Check libstdc++ Version on Linux

The GNU Standard C++ Library, also known as libstdc++, is an open-source implementation of the C++ standard library. Determining the installed version can be important when building or running applications that depend on specific compiler features or ABI compatibility. This tutorial explains how to check libstdc++ version on Linux.

Start by identifying the path of the installed libstdc++.so file. This can be done using the dynamic linker cache:

ldconfig -p | grep libstdc++

Example output:

libstdc++.so.6 (libc6,x86-64) => /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libstdc++.so.6

Once the library path is known, inspect the available symbol versions embedded within the file to determine the highest supported GLIBCXX version:

strings /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libstdc++.so.6 | grep -E 'GLIBCXX_[0-9]' | sort -V | tail -1

Example output:

GLIBCXX_3.4.33

The resulting value indicates the highest GLIBCXX symbol version available in the installed libstdc++ library, commonly used to check compatibility with compiled C++ binaries.

Explanation of the command:

• strings - extracts readable text from the binary.
• grep - filters entries related to GLIBCXX symbol versions.
• sort -V - arranges versions in ascending order.
• tail -1 - returns the highest supported version.