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.
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All about the xz-utils backdoor
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.
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Kali Linux 2024.1 Release (Micro Mirror)
Hello 2024! Today we are unveiling Kali Linux 2024.1. As this is our the first release of the year,
it does include new visual elements! Along with this we also have some exciting new mirrors to talk
about, and of course some package changes - both new tools and upgrades to existing ones.
READ MORE
Kali Linux DEI Promise
Last month we were privileged to be invited by GitLab to participate in the introduction of
GitLab’s DEI Badging integration. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) badging is an
initiative that the Community Health Analytics in Open Source Software (CHAOSS) project created to
acknowledge and encourage open source projects’ efforts.
Since we first heard of this initiative we have been very excited for the launch.
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The great non-free-firmware transition
TL;DR: Dear Kali user, when you have a moment, check your /etc/apt/sources.list, and add
non-free-firmware if ever it’s missing.
Programmatically speaking:
kali@kali:~$ sudo sed -i 's/non-free$/non-free non-free-firmware/' /etc/apt/sources.list Long story
now.
As you might know already, Kali Linux is a Debian-based Linux distribution. As such, it inherits a
number of things from Debian, and in particular, the structure of the package repository.
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Kali Linux 2023.4 Release (Cloud ARM64, Vagrant Hyper-V & Raspberry Pi 5)
With 2023 coming to an end and before the holiday season starts, we thought today would be a good
time to release Kali 2023.4. Whilst this release may not have the most end-user features in it
again, there are a number of new platform offerings and there has still been a lot of changes going
on behind-the-scenes for us, which has a positive knock-on effect resulting in a benefit for
everyone.
READ
MORE
Kali Linux 2023.3 Release (Internal Infrastructure & Kali Autopilot)
Today we are delighted to introduce our latest release of Kali, 2023.3. This release blog post does
not have the most features in it, as a lot of the changes have been behind-the-scenes, which brings
a huge benefit to us and an indirect positive effect to you as end-users. It always goes without
saying, but there are a number of new packages and tools as well as the standard updates.
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Pip install and Python's externally managed
TL;DR: pip install is on the way out. Installing Python packages must be done via APT, aka. Kali
Linux’s package manager. Python packages coming from other sources should be installed in
virtual environments.
Long story below.
Some background Back in February this year, for a few days, some of you might have tried (and
failed) to install Python packages with Pip, aka.
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Kali Linux 2023.2 Release (Hyper-V & PipeWire)
Quick off the mark from previous 10 year anniversary, Kali Linux 2023.2 is now here. It is ready for
immediate download or upgrading if you have an existing Kali Linux installation.
The changelog highlights over the last few weeks since March’s release of 2023.1 is:
New VM image for Hyper-V - With “Enhanced Session Mode” out of the box Xfce audio stack
update: enters PipeWire - Better audio for Kali’s default desktop i3 desktop overhaul -
i3-gaps merged with i3 Desktop updates - Easy hashing in Xfce GNOME 44 - Gnome Shell version bump
Icons & menus updates - New apps and icons in menu New tools - As always, various new packages added
New Hyper-V VM Image With this release, we welcome a new member in the family of pre-built VM
images!
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MORE
Happy 10th anniversary & Kali's story ...so far
Wednesday 13th, March 2013, 10 years ago, Kali Linux v1.0 was first released. Today we want to
celebrate Kali’s 10th anniversary!
Time has flown. And gosh, a lot has changed since then! They grow up so fast!
This is the story of how Kali came to be, and some of the challenges along the way.