You only need to restart to install kernel updates <i>that you need</i>. While I&#x27;d <i>normally</i> just install all updates, most kernel bugs that I recall seeing the past few years are local exploits. If you&#x27;re running few&#x2F;no external services, you might not <i>need</i> to upgrade. And often bugs are in little-used subsystems&#x2F;protocols -- often those will be off-by-default, or turned off by a diligent administrators (never run code you don&#x27;t need).<p>It&#x27;s rare to see a kernel-bug that can&#x27;t be worked around in some way other than patching.