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By Zayden R., August 12, 2026
Mold 2.42 is now available, bringing significant performance boosts for this high-speed linker. Engineers can expect faster linking, especially on multi-core systems, along with new features and bug fixes.
Mold, the high-speed linker, has just rolled out its 2.42 version, promising even greater performance enhancements. For engineers working with large codebases, this update could mean noticeably faster linking, particularly on systems equipped with multiple CPU cores. This is a welcome development following the relative quiet since the 2.41 release in April.
Among the new features, Mold 2.42 introduces support for --pack-dyn-relocs=android and --pack-dyn-relocs=android+relr, providing more versatility for Android developers. The update also enhances the compress-debug-sections option, which now allows users to specify a compression level for Zstd or Zlib, offering more control over debug section sizes.
For those who prefer a quieter build process, the addition of -w and --no-warnings options should be a relief, allowing warnings to be suppressed during linking. Furthermore, Mold 2.42 adds support for the SFrame version 3 stack unwinding format, which could be crucial for developers needing robust stack trace capabilities.
Although the release notes and readme files don't provide specific benchmarks, the developers assure that the performance gains are substantial. Engineers tasked with linking large applications may find this update particularly beneficial, as it leverages hardware more effectively, reducing the time taken for linking operations.
Overall, Mold 2.42 brings a suite of improvements that not only enhance performance but also add useful features for developers. This release is another step forward for Mold as it continues to refine its capabilities as a high-speed linker.
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