If one need a specific version of protoc compiler they can download it from maven repository. for example i needed protoc 3.19.2 and had the same problem with specific version not available via apt.

So i went to maven and found what i want. specifically here: https://repo1.maven.org/maven2/com/google/protobuf/protoc/3.19.2/

(you can search in maven and click 'view all' in files section to get to your desired files. that's how i got to the above link)

then downloaded the linux-x86.exe file, made it executable by chmod +x, renamed it to 'protoc' and placed it in PATH and i could finally call protoc --version and i got libprotoc 3.19.2