Kali Linux 2025.4 Released With 3 new tools, Desktop Overhauls, and Halloween Mode

Overview

The Kali Linux 2025.4 release is now available, delivering meaningful improvements across desktop environments, virtual machine support, and 3 new tools. This update builds on the September 2025.3 release with refreshed desktops, improved Wayland integration, a seasonal Halloween mode, and continued expansion of Kali NetHunter.

Desktop Environment Updates

GNOME 49 Goes Wayland-Only

Kali’s GNOME desktop has been upgraded to GNOME 49, marking a major transition as X11 session support has been fully removed. Wayland is now the default and only supported window server.

Key improvements include:

• Refreshed Kali themes for a cleaner, smoother look
• Replacement of Totem with the new Showtime video player
• Kali tools now grouped into folders within the app grid
• New terminal shortcuts: Ctrl+Alt+T and Win+T

Despite the move away from X11, the Kali team reports a seamless experience — especially in virtualized environments.

New Tools Added in Kali 2025.4

Three new tools have been introduced to the repositories:

• bpf-linker – Static linker for BPF programs
• evil-winrm-py – Python-based WinRM command execution tool
• hexstrike-ai – MCP server enabling AI agents to autonomously run tools

In addition, numerous packages were updated and the Kali kernel was bumped to 6.16.

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KDE Plasma 6.5 Upgrade

KDE Plasma has been updated to version 6.5, consolidating two major upstream releases.

Notable features include:

• More flexible and powerful window tiling
• New screenshot utility with enhanced editing options
• Quick access to pinned clipboard entries from the panel
• Fuzzy matching in KRunner, improving app discovery even with misspellings

Xfce Gains Full Color Theme Support

Xfce now reaches parity with GNOME and KDE by introducing full color theme customization, including:

• Icons
• GTK 3/4 applications
• Qt 5/6 applications
• Window manager decorations

These options are configurable through the Appearance settings, with Qt theming handled via qt5ct and qt6ct, both installed by default.

Wayland VM Guest Utilities Now Fully Supported

With GNOME now Wayland-only and KDE having defaulted to Wayland for several releases, Kali 2025.4 ensures that virtual machine guest features finally work properly under Wayland.

The Kali team confirmed full functionality across:

• VirtualBox
• VMware
• QEMU

Clipboard sharing, dynamic resolution scaling, and other guest utilities now work reliably — removing one of the last blockers to full Wayland adoption in Kali.

Kali Halloween Mode Returns (Hidden)

Following last year’s Halloween celebration, Halloween Mode for kali-undercover remains available — though no longer exposed in menus.

Users can still activate it manually:

The mode applies a themed desktop appearance for seasonal fun without impacting functionality.

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Sources: kali.org/blog

View the full release notes: Link