to meet compliance policies. (#3467)

Who Benefits:

• Microsoft products must not use undocumented APIs on other Microsoft products. This change removes calls to undocumented APIs and replaces them with compliant API use.

Impact:

• These changes impose an observed 5% decrease in performance on .NET Framework.

SqlVector API improvements (since 6.1.0-preview2)

What Changed:

• Several changes were made to the SqlVector API published in the 6.1.0-preview2 release (#3472):
  • The SqlVector class was changed to a readonly struct.
  • The null value constructor was changed to a static CreateNull() method.
  • The Size property was removed.

Who Benefits:

• SqlVector instances gain the efficiencies of struct handling.

Impact:

• Early-adopter applications may require updates if they rely on the old APIs and any class-specific behaviour.

Other Changes

• Reduced allocations when opening a connection. (#3364)
• Various performance improvements related to TDS parsing. (#3337, #3377, #3422)
• Improved native AOT support. (#3364, #3369, #3401)
• Progress towards SSPI extensibility. (#2454)
• Progress towards connection pooling improvements. (#3352, #3396)
• Expanded/clarified SqlConnection's AccessToken and AccessTokenCallback documentation. (#3339)
• Fixed some poorly formatted tables in the API docs. (#3391)
• Optimized binary size for AOT. (#3091)
• Refined bulk copy operations to handle unmatched column names more effectively. (#3205)
• Enhanced SqlBulkCopy to explicitly identify mismatched column names. (#3183)
• Optimized outgoing SSPI blob handling using IBufferWriter<byte>. (#2452)
• Replaced byte[] with string for SNI to improve efficiency. (#2790)
• Code cleanup to remove SQL 2000 support. (#2839, #3206, #3217)
• Connection pool design refactor for a modular connection pool design. (#3199)
• Added dependency on System.Text.Json 8.0.5 (.NET 8.0) and 9.0.5 (.NET Standard 2.0, .NET 9.0) to avoid transitive vulnerabilities (CVE-2024-43485). (#3403)
• Updated various dependencies #3229, primarily:
  • System.Text.Encodings.Web to v8.0.0
  • System.Text.Json to v8.0.5
  • Azure.Identity to v1.13.2
  • Microsoft.Identity.Model.Json.Web.Tokens to v7.7.1
  • Microsoft.Identity.Model.Protocols.OpenIdConnect to v7.7.1
• Code merge towards a unified SqlClient project, ali...

Preview Release 6.1.0-preview2.25178.5 - 2025-06-27

This update brings the following changes since the 6.1.0-preview1 release:

Added

Added dedicated SQL Server vector datatype support

What Changed:

• Optimized vector communications between MDS and SQL Server 2025, employing a custom binary format over the TDS protocol. (#3433, #3443)
• Reduced processing load compared to existing JSON-based vector support.
• Initial support for 32-bit single-precision floating point vectors.

Who Benefits:

• Applications moving large vector data sets will see beneficial improvements to processing times and memory requirements.
• Vector-specific APIs are ready to support future numeric representations with a consistent look-and-feel.

Impact:

• Reduced transmission and processing times for vector operations versus JSON using SQL Server 2025 preview:
  • Reads: 50x improvement
  • Writes: 3.3x improvement
  • Bulk Copy: 19x improvement
  • (Observed with vector column of max 1998 size, and 10,000 records for each operation.)
• Improved memory footprint due to the elimination of JSON serialization/deserialization and string representation bloat.
• For backwards compatibility with earlier SQL Server Vector implementations, applications may continue to use JSON strings to send/receive vector data, although they will not see any of the performance improvements noted above.

Revived .NET Standard 2.0 target support

What Changed:

• Support for targeting .NET Standard 2.0 has returned. (#3381)
• Support had previously been removed in the 6.0 release, with the [community voicing concerns] (#3115).

Who Benefits:

• Libraries that depend on MDS may seamlessly target any of the following frameworks:
  • .NET Standard 2.0
  • .NET Framework 4.6.2 and above
  • .NET 8.0
  • .NET 9.0
• Applications should continue to target runtimes.
  • The MDS .NET Standard 2.0 target framework support does not include an actual implementation, and cannot be used with a runtime.
  • An application's build/publish process should always pick the appropriate MDS .NET/.NET Framework runtime implementation.
  • Custom build/publish actions that incorrectly try to deploy the MDS .NET Standard 2.0 reference DLL at runtime are not supported.

Impact:

• Libraries targeting .NET Standard 2.0 will no longer receive warnings like this:
  • warning NU1701: Package 'Microsoft.Data.SqlClient 6.0.2' was restored using '.NETFramework,Version=v4.6.1, .NETFramework,Version=v4.6.2, .NETFramework,Version=v4.7, .NETFramework,Version=v4.7.1, .NETFramework,Version=v4.7.2, .NETFramework,Version=v4.8, .NETFramework,Version=v4.8.1' instead of the project target framework '.NETStandard,Version=v2.0'. This package may not be fully compatible with your project.

Fixed

• Fixed missing <NeutralLanguage> property. (#3325)
• Fixed injection of UTF-8 BOM during bulk copy. (#3399)
• Fixed SqlCachedBuffer async read edge case. (#3329)
• Fixed SqlSequentialTextReader edge case with single-byte reads. (#3383)
• Fixed an incorrect error message when parsing connection string PoolBlockingPeriod. (#3411)
• Added missing ToString() override to SqlJson. (#3427)

Changed

• Reduced allocations when opening a connection. (#3364)
• Various performance improvements related to TDS parsing. (#3337, #3377, #3422)
• Improved native AOT support. (#3364, #3369, #3401)
• Progress towards SSPI extensibility. (#2454)
• Progress towards connection pooling improvements. (#3352, #3396)
• Expanded/clarified SqlConnection's AccessToken and AccessTokenCallback documentation. (#3339)
• Fixed some poorly formatted tables in the API docs. (#3391)
• Code merge towards a unified SqlClient project, aligning .NET Framework and .NET Core implementations. (#3262, #3291, #3305, #3306, #3310, #3323, #3326, #3335,
  #3338, #3340, #3341, #3343, #3345, #3353, #3355, #3368, #3373, #3376, #3388, #3389, #3393, #3405, #3414, #3416, #3417, #3420, #3431, #3438)
• Test improvements include a new unit test project, updates to test dependencies, removal of hardcoded credentials, and improved robustness. (#3204, #3379, #3380, #3402)
• Added dependency on System.Text.Json 8.0.5 (.NET 8.0) and 9.0.5 (.NET Standard 2.0, .NET 9.0) to avoid transitive vulnerabilities (CVE-2024-43485). (#3403)

Contributors

We thank the following public contributors. Their efforts toward this project
are very much appreciated.

• edwardneal
• ErikEJ
• twsouthwick
• Wraith2

New Contributors

• BradBarnich made their first contribution in #3325
• deusanyjunior made their first contribution in #3310

Target Platform Support

• .NET Framework 4.6.2+ (Windows ARM64, Windows x86, Windows x64)
• .NET 8.0+ (Windows x86, Windows x64, Windows ARM64, Windows ARM, Linux, macOS)

Dependencies

.NET Standard 2.0

• Azure.Identity 1.13.2
• Microsoft.Bcl.Cryptography 9.0.4
• Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.SNI.runtime 6.0.2
• Microsoft.Extensions.Caching.Memory 9.0.4
• Microsoft.IdentityModel.JsonWebTokens 7.7.1
• Microsoft.IdentityModel.Protocols.OpenIdConnect 7.7.1
• Microsoft.SqlServer.Server 1.0.0
• System.Configuration.ConfigurationManager 9.0.4
• System.Security.Cryptography.Pkcs 9.0.4
• System.Text.Json 9.0.5

.NET Framework 4.6.2+

• Azure.Identity 1.13.2
• Microsoft.Bcl.Cryptography 8.0.0
• Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.SNI 6.0.2
• Microsoft.Extensions.Caching.Memory 8.0.1
• Microsoft.IdentityModel.JsonWebTokens 7.7.1
• Microsoft.IdentityModel.Protocols.OpenIdConnect 7.7.1
• System.Buffers 4.5.1
• System.Data.Common 4.3.0
• System.Security.Cryptography.Pkcs 8.0.1
• System.Text.Encodings.Web 8.0.0
• System.Text.Json 8.0.5

.NET 8.0

• Azure.Identity 1.13.2
• Microsoft.Bcl.Cryptography 8.0.0
• Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.SNI.runtime 6.0.2
• Microsoft.Extensions.Caching.Memory 8.0.1
• Microsoft.IdentityModel.JsonWebTokens 7.7.1
• Microsoft.IdentityModel.Protocols.OpenIdConnect 7.7.1
• Microsoft.SqlServer.Server 1.0.0
• System.Configuration.ConfigurationManager 8.0.1
• System.Security.Cryptography.Pkcs 8.0.1
• System.Text.Json 8.0.5

.NET 9.0

• Azure.Identity 1.13.2
• Microsoft.Bcl.Cryptography 9.0.4
• Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.SNI.runtime 6.0.2
• Microsoft.Extensions.Caching.Memory 9.0.4
• Microsoft.IdentityModel.JsonWebTokens 7.7.1
• Microsoft.IdentityModel.Protocols.OpenIdCon...

This update brings the following changes over the previous release:

Added

• Added packet multiplexing support to improve large data read performance. #2714 #3161 #3202
• Added support for special casing with Fabric endpoints. #3084

Fixed

• Fixed distributed transactions to be preserved during pooled connection resets. #3019.
• Fixed application crash when the Data Source parameter begins with a comma. #3250.
• Resolved synonym count discrepancies in debug mode. #3098.
• Addressed warnings for down-level SSL/TLS versions. #3126.

Changed

• Optimized binary size for AOT. #3091
• Refined bulk copy operations to handle unmatched column names more effectively. #3205.
• Enhanced SqlBulkCopy to explicitly identify mismatched column names. #3183.
• Optimized outgoing SSPI blob handling using IBufferWriter<byte>. #2452.
• Replaced byte[] with string for SNI to improve efficiency. #2790.
• Code cleanup to remove SQL 2000 support #2839, #3206, #3217,
• Connection pool design refactor for a modular connection pool design #3199
• Updated various dependencies #3229, primarily:
  • System.Text.Encodings.Web to v8.0.0
  • System.Text.Json to v8.0.5
  • Azure.Identity to v1.13.2
  • Microsoft.Identity.Model.Json.Web.Tokens to v7.7.1
  • Microsoft.Identity.Model.Protocols.OpenIdConnect to v7.7.1
• Code merge towards a unified SqlClient project, aligning .NET Framework and .NET Core implementations. (#2957, #2963, #2984, #2982, #3023, #3015, #2967, #3164, #3163, #3171, #3182, #3179, #3156, #3213, #3232, #3236, #3231, #3241, #3246, #3247, #3222, #3255, #3254, #3259, #3264, #3256, #3251, #3275, #3277, #3263, #3292, #3208).
• Test improvements include updates to test references, removal of hardcoded certificates, improved stability, and better coverage (#3041, #3034, #3130, #3128, #3181, #3060, #3184, #3033, #3186, #3025, #3230, #3237, #3059, #3061).

New Contributors

• @emmanuel-ferdman made their first contribution in #3041
• @MaceWindu made their first contribution in #3134
• @JNjenga made their first contribution in #3183
• @Midhunnnk made their first contribution in #3250

This update brings the following changes since the 5.2.2 release:

Fixed

• Fixed possible NullPointerException during socket receive (PR #3284)
• Fixed inconsistencies between source and reference projects (PR #3124)
• Adjusted retry logic to allow errors with negative numbers to be considered transient (PR #3185)

Changed

• Updated the following dependencies:
  • System.Private.Uri 4.3.2 - Avoid transitive CVE-2019-0820 (PR #3076)
  • Microsoft.Extensions.Caching.Memory 6.0.1 to 6.0.3 - Avoid CVE-2024-43483 (PR #3280)

This update brings the following changes since the 5.1.6 release:

Fixed

• Fixed possible NullPointerException during socket receive (PR #3285)
• Fixed inconsistencies between source and reference projects (PR #3180)

Changed

• Updated the following dependencies:
  • Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.SNI 5.1.1 to 5.1.2 for .NET Framework on Windows (PR #3294)
  • Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.SNI.runtime 5.1.1 to 5.1.2 for .NET on Windows (PR #3294)
  • Microsoft.Extensions.Caching.Memory 6.0.1 to 6.0.3 - Avoid CVE-2024-43483 (PR #3068)
  • Microsoft.Extensions.Hosting 6.0.0 to 6.0.1 - Avoid transitive dependency on vulnerable System.Text.Json 6.0.0 (PR #3207)
  • System.Private.Uri 4.3.2 - Avoid transitive CVE-2019-0820 (PR #3077)
  • System.Text.Encodings.Web 6.0.0 to 6.0.1 - Avoid transitive downgrade for .NET Framework targets (PR #3279)
  • System.Text.Json 6.0.11 - Avoid transitive dependencies on older vulnerable versions for .NET Framework targets (PR #3279)

This update brings the below changes over the previous release:

Fixed

• Fixed possible NullPointerException during socket receive #3283
• Fixed reference assembly definitions for SqlJson APIs #3169
• Fixed an error reading the output parameter of type JSON while executing stored procedure #3173

Changed

• Updated the below dependencies:
  • Updated Microsoft.Bcl.Cryptography from 9.0.0 to 9.0.4 for .NET 9 targeted dll. #3281
  • Updated Microsoft.Extensions.Caching.Memory from 9.0.0 to 9.0.4 for .NET 9 targeted dll. #3281
  • Updated System.Configuration.ConfigurationManager from 9.0.0 to 9.0.4 for .NET 9 targeted dll. #3281
  • Updated System.Security.Cryptography.Pkcs from 9.0.0 to 9.0.4 for .NET 9 targeted dll. #3281

Released to NuGet.org on 2025-01-23

Breaking Changes

• Removed support for .NET Standard. #2386
• Removed support for .NET 6 #2927
• Removed UWP (UAP) references. #2483
• Removed SQL 2000 client-side debugging support for .NET Framework #2981, #2940

Added

JSON Support

JSON data type support is now available in Microsoft.Data.SqlClient v6.0. This release introduces SqlJson type available as an extension to System.Data.SqlDbTypes:

using System;
using System.Data.SqlTypes;
using System.Text.Json;

namespace Microsoft.Data.SqlTypes
{
    /// <summary>
    /// Represents the JSON data type in SQL Server.
    /// </summary>
    public class SqlJson : INullable
    {
        /// <summary>
        /// Parameterless constructor. Initializes a new instance of the SqlJson class which 
        /// represents a null JSON value.
        /// </summary>
        public SqlJson() { }

        /// <summary>
        /// Takes a <see cref="string"/> as input and initializes a new instance of the SqlJson class.
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="jsonString"></param>
        public SqlJson(string jsonString) { }

        /// <summary>
        /// Takes a <see cref="JsonDocument"/> as input and initializes a new instance of the SqlJson class.
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="jsonDoc"></param>
        public SqlJson(JsonDocument jsonDoc) { }

        /// <inheritdoc/>
        public bool IsNull => throw null;

        /// <summary>
        /// Represents a null instance of the <see cref="SqlJson"/> type.
        /// </summary>
        public static SqlJson Null { get { throw null; } }

        /// <summary>
        /// Gets the string representation of the Json content of this <see cref="SqlJson" /> instance.
        /// </summary>
        public string Value { get ; }
    }
}

The JSON data type supports reading, writing, streaming, and performing bulk copy operations.

Introducing SqlClientDiagnostics

SqlClientDiagnostic is now available as a strongly-typed collection of key-value pairs that can be captured by consuming applications.

// Class that provides strongly-typed collection of key-value pairs for SqlClient diagnostic objects.
public abstract class SqlClientDiagnostic : System.Collections.Generic.IReadOnlyList<System.Collections.Generic.KeyValuePair<string, object>>
{
    // A guid value used to correlate before, after and error events.
    public System.Guid OperationId;
    
    // The name of the operation.
    public string Operation;

    // The timestamp of the event.
    public long Timestamp;

    // The number of elements in the collection.
    public int Count;

    // The element at the specified index in the read-only list.
    public System.Collections.Generic.KeyValuePair<string, object> this[int index];
    
    // An enumerator that can be used to iterate through the collection.
    public System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerator<System.Collections.Generic.KeyValuePair<string, object>> GetEnumerator();
}

Added Support for Connection Overrides in OpenAsync() API

The default behavior of SqlConnection.OpenAsync() can be overridden to disable the ten-second delay and automatic connection retries triggered by transient errors.

using(SqlConnection sqlConnection = new SqlConnection("Data Source=(local);Integrated Security=true;Initial Catalog=AdventureWorks;"))
{
    await sqlConnection.OpenAsync(SqlConnectionOverrides.OpenWithoutRetry, cancellationToken);
}

Other Additions

• Added support for .NET 9 #2946
• Added localization in Czech, Polish, and Turkish #2987
• Added TokenCredential object to take advantage of token caching in ActiveDirectoryAuthenticationProvider. #2380
• Added support for using DateOnly and TimeOnly in DataTable and SqlDataRecord structured parameters. #2258
• Added scope trace for GenerateSspiClientContext. #2497, #2725
• Added readme to NuGet package #2826
• Enabled NuGet package auditing via NuGet.org audit source #3024
• Added missing SqlCommand_BeginExecuteReader code sample #3009

Fixed

• Fixed Socket.Connect timeout issue caused by thread starvation. #2777
• Fixed pending data with SqlDataReader against an encrypted column. #2618
• Fixed Entra authentication when using infinite connection timeout in ActiveDirectoryAuthenticationProvider. #2651
• Fixed GetSchema by excluding unsupported engines due to lack of support for ASSEMBLYPROPERTY function. #2593
• Fixed SSPI retry negotiation with default port in .NET. #2559
• Fixed assembly path in .NET 8.0 and .AssemblyAttributes. #2550
• Fixed certificate chain validation. #2487
• Fixed clone of SqlConnection to include AccessTokenCallback. #2525
• Fixed issue with DateTimeOffset in table-valued parameters, which was introduced in 5.2. #2453
• Fixed ArgumentNullException on SqlDataRecord.GetValue when using user-defined data type on .NET. #2448
• Fixed SqlBuffer and SqlGuid when it's null. #2310
• Fixed SqlBulkCopy.WriteToServer state in a consecutive calls. #2375
• Fixed null reference exception with SqlConnection.FireInfoMessageEventOnUserErrors after introducing the batch command. #2399
• Fixed scale serialization when explicitly set to 0 #2411
• Fixed issue blocking GetSchema commands from being enrolled into the current transaction #2876
• Adjusted retry logic to allow errors with negative numbers to be considered transient #2896
• Fixed string formatting in OutOfMemory exceptions #2797
• Increased routing attempts to 10 in netcore for LoginNoFailover and added routing support to LoginWithFailover to standardize routing behavior between netcore and netfx #2873
• Restructured documentation into XML format so that it displays correctly in Visual Studio #2836, #2822, #2834, #2851, #2863, #2864, #2865, #2869, #2871, #2837, #2821
• Fixed cleanup behavior when column decryption fails. Prevents leaving stale data on the wire for pooled connections #2843, #2825
• Reverted default value of UseMinimumLoginTimeout context switch to 'true' #2419
• Added missing DynamicallyAccessedMembers attributes in .NET Runtime reference assemblies. #2946
• Synchronized dependencies of reference assemblies with runtime assemblies #2878
• Fixed lazy initialization of the _SqlMetaData hidden column map for .NET Framework #2964
• Fixed reference assembly definitions for SqlClientDiagnostic APIs #3097
• Fixed issue with down-level SSL/TLS version warnings #3126

Changed

• Dependency changes
  • Added dependency on Microsoft.Bcl.Cryptography:9.0.0 #2946
  • Added dependency on System.Security.Cryptography.Pkcs:9.0.0 to address SYSLIB0057#2946
  • Added dependency on System.Text.Json 8.0.5 for .NET 8+ and 6.0.10 for other versions #2921
  • Removed dependency on Microsoft.Extensions.Caching.Memory and System.Security.Cryptography.Cng, which were unnecessary after removing .NET Standard. #2577
  • Removed dependency on System.Text.Json from .NET 8+ #2930
    ...

Breaking Changes

• Dropped support for .NET 6 #2927
• Removed SQL 2000 client-side debugging support for .NET Framework #2981, #2940

Added

• Enabled NuGet package auditing via NuGet.org audit source #3024
• Added support for .NET 9 #2946
• Added dependency on System.Security.Cryptography.Pkcs:9.0.0 to address SYSLIB0057#2946
• Added dependency on Microsoft.Bcl.Cryptography:9.0.0 #2946
• Added missing SqlCommand_BeginExecuteReader code sample #3009
• Added support for SqlConnectionOverrides in OpenAsync() API #2433
• Added localization in Czech, Polish, and Turkish #2987

Fixed

• Reverted default value of UseMinimumLoginTimeout context switch to 'true' #2419
• Added missing DynamicallyAccessedMembers attributes in .NET Runtime reference assemblies. #2946
• Synchronized dependencies of Reference Assemblies with Runtime assemblies #2878
• Fixed lazy initialization of the _SqlMetaData hidden column map for .NET Framework #2964

Changed

• Updated Microsoft.Extensions.Caching.Memory to 9.0.0 for all frameworks #2946
• Updated System.Configuration.ConfigurationManager to 9.0.0 #2946
• Updated docs to use absolute links #2949
• Removed System.Text.Json dependency from .NET 8 #2930

Contributors

Thanks to the following public contributors. Their efforts toward this project are very much appreciated.

• @MichelZ
• @EamonHetherton
• @edwardneal
• @deadlydog
• @mus65

For detailed release notes, refer to 6.0.0-preview3.md