cPanel update or installation failure "requires libavif.so.15()(64bit), but none of the providers can be installed"

Symptoms

The nightly cPanel updates or attempts to run package updates manually report conflicts for the GD packages with libavif. This error can also prevent the EasyApache 4 profile deployment during a cPanel installation. This behavior is seen on AlmaLinux or CloudLinux 9 environments.

CONFIG_TEXT: [/usr/local/cpanel/scripts/update-packages] Error:
[/usr/local/cpanel/scripts/update-packages] Problem 1: package ea-php84-php-gd-8.4.25-2.2.1.cpanel.x86_64 from @System requires libavif.so.15()(64bit), but none of the providers can be installed
[/usr/local/cpanel/scripts/update-packages] - cannot install both libavif-1.1.1-3.el9.x86_64 from epel and libavif-0.11.1-5.el9.x86_64 from @System
[/usr/local/cpanel/scripts/update-packages] - cannot install both libavif-1.1.1-3.el9.x86_64 from epel and libavif-0.11.1-4.el9.x86_64 from alt-common
[/usr/local/cpanel/scripts/update-packages] - cannot install both libavif-1.1.1-3.el9.x86_64 from epel and libavif-0.11.1-5.el9.x86_64 from alt-common
[/usr/local/cpanel/scripts/update-packages] - cannot install both libavif-0.11.1-4.el9.x86_64 from imunify360 and libavif-1.1.1-3.el9.x86_64 from epel
[/usr/local/cpanel/scripts/update-packages] - cannot install the best update candidate for package libavif-0.11.1-5.el9.x86_64
[/usr/local/cpanel/scripts/update-packages] - cannot install the best update candidate for package ea-php84-php-gd-8.4.25-2.2.1.cpanel.x86_64 

Cause

The EPEL repository recently added libavif-1.1.1-3.el9.x86_64 with libavif.so.16. This causes conflicts with the GD package requirement of libavif.so.15, as both versions cannot be installed.

Resolution

https://cpanel.zendesk.com/agent/tickets/96086480 

This issue has been reported to our developers, and they are reviewing it further in an internal case EA4-334. Once a fix for this issue is released, it will be documented in our changelogs. 

EasyApache 4 Change Logs 

You can version-lock these packages to prevent the updates from introducing this conflict.

# dnf install python3-dnf-plugin-versionlock

# dnf versionlock add libavif-0.11.1-5.el9.x86_64

# dnf versionlock add svt-av1-libs-0.9.0-1.el9.x86_64

We also advise setting an expiration for this lock, as it should be removed when a fix for this case is published. This will help ensure the lock does not cause conflicts later if it is not removed.

# echo "dnf versionlock delete libavif" | at now + 30 days

# echo "dnf versionlock delete svt-av1-libs" | at now + 30 days

If this error occurred during a cPanel installation, you will also need to manually install the package and rerun the EasyApache 4 profile deployment.

# dnf install libavif-0.11.1-5.el9.x86_64

# /usr/local/bin/ea_install_profile --install /etc/cpanel/ea4/profiles/cpanel/default.json

# /usr/local/cpanel/scripts/upcp