ONVIF Profile S support ends March 31, 2027: plan a tested move to Profile T

What ONVIF has announced

Source fact: ONVIF states that support for Profile S will end on March 31, 2027. After that date, manufacturers will not be able to submit new products, or older products with new firmware or software versions, for Profile S conformance. The June 2026 release of ONVIF’s conformance test tools is the last release that permits Profile S claims during its validity period.

The date is a conformance-lifecycle milestone, not a remote shutdown. ONVIF says deployed Profile S devices and clients can continue basic video streaming. A specific registered firmware or software version remains conformant unless its manufacturer withdraws the Declaration of Conformance. ONVIF also notes that existing integrations can be affected later if a vendor removes an implementation or authentication method in newer software.

The security reason matters. Profile S mandates username-token authentication, which ONVIF now regards as too weak to protect against unauthorized access. ONVIF encourages users to discontinue that method where possible and use stronger mechanisms, including digest authentication in Profile T or TLS in HTTPS mode. Profile T contains virtually all Profile S features and adds capabilities such as H.264/H.265, imaging configuration, alarms, metadata, and conditional HTTPS media transport.

Compatibility boundaries

Profile T is not an exact feature-for-feature declaration. ONVIF’s Q&A says username-token authentication, IP-address filtering, MJPEG, and MPEG-4 are not covered by Profile T, even though an individual product might still support some of them natively. Conformance must also be checked against the exact model and firmware or software version. None of this authorizes a fleet-wide upgrade without the camera, VMS, recorder, analytics, and export paths being tested together.

DSE operational checklist

DSE recommendation: The following is DSE operational synthesis based on the ONVIF material, not an ONVIF-mandated migration sequence.

Inventory devices and clients that are Profile S only, dual Profile S/Profile T, or not found in the official database.

Record exact firmware, software, authentication method, codecs, and any IP-filter or legacy-stream dependency.

Verify each exact version in the ONVIF Conformant Products database and retain its feature list.

Ask manufacturers which supported release and authentication path they recommend after Profile S support ends.

Bench-test digest authentication, HTTPS, live and recorded video, PTZ, audio, metadata, events, analytics, and export.

Stage production changes in coverage-aware groups with a documented recovery path.

Assign an owner and replacement date to any dependency that cannot move safely.

Official references

Profile S Deprecation Q&A — the March 31, 2027 date, continuing-use boundary, authentication guidance, and feature comparison.

ONVIF to End Support for Profile S; Recommends Profile T as Replacement — the October 9, 2025 announcement and conformance-tool timeline.

Profile T — the current official Profile T capability summary.