Kali Linux 2025.2, a Debian-based distribution for advanced penetration testing and security auditing, is now available for download. This is the distribution’s second major update of the year.
One of the most notable changes in this release is the complete reorganization of the Kali menu. Gone is the old structure inherited from BackTrack and WHAX, which, according to devs, had become increasingly difficult to manage.
Instead, the menu now follows the MITRE ATT&CK framework, making it far more intuitive for both red and blue teams to locate the right tools for their tasks. Plus, Kali 2025.2 brings updates across its supported desktop environments:
- GNOME 48 introduces notification stacking, HDR support, dynamic triple buffering, and an enhanced image viewer. Previously exclusive to Xfce, the VPN IP indicator has now been ported to GNOME, allowing users to quickly view and copy their VPN IP with a single click.
- KDE Plasma 6.3 improves fractional scaling, refines Night Light color accuracy, and offers more detailed system monitoring, including GPU and battery health data.
- New community wallpapers have been added.
Moreover, the distro continues to empower Active Directory recon by introducing BloodHound Community Edition (CE), featuring comprehensive ingestors such as azurehound, bloodhound-ce-python, and sharphound.
The Kali NetHunter project, an open-source mobile penetration testing platform for Android devices, introduces capabilities with smartwatch Wi-Fi injection support, specifically on the TicWatch Pro 3, a first-of-its-kind feature allowing wireless de-authentication and WPA2 handshake capture directly from your wrist.
Additionally, NetHunter’s CARsenal toolkit significantly upgrades automotive cybersecurity tools, now offering a user-friendly UI and new utilities such as CaringCaribou and VIN Info.
Also notable is the addition of 13 new cybersecurity tools, including binwalk3 for firmware analysis, crlfuzz for CRLF vulnerability scanning, and gitxray for scanning GitHub repositories.
Lastly, the ARM community benefits too, particularly Raspberry Pi users, who now enjoy a combined, streamlined image supporting multiple models, upgraded kernel versions, and enhanced usability improvements like non-root vgencmd execution.
For users looking to upgrade from an earlier version, using the sudo apt full-upgrade command is recommended to ensure a smooth transition to the new release. If you plan a new installation, the distro is available for download from the project’s website.
Refer to the release announcement for detailed information about all changes in Kali Linux 2025.2.
