Kali Linux 2019.1 Release (February 18, 2019) Announcement Spoiler: Changes 2019.1 Tool Upgrades The big marquee update of this release is the update of Metasploit to version 5.0, which is their first major release since version 4.0 came out in 2011. Metasploit 5.0 is a massive update that includes database and automation APIs, new evasion capabilities, and usability improvements throughout. Check out their in-progress release notes to learn about all the new goodness Kali Linux 2019.1 also includes updated packages for theHarvester, DBeaver, and more. For the complete list of updates, fixes, and additions, please refer to the Kali Bug Tracker Changelog. ARM Updates The 2019.1 Kali release for ARM includes the return of Banana Pi and Banana Pro, both of which are on the 4.19 kernel. Veyron has been moved to a 4.19 kernel and the Raspberry Pi images have been simplified so it is easier to figure out which one to use. [...]
Kali Linux 2019.2 Release (May 21, 2019) Announcement Spoiler: Change 2019.2 Kali NetHunter 2019.2 Release Thanks to the tireless contributions from the vibrant NetHunter community led by re4son, binkybear, fattire, jmingov, jcadduono, kimocoder, and PaulWebSec, NetHunter now supports over 50 devices running all the latest Android versions, from KitKat through to Pie. To celebrate this milestone, we have released 13 new NetHunter images for the latest Android versions of our favourite devices, including: Tool Upgrades This release largely features various tweaks and bug fixes but there are still many updated tools including seclists, msfpc, and exe2hex. For the complete list of updates, fixes, and additions, please refer to the Kali Bug Tracker Changelog. ARM Updates For our ARM users, be aware that the first boot will take a bit longer than usual, as it requires the reinstallation of a few packages on the hardware. This manifests as the login manager crashing a few times until the packages finish reinstalling and is expected behaviour.
Kali Linux arrives on Raspberry Pi 4 July 8, 2019 https://betanews.com/2019/07/08/kali-linux-raspberry-pi-4/ Offensive Security: Raspberry Pi 4 and Kali
Kali Linux 2019.4 Release (November 26, 2019) Announcement Spoiler: Changes 2019.4 New Desktop Environment and GTK3 Theme There are a ton of updates to go over for this release, but the most in your face item that everyone is going to notice first are the changes to the desktop environment and theme. So let’s cover that first. An update to the desktop environment has been a long time coming. We have been talking about how to address this, what we wanted to do, experimenting on different approaches, and so on for months now. Kali Undercover With the change to the environment, we thought we would take a side step and do something fun. Thanks to Robert, who leads our penetration testing team, for suggesting a Kali theme that looks like Windows to the casual view, we have created the Kali Undercover theme. Kali-Docs is now on Markdown and new home (/docs/) This may not be as flashy as the new theme, but the changes to the docs we have done is just as significant. One of our go-forward goals with Kali is to move more of the development into the public and make it as easy as possible for anyone (that means you!) to get involved and contribute to Kali. That’s what our move to GitLab earlier in the year was all about. Another part of this is changing how we deal with docs. Public Packaging One of the more significant new documents we have done is documenting how you can make a new package that will get included in Kali. BTRFS during setup Another significant new addition to the documentation is the use of BTRFS as your root file system. This is an amazing approach documented by Re4son, that when done gives you the ability to do file system rollbacks after upgrades. PowerShell On to other features, in case you missed it PowerShell is now in Kali (We have a blog post about it). This has been really great to bring the ability to execute PowerShell scripts directly on Kali. NetHunter Kex – Full Kali Desktop on Android phones Another feature we are super excited about is the introduction of NetHunter Kex. In a nutshell, this allows you to attach your Android device to an HDMI output along with Bluetooth keyboard and mouse and get a full, no compromise, Kali desktop. Yes. From your phone. ARM 2019.4 is the last release that will support 8GB sdcards on ARM. Starting in 2020.1, a 16GB sdcard will be the minimum we support. You will always be able to create your own image that supports smaller cards if you desire. Kali Linux Ethical Hacking OS Switches to Xfce Desktop, Gets New Look and Feel November 26, 2019 https://news.softpedia.com/news/kal...e-desktop-gets-new-look-and-feel-528328.shtml
Kali Linux to Default to Non-Root User With 2020.1 Release January 4, 2020 https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/ne...-default-to-non-root-user-with-20201-release/ Kali Default Non-Root User
Kali Linux 2020.1 Release (January 28, 2020) Announcement Spoiler: Changes 2020.1 Kali Single Installer Image We took a good hard look at the usage of Kali, what images are actually downloaded, how they are put to use, and so on. With this information in hand, we decided to completely restructure and simplify the images we release. Going forward, we will have an installer image, a live image, and a network installer image. ARM Images You will probably notice a bit of a change in the ARM images starting with our 2020.1 release. There are fewer images available for download, due to both manpower and hardware constraints, some images won’t be posted without community assistance. NetHunter Images Our mobile pen-testing platform, Kali NetHunter, has also had some new improvements. You are now no longer required to root your phone in order to run Kali NetHunter, but that does come with some limitations. Theming With our last release, we made a major change switching from GNOME to Xfce. Kali-Undercover We were not expecting the community’s overwhelming response to kali-undercover. So carrying on from Kali 2019.4 release, Kali-undercover now starts to feel even more like Windows to help blend in. New Packages Kali Linux is a rolling distribution, so it gets updates as soon as they are available, rather than waiting for “the next release”. So since the last release, we have the normal tool upgrades as well as a few new tools added [...] Python 2 End Of Life As a reminder, Python 2 has reached “end of life” on the 1st of January 2020. What this means is, we are removing tools that depend on Python 2. Why? Because they are no longer being maintained, they are not receiving updates, and they need replacing. The pentesting landscape is a dynamic field that is forever changing. It’s time to keep up. We will be doing our best to find alternatives that are actively worked upon. Kali Linux Adds Single Installer Image, Default Non-Root User January 28, 2020 https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/ne...single-installer-image-default-non-root-user/
Kali Linux 2020.1a Release (March 3, 2020) Announcement Spoiler: Changes 2020.1a Note: If you are already running 2020.1, you do not need to reinstall. The 2020.1a release is only for those who weren’t able to successfully install 2020.1 Raspberry Pi We have also pushed out an updated image, both 32-bit and 64-bit for Raspberry Pi, due to some files being corrupt in the initial image. Vagrant Since the introduction of a non-root user, we have switched the default user to be kali. We also moved the vagrant image to this user as well. However, we reverted it back to vagrant to be more in line with their best practices. PineBook Pro We have got Kali Linux running on a PineBook Pro! Please download a copy and try it out if you have a PineBook! If you don’t know what the PineBook is, check it out! Kali Linux 2020.1a Released – Download Updated Kali Image for Raspberry Pi March 5, 2020 https://gbhackers.com/kali-linux-2020-1a/
Kali Linux 2020.2 Release (May 12, 2020) Announcement Spoiler: Changes 2020.2 KDE Plasma Makeover & Login With XFCE and GNOME having had a Kali Linux look and feel update, it’s time to go back to our roots (days of backtrack-linux) and give some love and attention to KDE Plasma. PowerShell by Default. Kind of. A while ago, we put PowerShell into Kali Linux’s network repository. We now have put PowerShell into one of our (primary) metapackages, Kali on ARM Improvements With Kali Linux 2020.1, desktop images no longer used “root/toor” as the default credentials to login, but had moved to “kali/kali”. Our ARM images are now the same. We are no longer using the super user account to login with. Lessons From Installer Changes With Kali Linux 2020.1 we announced our new style of images, “installer” & “live”. Solutions [...] New Key Packages & Icons Just like every Kali Linux release, we include the latest packages possible. [...]
Kali Linux 2020.3 Release (August 18, 2020) Announcement Spoiler: Changes 2020.3 New Shell (Is Coming) Today, we are announcing the plan to switch over to ZSH shell. This is currently scheduled to be the default shell in 2020.4 (for this 2020.3 release, bash will still be the default). Win-KeX Having Kali Linux on “Windows Subsystem for Linux” (WSL) is something we have been taking advantage of since it came out. With the release of WSLv2, the overall functionality and user experience improved dramatically. Today, the experience is improving once more with the introduction of Win-KeX (Windows + Kali Desktop EXperience). After installing it, typing in kex, or clicking on the button, Win-KeX will give you a persistent-session GUI. Automating HiDPI HiDPI displays are getting more and more common. Unfortunately, Linux support, out of the box, hasn’t been great (older Linux users may remember a time where this was very common for a lot of hardware changes.). So we made kali-hidpi-mode. Now, either typing in kali-hidpi-mode or selecting it from the menu (as shown below), should automate switching between HiDPI modes. Tool Icons We will be working on adding missing tools to the menu (and creating icons for them) over the next few releases of Kali, as well as expanding into the kali-linux-large metapackage (then kali-tools-everything). We also have plans for these icons, outside of the menu – more information in an upcoming release! Kali NetHunter Bluetooth Arsenal We are proud to introduce Bluetooth Arsenal by yesimxev from the Kali NetHunter team. It combines a set of bluetooth tools in the Kali NetHunter app with some pre-configured workflows and exciting use cases. [...]
Kali Linux 2020.3 begins journey of replacing Bash with ZSH August 18, 2020 https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/ne...03-begins-journey-of-replacing-bash-with-zsh/ Kali Linux gets a GUI desktop in Windows Subsystem for Linux August 18, 2020 https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/ne...a-gui-desktop-in-windows-subsystem-for-linux/
Win-KeX Version 2.0 Released For Kali Linux Running In WSL 2 You can now run KeX as root, non-privileged, and seamless sessions mode concurrently September 19, 2020 https://fossbytes.com/win-kex-version-2-0-released-for-kali-linux-running-in-wsl-2/
Kali Linux 2020.4 Release (November 18, 2020) Announcement Spoiler: Changes 2020.4 What’s different with this release since 2020.3 in August 2020 is: ZSH is the new default shell – We said it was happening last time, Now it has. ZSH. Is. Now. Default. Bash shell makeover – It may not function like ZSH, but now Bash looks like ZSH. Partnership with tools authors – We are teaming up with byt3bl33d3r. Message at login – Proactively pointing users to resources. AWS image refresh – Now on GovCloud. Includes Kali’s default (command line) tools again. And there is a new URL. Packaging Guides – Want to start getting your tool inside of Kali? This should help. New Tools & Updates – New Kernel and various new tools and updates for existing ones, as well as setting Proxychains 4 as default. NetHunter Updates – New NetHunter settings menu, select from different boot animations, and persistent Magisk. Win-KeX 2.5 – New “Enhanced Session Mode” brings Win-KeX to ARM devices Vagrant & VMware – We now support VMware users who use Vagrant.
Kali Linux 2020.4 switches the default shell from Bash to ZSH November 19, 2020 https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/ne...-switches-the-default-shell-from-bash-to-zsh/
Hands-On: Kali Linux on the Raspberry Pi 4 December 24, 2020 https://www.zdnet.com/article/hands-on-kali-linux-on-the-raspberry-pi-4/
Kali Linux 2021.3 Release (September 14, 2021) Announcement Download Spoiler: Changes v2021.3 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 5.21 - Plasma desktop received a version bump
Kali Linux 2021.3 released with new pentest tools, improvements September 15, 2021 https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/ne...released-with-new-pentest-tools-improvements/
Kali Linux 2021.4 Release (December 9, 2021) Announcement Download Spoiler: Changes v2021.4 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 On December 22, 2021 Kali Linux 2021.4a has been released
Kali Linux 2022.1 Released with New “Everything” Flavor, New Tools, and a Visual Refresh February 14, 2022 Kali Linux 2022.1 Release (February 14, 2022) Kali Linux 2022.1 Release (Visual Updates, Kali Everything ISOs, Legacy SSH) Download Spoiler: Changes v2022.1 The summary of the changelog since the 2021.4 release from December 2021 is: Visual Refresh - Updated wallpapers and GRUB theme Shell Prompt Changes - Visual improvements to improve readability when copying code Refreshed Browser Landing Page - Firefox and Chromium homepage has had a makeover to help you access everything Kali you need Kali Everything Image - An all-packages-in-one solution now available to download Kali-Tweaks Meets SSH - Connect to old SSH servers using legacy SSH protocols and ciphers VMware i3 Improvements - Host-guest features properly work now on i3 Accessibility Features - Speech synthesis is back in the Kali installer New Tools - Various new tools added, many from ProjectDiscovery! Besides that, we have been working on a new feature, which just isn’t quite ready yet (as the documentation is still in progress!). It’s a large one, so it’s going to have its own blog post once ready to help demonstrate its importance to us. This one is for you bare-metal installers!
Kali Linux 2022.3 Release (August 9, 2022) Kali Linux 2022.3 Release (Discord & Test Lab) Download Spoiler: Changes - Highlights 2022.3 The highlights for Kali’s 2022.3’s release: Discord Server - Kali’s new community real-time chat option has launched! Test Lab Environment - Quickly create a test bed to learn, practice, and benchmark tools and compare their results Opening Kali-Tools Repo - We have opened up the Kali tools repository & are accepting your submissions! Help Wanted - We are looking for a Go developer to help us on an open-source project Kali NetHunter Updates - New releases in our NetHunter store Virtual Machines Updates - New VirtualBox image format, weekly images, and build-scripts to build your own New Tools In Kali - Would not be a release without some new tools! For more details, see the bug tracker changelog.
Kali Linux 2022.4 Release (December 6, 2022) Kali Linux 2022.4 Release (Azure, Social & Kali NetHunter Pro) Download Spoiler: Changes - Summary 2022.4 A summary of the changelog since August’s 2022.3 release: Microsoft Azure - We are back on the Microsoft Azure store More Platforms - Generic Cloud, QEMU VM image & Vagrant libvirt Social Networks - New homes, keeping in touch & press packs Kali NetHunter Pro - Announcing the first release of a “true” Kali Linux on the mobile phone (PinePhone / Pro) Kali NetHunter - Internal Bluetooth support, kernel porting video, firmware updates & other improvements Desktop Updates - GNOME 43 & KDE 5.26 New Tools - As always, various new packages added
Kali Linux 2022.4 adds 6 new tools, Azure images, and desktop updates By Lawrence Abrams @LawrenceAbrams - December 6, 2022
