Why are the swift release tags not more informative?

These point releases are specific to Linux and Windows. They contain bug fixes and incremental implementations of the missing functionality in Swift core libraries. They do not change compiler or any language features. See this post that started these releases: Announcing Swift 4.2.2 and monthly Swift 4.2.x dot releases for Linux

If a release includes an important fix (such as a security fix) the forum release announcement will mention it.