Kali Linux 2020.1 has been released with new tools and improvements to the theme and kali-undercover mode. It also adds Non-Root by default and a new Kali installer.
With this specific release as announced earlier, Kali Linux moved to an unauthorized root user and also announced the NetHunter Rootless Edition.
Kali Linux 2020.1
Earlier this year, the Kali Linux team announced the move to a “default non-root user,” changes that will take effect with version 2020.1.
Previously, Kali inherited the default root policy from its predecessors, starting with Kali 2020.1 there is no longer a superuser account and the default user is now a standard, non-privileged user.
Another notable change is the Single Installer Image of the operating system, Kali no longer offers images for each desktop environment (DE). Instead, they now provide a single installation image and ask you to choose your desktop environment.
The new version also allows users to choose which tools to include in the installation. To install a custom image in addition to Xfce and the default packages, an Internet connection is required.
With the Installer image, live mode is not included, if you want to use live mode, then you must have a live installation image.
ARM images for 2020.1 still run as root by default and the Pinebook Pro is not included in the 2020.1 release, “We are still working on adding it and will publish it once it is ready.”.
NetHunter Rootless
The mobile pentesting platform also comes with new improvements with one of the most important changes being that you no longer need to root your phone to run Kali NetHunter.
Here are the three NetHunter versions:
- NetHunter – Requires rooted devices with custom recovery and patched kernel. Has no limitations. Device-specific images are available here.
- NetHunter Light – Requires rooted devices with custom recovery but does not have a custom kernel. It has minor limitations, i.e. no WiFi or HID. Images related to the architecture are available here.
- NetHunter Rootless – Installable on all unmodified devices using Termux. Some limitations, such as lack of db support in Metasploit and no root permissions. Installation instructions are available here.
With NetHunter Rootless, the non-root user also has full rights in the chroot, due to the way container protocols work.
New themes are included for Gnome users, including both light and dark versions. The icons used in the menu are also replaced.
Improvements were made to the Kali-Undercover feature to make it more engaging using a Windows operating system .
New packages & Python 2
New tools such as cloud-enum, emailharvester, phpggc, sherlock, splinter are used and the few existing tools.
As Python 2 reached end-of-life on January 1, 2020, tools developed based on Python 2 are being removed.
Existing users can upgrade to the new version and the new images can be downloaded from here.
