Kali Linux 2026.3 arrives with six new tools and kernel 7.1.5

The Kali Linux team has shipped version 2026.3, the distribution's third release this year. Kali is aimed at ethical hackers and cybersecurity professionals who carry out penetration testing, red-teaming, security assessments and network research. It can be installed as a full operating system or run as a live environment, and its hardware support extends to Raspberry Pi devices and Android phones through the Kali NetHunter project.

New tools and kernel

This release updates 126 packages, adds new libraries and bumps the kernel from 6.19 to 7.1.5. Six tools join the arsenal:

• dalfox — an open-source XSS scanner built around automation;
• katana — a next-generation crawling and spidering framework;
• qsreplace — takes URLs on stdin and substitutes a supplied value into every query-string parameter;
• rustscan — a modern port scanner;
• sdrangel — a Qt front-end for a range of SDR devices;
• snaffler-ng — a scanner for SMB shares that hunts for credentials and sensitive data.

Desktop

The desktop moves to KDE Plasma 6.7, along with new icons. Plasma 6.7 brings performance gains and better power management for integrated Intel GPUs. Notable among the additions are per-screen virtual desktops, which let you carve out separate workspaces for a web browser, a terminal and documentation on the same monitor. The developers note that moving between those desktops is now faster via the Overview, while expanding support for Wayland protocols and portals continues to smooth the experience on modern setups. Network connections can now be duplicated — handy when setting up several similar configurations — and the System Monitor has received further refinements.

Build scripts

The scripts that generate official Kali images have been reworked so that each now shares the same features, command-line arguments, structure and look. Building inside a container is now an option too: every refreshed script ships with build-in-container.sh, which detects whether Docker or Podman is available, creates the build container and runs the build from within it. Not all scripts were refreshed in time for 2026.3; the team aims to finish by version 2026.4 and then move on to automating builds and workflows.

Users can upgrade an existing installation or download ISO images for a fresh install or live distribution. Those running Kali on WSL are advised to move to WSL 2 for better support of graphical applications.

Source: Bleeping Computer