Meaning
An urgent software patch applied directly to the production system to resolve a critical bug or vulnerability.
Three examples from work
Critical incident
SupportUsers cannot log in via Google authentication.
LeadWe identified an expired OAuth secret; deploying a hotfix right now.
Release branch
DevShould I branch this hotfix off main or the current release tag?
LeadBranch off production tag, test it locally, and cherry-pick to main later.
Post-incident check
PMIs the hotfix live on all production clusters?
DevOpsYes, traffic is normal and error rates have returned to zero.
Can be a noun ('ship a hotfix') or verb ('hotfix the bug'). Reserved for high-severity production issues that cannot wait for the standard sprint cycle.