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What is the default password for Kali on Windows 10 via Windows Subsystem for Linux?

slm
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XoOoRo Z
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3 Answers3

7

Traditional Kali

Searching for this via Google it appears to be toor for the root user. Notice it's just the name root backwards which is a typical hacker thing to do on compromised systems, as an insider's joke.

If you happened to provide a password during the installation, then this would be the password to use here instead of the default toor.

Kali on WSL

NOTE: WSL = Windows Subsystem for Linux. In this particular flavor of Kali the root password appears to be randomly generated for the root user. To get into root you simply use sudo su instead.

Reference: Thread: Unable to 'su root' in kali on WSL

I'm sure the root password is randomly generated in WSL. It's irrelevant though, just type

Code:

sudo su

What's WSL?

So there are various flavors to Kali. You can download it and install it natively as a bare OS, you can also go into the Window's App Store and install it as an addon.

For the past few weeks, we’ve been working with the Microsoft WSL team to get Kali Linux introduced into the Microsoft App Store as an official WSL distribution and today we’re happy to announce the availability of the “Kali Linux” Windows application. For Windows 10 users, this means you can simply enable WSL, search for Kali in the Windows store, and install it with a single click. This is especially exciting news for penetration testers and security professionals who have limited toolsets due to enterprise compliance standards.

For an overview of what limitations there are in WSL see this U&L Q&A titled: Attempting to run a regular tunnel in Debian version 9.5 Linux.

References

slm
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    This has been the standard in many derivate distros, Ubuntu, Kali, Knoppix, et al, WSL or not. in WSL, you just are automatically in the shell, and then do sudo su for "root" – Rui F Ribeiro Aug 14 '18 at 22:27
  • Anedotically, I used WSL in my new job to follow the workflow of my predecessor, as they do not give me a Mac. I got to tired of the thing, that I went Antix. WSL is pretty brain damaged. – Rui F Ribeiro Aug 14 '18 at 22:30
  • script does not work, raw sockets were not supported...and so on. – Rui F Ribeiro Aug 14 '18 at 22:32
  • It seems there is now some limited support, but if Kali is bad as a VM, it is pretty useless as WSL. – Rui F Ribeiro Aug 14 '18 at 22:33
  • The question is a bit weak on the light this root method has been around for Ubuntu derivates for more than a decade now. – Rui F Ribeiro Aug 14 '18 at 22:36
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    Thanks. Unfortunately, I did use WSL a couple of months. I inherited a workflow in Windows, and some bash scripts drinking from a CSV, but I moved to Antix and reworked the getting of that data via a web page/elastic search queries. Glad you deleted the comments in the Q. – Rui F Ribeiro Aug 14 '18 at 22:38
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    btw, there are more serious limitations of WSL...in that question I just limited myself to the more pertinents to the OP. From WSL being a regular program and root being not that privileged to when you close the WSL box windows killing everything....it is a nightmare. I thought of recycling that answer and written a cannonical answer for the limitations of WSL actually. – Rui F Ribeiro Aug 14 '18 at 22:43
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Searching specifically for Kali on Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL):

This kali forum post suggests the root password may be randomly created for WSL's root user. You could just use sudo.

This askubuntu Q+A suggests using sudo passwd to change the WSL root password.

Kevin Kruse
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If you setup a default user while installing Kali Linux on Win 10, then that user becomes superuser. I did a sudo apt-get update and entering the password of that default user gave me the right permissions. This should allow you to perform most admin related functions on this install

Hemant
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