The Industry Standard

Kali Linux is not about its tools, nor the operating system. Kali Linux is a platform.

Generic laptop PC Kali Linux desktop

All the tools you need

The Kali Linux penetration testing platform contains a vast array of tools and utilities. From information gathering to final reporting, Kali Linux enables security and IT professionals to assess the security of their systems.

Find out all about Kali's Tools

Kali Everywhere

Undercover Mode

Using Kali in an environment where you don't want to draw attention to yourself? Kali Undercover is the perfect way to not stand out in a crowd.

Kali NetHunter

A mobile penetration testing platform for Android devices, based on Kali Linux. Kali NetHunter is made up of an App, App Store, Kali Container and KeX

Win-KeX

Win-KeX provides a full Kali Desktop Experience for Windows WSL. Applications started via Kali's panel will share the desktop with Microsoft Windows applications.

Choose the desktop you prefer

Xfce logoXfce

Xfce is a lightweight desktop environment for UNIX-like operating systems. It aims to be fast and low on system resources, while still being visually appealing and user friendly.

Xfce consists of separately packaged parts that together provide all functions of the desktop environment, but can be selected in subsets to suit user needs and preferences. This is Kali's default desktop environment.

Kali Linux with Xfce desktop
Kali Linux with GNOME desktop

GNOME logoGNOME Shell

Every part of GNOME 3 has been designed to make it simple and easy to use. The Activities Overview is an easy way to access all your basic tasks. A press of a button is all it takes to view your open windows, launch applications, or check if you have new messages. Having everything in one place is convenient and means that you don't have to learn your way through a maze of different technologies.

KDE logoKDE Plasma

Plasma is made to stay out of the way as it helps you get things done. But under its light and intuitive surface, it's a powerhouse. So you're free to choose ways of usage right as you need them and when you need them.

With Plasma the user is king. Not happy with the color scheme? Change it! Want to have your panel on the left edge of the screen? Move it! Don't like the font? Use a different one! Download custom widgets in one click and add them to your desktop or panel.

Kali Linux with KDE Plasma desktop

Latest news from our blog

Kali's stable Docker image is now named kali-last-release

Here is a very quick announcement for users of the Kali Linux Docker Images. Until recently we used to have a Docker image named simply kali, and it was built from the last versioned release of Kali (e.g. 2019.4, 2020.1, etc.) matching our “kali-last-snapshot” network repositories branch. In a way, this is our “stable” release, as it will only get updates quarterly as it is in synchronisation with our release cycle.

Kali Linux 2021.4 Release

With the end of 2021 just around the corner, we are pushing out the last release of the year with Kali Linux 2021.4, which is ready for immediate download or updating. The summary of the changelog since the 2021.3 release from September 2021 is: Improved Apple M1 support Wide compatibility for Samba Switching package manager mirrors Kaboxer theming Updates to Xfce, GNOME and KDE Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W + USBArmory MkII ARM images More tools Kali on the Apple M1 As we announced in Kali 2021.

Kali Linux 2021.3 Release (OpenSSL, Kali-Tools, Kali Live VM Support, Kali NetHunter Smartwatch)

Today we have released the newest version of Kali Linux, 2021.3 (quarter #3), which is now ready for download or updating. A summary of the changes since the 2021.2 release from June are: OpenSSL - Wide compatibility by default - Keep reading for what that means New Kali-Tools site - Following the footsteps of Kali-Docs, Kali-Tools has had a complete refresh Better VM support in the Live image session - Copy & paste and drag & drop from your machine into a Kali VM by default New tools - From adversary emulation, to subdomain takeover to Wi-Fi attacks Kali NetHunter smartwatch - first of its kind, for TicHunter Pro KDE 5.

Kali Linux 2021.2 Release (Kaboxer, Kali-Tweaks, Bleeding-Edge & Privileged Ports)

Say hello to Kali Linux 2021.2! This release welcomes a mixture of new items as well as enhancements of existing features, and is ready to be downloaded (from our updated page) or upgraded if you have an existing Kali Linux installation. A quick summary of the changelog since the 2021.1 release from February 2021 is: