Canonical has withdrawn the Ubuntu 23.10 images from circulation shortly after their release due to the presence of user translations containing hate speech in the Ubuntu installer. The translations, which were created using a third-party tool, had been included in Ubuntu packages. As a result, Canonical decided to delete the images and is now working on developing new ones with corrected translations.
News of this issue was announced by the official Ubuntu Twitter account, which referred to the speech inciting hatred as coming from a malicious participant in some of their transfers. They clarified that these transfers were made using a third-party tool not associated with the Ubuntu archive. The tweet from Ubuntu, posted on October 12, 2023, stated that the image of Ubuntu 23.10 had been deleted and that a new version would be made available after the translation adjustment.
It has been determined that the problematic translations were found within a specific set of transfers in the Ubuntu Desktop installer interface. These translations were promptly removed and were not part of the Ubuntu archive. It appears that the incident is isolated to transfers provided through the third-party tool for certain applications.
The following Ubuntu images have been removed: Ubuntu Desktop 23.10, Ubuntu Budgie 23.10, and daily images of Ubuntu Desktop. As of now, only versions for server installations and Netboot Tarballs are accessible for download.