Kali Linux 2026.1, the first release of the year, is now available for download, featuring 8 new tools, a theme refresh, and a new BackTrack mode for Kali-Undercover.

Kali is a Linux distribution designed for ethical hackers and cybersecurity professionals, with tools for red teaming, penetration testing, network research, and security assessments.

This distribution is available as a live environment or an installable operating system, and it supports a wide range of hardware, including Raspberry Pi devices and compatible Android phones via Kali NetHunter.

New tools added to Kali Linux 2026.1

In this release, the Kali Team has added 25 new packages, updated 183 others, and upgraded the Kali kernel to 6.18.

It has also added new tools to the network repositories, including:

• AdaptixC2 - Extensible post-exploitation and adversarial emulation framework
• Atomic-Operator - Execute Atomic Red Team tests across multiple operating system environments
• Fluxion - Security auditing and social-engineering research tool
• GEF - Modern experience for GDB with advanced debugging capabilities
• MetasploitMCP - MCP server for Metasploit
• SSTImap - Automatic SSTI detection tool with interactive interface
• WPProbe - Fast WordPress plugin enumeration tool
• XSStrike - Advanced XSS scanner

Annual theme refresh

With this year's first release, the Kali Team introduced a theme update that adds new wallpapers, tweaks the graphical installer interface, and improves the boot and login experience.

"As with previous 20xx.1 releases, this major update brings our annual theme refresh, a long-standing tradition that keeps the Kali Linux interface as modern and innovative," the Kali devs said.

"This year’s release unveils a brand-new theme from the moment you boot. Everything from the boot menu, installer to the login display, and a fresh set of desktop wallpapers."

BackTrack mode for Kali-Undercover

This version also adds a new "BackTrack mode" to the distro's Kali Undercover, a feature previously that may also be used to make the Kali desktop look like a default Windows 10 installation.

With the new mode, users can quickly switch to a theme closely resembling Kali's predecessor, BackTrack Linux.

"This mode transforms the desktop to recreate the look and feel of BackTrack 5, with the same wallpaper, colors, and window themes," the announcement reads.

"You can run it directly from the menu or by running kali-undercover --backtrack in the terminal. You can switch back to the default Kali desktop (or not) by running it again."

The Kali Team also made improvements to the Kali NetHunter app, including a HID permission check and fixes for the WPS scan bug and the back button issue.

How to get Kali Linux 2026.1

To start using Kali Linux 2026.1, you can upgrade your existing installation, select a platform, or directly download ISO images for new installs and live distributions.

Kali users who want to update from a previous version can use the following commands to upgrade to the latest version.

echo "deb http://http.kali.org/kali kali-rolling main contrib non-free non-free-firmware" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list
sudo apt update && sudo apt -y full-upgrade
cp -vrbi /etc/skel/. ~/
[ -f /var/run/reboot-required ] && sudo reboot -f

If you're using Kali on Windows Subsystem for Linux, you should consider upgrading to WSL 2 for better support of graphical applications. To check your WSL version, run wsl -l -v in a Windows command prompt.

After upgrading, you can check whether the process was successful using the following command: grep VERSION /etc/os-release.

You can view the complete changelog for Kali Linux 2026.1 on Kali's website.