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Release of distribution for security research Kali Linux 2020.1

The first issue of the decade is now available for downloading!

Short list of innovations:

Farewell root!

Throughout the history of Kali (and its predecessors BackTrack, WHAX and Whoppix) the default credentials have been root/toor. As of Kali 2020.1 we no longer use root for the default user, it is now ordinary unprivileged user.


For more information about this change, please read our previous blog post. Undoubtedly, this is a very big change, and if you notice any problems with this change, please let us know at bug tracker.

Instead of root/toor, now use kali/kali.

Kali as your primary OS

So, given the changes, should Kali be used as the primary OS? You decide. Nothing has stopped you from doing this before, but we don't recommend it. Why? Because we can't test this use case, and we don't want anyone to come in with error messages about using Kali for other purposes.

If you are brave enough to try Kali as your default OS, you can switch from branch "rolling" to "kali-last-snapshot"to get more stability.

Kali Single Installer

We have taken a close look at how people use Kali, what images are downloaded, how they are used, and so on. With this information in hand, we decided to completely restructure and simplify the skins we release. In the future, we will have an installer image, a live image, and a netinstall image.

These changes should make it easier to select the right image to download, while increasing installation flexibility and reducing the size required to download.

Description of all images

  • Kali single

    • Recommended for most users who want to install Kali.
    • Does not require network connection (offline installation).
    • Ability to select the desktop environment for installation (previously there was a separate image for each DE: XFCE, GNOME, KDE).
    • Ability to select the desired tools during installation.
    • Cannot be used as a live distribution, it is just an installer.
    • File name: kali-linux-2020.1-installer- .iso

  • Kali network

    • Weighs the least
    • Requires a network connection to install
    • During installation it will download packages
    • There is a choice of DE and tools for installation
    • Cannot be used as a live distribution, it's just an installer
    • Filename: kali-linux-2020.1-installer-netinst- .iso

    This is a very small image, containing only enough packages to install, but behaves exactly like the "Kali Single" image, allowing you to install everything Kali has to offer. Provided that you have a network connection enabled.

  • Kali Live

    • Its purpose is to make it possible to run Kali without installation.
    • But it also contains an installer that behaves like the "Kali Network" image described above.

    Kali Live has not been forgotten. The Kali Live image lets you try Kali without installing it and is perfect for running from a flash drive. You can install Kali from this image, however this will require a network connection (which is why we recommend the offline install image for most users).

    Also, you can create your own image, for example if you want to use a different desktop environment instead of our default Xfce. It's not as difficult as it seems!

Images for ARM

You will likely notice slight changes to ARM images, starting with our 2020.1 release the number of images available for download is less, due to workforce and hardware restrictions, some images will not be published without the help of the community.

The build scripts are still updated, so if the image for the machine you're using doesn't exist, you'll have to create one by running build script on a computer running Kali.

ARM images for 2020.1 will still work with root by default.

The sad news is, the Pinebook Pro image is not included in the 2020.1 release. We are still working on adding it, and as soon as it is ready, we will publish it.

NetHunter images

Our mobile penetration testing platform, Kali NetHunter, has also received some improvements. Now you no longer need to root your phone to run Kali NetHunter, but then there will be some limitations.

Kali NetHunter is currently released in the following three versions:

  • Nethunter - requires a rooted device with custom recovery, and a patched kernel. Has no restrictions. Device specific images available here.
  • **NetHunter Light **- Requires rooted devices with custom recovery, but does not require a patched kernel. It has minor limitations, such as Wi-Fi injections and HID support are not available. Device specific images available here.
  • Rootless NetHunter - installed on all standard non-rooted devices using Termux. There are various limitations, such as lack of db support in Metasploit. Installation instruction is available here.

Page NetHunter Documentation contains a more detailed comparison.
Each version of NetHunter comes with both a new non-privileged "kali" user and a root user. KeX now supports multiple sessions, so you can select a pentest in one and a report in another.

Note that due to the nature of Samsung Galaxy devices, a non-root user cannot use sudo, and must use su -c instead.

One of the features of the new edition of "NetHunter Rootless" is that the non-root user by default has almost full privileges in the chroot due to the way proot containers work.

New themes and Kali-Undercover

Untranslated: Since there are mostly only pictures, I advise you to go to the page with the news and take a look at them. By the way, people appreciated zakos under Windows 10so it will evolve.

New packages

Kali Linux is a rolling release distribution, so updates are available immediately and there is no need to wait for the next release.

Added packages:

  • cloud enum
  • emailharvester
  • phpggc
  • sherlock
  • splinter

We also have some new wallpapers in kali-community-wallpapers!

End of Python 2

Recall that Python 2 has reached "end of life" January 1, 2020. This means we are removing tools that use Python 2. Why? Since they are no longer supported, they no longer receive updates and need to be replaced. Pentesting is constantly changing and keeping up with the times. We will do our best to find alternatives that we are actively working on.

Lend a helping hand

If you want to contribute to Cali, please do so! If you have an idea that you would like to work on, please do so. If you want to help but don't know where to start, visit our documentation page). If you have a suggestion for a new feature, please describe it at bug tracker.

Note: The bug tracker is for bugs and suggestions. But this is not the place to get help or support, that's what the forums are for.

Download Kali Linux 2020.1

Why are you waiting? Download Kali now!

If you already have Kali installed, remember that you can always upgrade:

kali@kali:~$ cat <
deb http://http.kali.org/kali kali-rolling main non-free contrib
EOF
kali@kali:~$
kali@kali:~$ sudo apt update && sudo apt -y full-upgrade
kali@kali:~$
kali@kali:~$ [ -f /var/run/reboot-required ] && sudo reboot -f
kali@kali:~$

After that, you should have Kali Linux 2020.1. You can verify this by doing a quick check by running:

kali@kali:~$ grep VERSION /etc/os-release
VERSION = "2020.1"
VERSION_ID = "2020.1"
VERSION_CODENAME="kali-rolling"
kali@kali:~$
kali@kali:~$ uname -v
#1 SMP Debian 5.4.13-1kali1 (2020-01-20)
kali@kali:~$
kali@kali:~$ uname -r
5.4.0-Cali3-amd64
kali@kali:~$

Note: The output of uname -r may be different depending on your architecture.

As always, if you find any bugs in Kali, please submit a report to our bug tracker. We can never fix what we know is broken.

Source: linux.org.ru

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