Kali NetHunter
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Kali NetHunter is a free & Open-source Mobile Penetration Testing Platform for Android devices, based on Kali Linux.
Content:
Overview
NetHunter Editions
NetHunter Supported Devices and ROMs
Downloading NetHunter
Building NetHunter
Installing NetHunter
Post Installation Setup
Kali NetHunter Attacks and Features
Porting NetHunter to New Devices
Known Working Hardware
NetHunter App
Overview
Kali NetHunter is available for un-rooted devices (NetHunter Rootless), for rooted devices that have a custom recovery (NetHunter Lite), and for rooted devices with custom recovery for which a NetHunter specific kernel is available (NetHunter).
The core of Kali NetHunter, which is included in all three editions, comprises of:
Kali Linux container that includes all the tools and applications that Kali Linux provides
Kali NetHunter App Store with dozens of purpose-built security apps
Android client to access the Kali NetHunter App Store
Kali NetHunter Desktop Experience (KeX) to run full Kali Linux desktop sessions with support for screen mirroring via HDMI or wireless screen casting
Figure 2: Kali NetHunter Desktop Experience (KeX) outputting to an HDMI monitor
The Kali NetHunter App Store can be accessed through the dedicated client app or via the web interface.
Figure 3: Kali NetHunter App Store
Both rooted editions provide additional tools & services. A custom kernel can extend that functionality by adding additional network and USB gadget drivers as well as wifi injection support for selected wifi chips.
Figure 3: The Kali NetHunter App is available in both rooted editions (NetHunter Lite & NetHunter).
1.0 NetHunter Editions
NetHunter can be installed on almost every Android device under the sun using one of the following editions:
NetHunter Rootless
The core of NetHunter for unrooted, unmodified devices
NetHunter Lite
The full NetHunter package for rooted phones without a custom kernel.
NetHunter
The full NetHunter package with custom kernel for supported devices
The following table illustrates the differences in functionality:
App Store
Yes
Yes
Yes
Kali cli
Yes
Yes
Yes
All Kali packages
Yes
Yes
Yes
KeX
Yes
Yes
Yes
Metasploit w/o DB
Yes
Yes
Yes
Metasploit with DB
No
Yes
Yes
NetHunter App
No
Yes
Yes
Requires TWRP
No
Yes
Yes
Requires Root
No
Yes
Yes
WiFi Injection
No
No
Yes
HID attacks
No
No
Yes
The NetHunter-App specific chapters are only applicable to the NetHunter & NetHunter Lite editions.
The Kernel specific chapters are only applicable to the NetHunter edition.
2.0 NetHunter Supported Devices and ROMs
3.0 Downloading NetHunter
Official release NetHunter images for your specific supported device can be download from the Kali Linux page located at the following URL:
Once the zip file has downloaded, verify the SHA256 sum of the NetHunter zip image against the values on the download page. If the SHA256 sums do not match, do not attempt to continue with the installation procedure.
4.0 Building NetHunter
5.0 Installing NetHunter on top of Android
Now that you’ve either downloaded a NetHunter image or built one yourself, the next steps are to prepare your Android device and then install the image. “Preparing your Android device” includes:
unlocking your device and updating it to stock AOSP or LineageOS (CM). (Check point 2.0 for supported roms)
disabling force encryption may be required if TWRP cannot access the data partition
Once you have a custom recovery, all that remains is to flash the NetHunter installer zip file onto your Android device.
6.0 Post Installation Setup
Open the NetHunter App and start the Kali Chroot Manager.
Install the Hacker Keyboard from the NetHunter Store using the NetHunter Store app.
Install any other apps from the NetHunter Store as required.
Configure Kali Services, such as SSH.
Set up custom commands.
Initialize the Exploit-Database.
7.0 Kali NetHunter Attacks and FeaturesKali NetHunter Application
3rd Party Android Applications in the NetHunter App Store
8.0 Porting NetHunter to New Devices
If you’re interested in porting NetHunter to other Android devices, check out the following links. If your port works, make sure to tell us about it so we can include these kernels in our releases!
9.0 Known Working Hardware
SDR - RTL-SDR (based on RTL2832U)
Bluetooth adapters - Sena UD100 or generic CSR4.0 adapter
10.0 NetHunter Apps
All apps can be installed through the NetHunter Store client.
11.0 Useful Links
Beyond the included in Kali Linux, NetHunter also supports several additional classes, such as HID Keyboard Attacks, BadUSB attacks, Evil AP MANA attacks, and many more.
For more information about the moving parts that make up NetHunter, check out our page. Kali NetHunter is an developed by and the community.
The installation of NetHunter Rootless is documented here:
NetHunter Lite can be installed on all Android devices that are rooted and have a custom recovery. The full NetHunter experience requires a devices specific kernel that has been purpose built for Kali NetHunter. The contains over 164 kernels for over 65 devices. Kali Linux publishes over 25 images for the most popular devices on the . The following live reports are generated automatically by GitLab CI:
Those of you who want to build a NetHunter image from our Gitlab repository may do so using our Python build scripts. Check out our page for more information. You can find additional instructions on using the NetHunter installer builder or adding your own device in the located in the git directory.
installing as a custom recovery.
installing to root the device
- General information panel, network interfaces and HID device status.
- For managing chroot metapackage installations.
- Start / stop various chrooted services. Enable or disable them at boot time.
- Add your own custom commands and functions to the launcher.
- Change your Wi-Fi MAC address (only on certain devices)
- Set up an instant VNC session with your Kali chroot.
- Control the USB gadget configurations
- Various HID attacks, Teensy style.
- Rubber Ducky style HID attacks
- Nuff said.
- Setup a malicious Access Point at the click of a button.
- Recon, spoof, listen to or inject audio to various Bluetooth devices.
- Build your own phishing email template for Social Engineer Toolkit.
- Inject binary backdoors into downloaded executables on the fly.
- Quick Nmap scanner interface.
- Generating Metasploit payloads on the fly.
- Easy searching for exploits in .
The NetHunter Store App can be downloaded
The NetHunter Web Store can be found
The source code for building the NetHunter Apps can be found on GitLab
