You can take any Linux and install pentesting tools on it, but you have to set the tools up manually and configure them. Kali is optimized to reduce the amount of work, so a professional can just sit down and go.
A version of Kali is always close to you, no matter where you need it. Mobile devices, Containers, ARM, Cloud providers, Windows Subsystem for Linux, Pre-built Virtual Machine, Installer Images, and others are all available.
With the use of metapackages, optimized for the specific tasks of a security professional, and a highly accessible and well documented ISO customization process, it's always easy to generate an optimized version of Kali for your specific needs.
Whether you are a seasoned veteran or a novice, our documentation will have all the information you will need to know about Kali Linux. Multiple tips and “recipes” are available, to help ease doubts or address any issues. All documentation is open, so you can easily contribute.
Kali Linux, with its BackTrack lineage, has a vibrant and active community. There are active Kali forums, IRC Channel, Kali Tools listings, an open bug tracker system, and even community provided tool suggestions.
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.
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.
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 provides a full Kali Desktop Experience for Windows WSL. Applications started via Kali's panel will share the desktop with Microsoft Windows applications.
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.
Every part of GNOME Shell 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.
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.
With summer coming to an end, so are package migrations, and Kali 2024.3 can now be released. You can now start downloading or upgrading if you have an existing Kali installation.
The summary of the changelog since the 2024.2 release from June is:
Our focus has been on a lot of behind the scenes updates and optimizations since the last release. There have been some messy migrations, with multiple stacks, all interrelating (transition have been like buses, all coming at once!). After the t64 transition finished up, it was straight into multiple other transitions: GCC 14, the glibc 2.40, and Python 3.12.
A little later than usual, but Kali 2024.2 is here! The delay has been due to changes under the hood to make this happen, which is where a lot of focus has been. The community has helped out a huge amount, and this time they’ve not only been adding new packages, but updating and fixing bugs too! If you are reading this, Kali 2024.2 is finally ready to be downloaded or upgraded if you have an existing Kali Linux installation.
Following the recent disclosure of a backdoor in upstream xz/liblzma, we are writing this “get started” kind of blog post. We will explain how to setup an environment with the backdoored version of liblzma, and then the first commands to run to validate that the backdoor is installed. All in all, it should just take a few minutes, and there’s no learning curve, it’s all very simple.
As of 5:00 pm ET on March 29, 2024 the following information is accurate. Should there be updates to this situation, they will be edited onto this blog post.
The xz-utils package, starting from versions 5.6.0 to 5.6.1, was found to contain a backdoor (CVE-2024-3094). This backdoor could potentially allow a malicious actor to compromise sshd authentication, granting unauthorized access to the entire system remotely.