I'm running Kali Linux in WSL2. It's a new installation (using wsl --install) but when I try to apt-get update I get the following error:

W: An error occurred during the signature verification. The repository is not updated and the previous index files will be used. GPG error: kali-rolling InRelease: The following signatures were invalid: EXPKEYSIG ED444FF07D8D0BF6 Kali Linux Repository <> W: Failed to fetch The following signatures were invalid: EXPKEYSIG ED444FF07D8D0BF6 Kali Linux Repository <> W: Some index files failed to download. They have been ignored, or old ones used instead. 

Now I've seen other questions that suggest an apt-key command to fix this. However, this throws another error:

E: gnupg, gnupg2 and gnupg1 do not seem to be installed, but one of them is required for this operation 

I can't install gnupg because I haven't run apt update yet. What am I supposed to do here?

9 Answers

Yes, there appears to be issues with Kali Linux WSL (not downloaded from Microsoft Store).

The Kali archive keys appear to be missing and cannot be installed using apt-add key since it relies on GnuPG, which cannot be installed using apt, since the signatures cannot be verified.

The best solution is the one submitted by Jim which installed the Kali archive keys from a Debian package. Once this is done apt update and apt upgrade will work.

• Download the Debian package for the Kali archive keys wget -O kali-archive-keyring_2020.2_all.deb
• Install the Kali archive key package sudo dpkg -i kali-archive-keyring_2020.2_all.deb
• Update list of available packages from Kali repo sudo apt update
• Upgrade the WSL system sudo apt full-upgrade

I did not alter /etc/apt/sources.list.

I solved the "An error occurred during the signature verification" with the following commands (run from root):

wget --no-check-certificate dpkg -i kali-archive-keyring_2020.2_all.deb apt update 

if you encounter any 404 error messages when trying to download the keyring, please try the following:

Update 2022

for convenience reasons: the current keyring file changed, use the following commands:

# download wget # install sudo dpkg -i kali-archive-keyring_2022.1_all.deb # remove downloaded file again rm kali-archive-keyring_2022.1_all.deb # update sudo apt-get update 

Manually download and install the needed package to verify the signature:

wget sudo dpkg -i kali-archive-keyring_2020.2_all.deb 

Then apt update and apt upgrade should work as expected.

Weird - the version of Kali downloaded by WSL with wsl --install is completely broken and is missing a lot of things. If you want to run Kali on WSL, download it from the Windows Store instead.

Adding a bit more to this as there is one extra step needed for me: Windows 11 WSL kali-linux

wget --no-check-certificate dpkg -i kali-archive-keyring_2020.2_all.deb apt update apt install libcrypt1 apt full-upgrade apt autoremove 

Without installing libcrypt1 first, an upgrade will lock you out of Kali.

 Windows 11 (x64) #install wsl version 2 C:\> wsl --set-default-version 2 #install kali-linux distribution C:\> wsl --install --distribution kali-linux # get keyring # https will not work use http @:~$ wget -O kali-archive-keyring_2020.2_all.deb # use dpkg to install .deb user@hostname:~$ sudo dpkg -i kali-archive-keyring_2020.2_all.deb # apt update&upgrade user@hostname:~$ sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade 

terminal screenshot

To add the Key first we need to download it from the website of the package you are installing. For example, here we are downloading the key file to add repositories for on Kali-rolling.

• Install wget if you don’t already have it using:

  sudo apt install wget

• After that use wget to download the key using:

  wget "link-to download-the-key"

• The command that worked for me was:

  wget -q -O -

• The output from this should look like this:

  -----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----

  mQINBE9U1CgBEAChen9+cvBS8ioHoCU6wBbL9jaIk5P7ZkPpjDsovMvimqZaozS8 fEAZM23gJlFratc+rRllV9hPZmGqhtT50RLDzC3yFOvFnJqAPvpVDO2ipQCVnJDX 0eWDhT62RDwk+FhjksEDwP7Yc4CgohdGDYQu1zTBSLL5qen3rckCnHF2OnSiKnYM 8YCIKAYMt4VRArAvivjOMspN+1xy2S8GYXX2felsu3Ir1DXvUIE7b/9sdK6MzBcq joDH34OqX6isqAW0+K93lmVN+U4yFMzfEB74UMQNWKg39mCB0K/VfQ89ih4zvF9a zENbFzfF0O0h09oHF4ZTaUFeI8JImp/x9FC+LveUyJot9t/xv0HVUd08Y4PgO48C iXOTqqqm/DPF0AbHJGpTuonOsKy3/dYhk7Fvsfn02DMds+RKsukBEzypTIIIzMBF Uwiq/GaaNRWw6lnOyE4wMmpwRa11QVDDWkMpuOr1tPV7M+EMAhZY7cyHDmRTOFL3 H0CxYnInis+k1NQikqtLxNrzWdxsXU25BMbEsAQq7aRTs7wpOnUK+yY+qTG/V5nl J6II+/CtWJthIef22r8EYX1BQOXRggamy0nxViC3S6kjuU2Lb1qnDb/c7T9hB723 4T9yrRHJbygTvQD8BJBADgRy7+XInCp01V4nAJZSu20qopEg082SdWK9FwARAQAB tCZLYWxpIExpbnV4IFJlcG9zaXRvcnkgPGRldmVsQGthbGkub3JnPokCVQQTAQoA PwIbAwYLCQgHAwIGFQgCCQoLBBYCAwECHgECF4AWIQRExlE6jk+z0wh191jtRE/w fY0L9gUCYe/xTgUJGD63pgAKCRDtRE/wfY0L9ofUD/9zichMeQ5+XxHnpHTSmUNR 9eCcis6NGIbW+hTfSxSttfCQBrxKGfYXwVcqGRIiSDp9FcfqH5UsgPOzgJzmLBLV i0HfMRDpcCWJzk8VfWde/5Hv0P0XSx/Y+VR7PMJVOzWkF7o0kM4bITx3M5BYY08s leoZMNZo9sSR0GdzbXoIXkuBwMG+nw0qjfsyI8Qcsi52Uk8YhdCkgaAb8vYyxMwO qKJ6SIIENT6ycyZw4ueFZXZY/RYPJFvWZEYB0cFOMbNwlrXFUZyr4fDdPruaPlZW zBIU8jwEE372frdRuXilJ2Q+Me9jhSxvnJegJsHDdgeLU6IDeAiaAaTzvufr3KmA YifZ1Q20xDzdN5RZ5x3vNV9cihVb3qizSUe0y6LfpPeIPoa+ENzT4WqhP6rfMMhF 2KcwhNFP+faB+qs79YqIWnChrJNiE5HQDDgP6DY1ETmjj6Bo+DC9RyasWT5pSJYA 8rOVJ+1bE4sxlqtvDVlAdR1LwIpHeskz4o/lAMPHSNTX2WBDJdYvhT28xTC3cYlA kcdpvBbjj7C4VqgMvsPLg13lfR/A28ADO6AxY323+OpPv6crsDbYOcIBpwBgHb96 AYyottiEfNnLBCysR/m34TdlYvFW0KDYsbMYLCJH/uzJK3l8TCdVBfkzDMMctSFV nFY/xHhDFweArXNHru2CJLkCDQRPVNQoARAAoMOCt6yDngNUawaFLqFzzkQ2UDt1 LyWMM5qRusYmVW7DbMqRgl816AhW3qGXlpET2QDK/C7np8kiwkx22cWkK2W7e877 bKGX1jH0k8jIZWxE15pBCBkTk+zb6elC263qiw36jxAlEnwd4eP0OAY6SxD9xi5H fJ7zXO+2hF4bVgofRGNmr5IA9SPL0yRJo+dNm3Sh+MhdNMpvJpOdk0PWqq1ZP9LC 1XCYNtjlImsemugLloKIrdpwAcHJ6XqhyI5IujftmUfN6hL33MAl34Auy/4ElUFU 9DjvWI7lu+R7P8jdDQB3C10/epbmRu7vqtRNUMf7q+MERZQCPqn75qO8P4zGGHdD hVRQjAlefx6ULvhRlLfCkjrSrpnHFGcYLzPXQuxuhSLvZyCnJrG1XmgLB5SAFPxI K1oBydqZOYPsPGKZSvMHpBPv9yR2tM6yBjBzBV3/wQCaHD9Yp3sZD9RxSWtAvk3e zRjQon81W4S0J6dUZL2mog7gWzDj9v42cIV890ezS077dpeL2fSZOUr3fMrM1ZPf JKue8SrvlVVV1wySA6VxBss71iWZNEHC5gD/geC863FaOxXKFZXWxD+MeM/hrUef mj67fQ4rjzTgKFRtivmSKzggA3FeOeUCg0gadG9sGH/gfxToA61T/xxEWEyuwJiO 2SVS/iBjQnfcjDMAEQEAAYkCPAQYAQoAJgIbDBYhBETGUTqOT7PTCHX3WO1ET/B9 jQv2BQJh7/JiBQkYPri6AAoJEO1ET/B9jQv2cjYQAJIsOLkH0jl09uVIY84TOYru 4+SMChH6AJklY/600EX8zTBIb0641dsSWk2XyXF+exrlhp/v5ctPb+TbYTDUsQA4 o2lTJ/rLpUIGJU04tIfA0VMCCyCJAOO1OVpEGU1QwRCQ+NnLDHKdNjvJgF9Y3dpY LL388O6BY0tBPF+/DTsoeJLkb6dohJmyk6ls5zi7ZvY2ab1AmwVXBEfYolisla69 OcGbNrabtpMdd/zdCVxyoHuXaYEuqdMLGbYTDoPI9I2gSBOxIHIJ7z/rHFCDaSSB iDDE/+mLZLcbj9pSuQn40ZWEPWELUz1YyjI4bSWYQ/gr5UQhOcNmH1KVULm/s6Sx 1MBUvWLXFxqb+T7PqWeUAIMTZTjfBiMqJjPzZ61zBBeQDKvciEy/UnunvX+e1cNQ 1aDzeqaQ3OqJaoFbjmzE218SelQvWCCWQ24ixgQZp8/xd3ae5oQNwqdC0Z6azyMu l5dzA+1VxXqlTVZ5gH1/74PZP1YeKPgmSx3LrP3gpOP7Rp99wTZ77b9layR9ZyEP IdcIJF0QNSIrKXHjdh5pTqvLhnw58WjGFOhfyA0/YGsV2wbByGuSOAoGEZMg+hs4 4P3CudqoHQeHZOcflpRwRqheyZc+n2AGxN+RFpvaRV9cs8CiuHyvGHTgq7eear53
ktZPxNR6/WtX7iCfqkg4
=3Lxm

  -----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----

• After this you should now be able to use apt to update without error:

  sudo apt-get update

• This is the quickest and easiest way that I have found to fix this issue as apt-key add is deprecated. Everything else I have tried for several hours has returned the same error which is:

  The following signatures couldn't be verified because the public key is not available:

  NO_PUBKEY ED444FF07D8D0BF6

  Reading package lists... Done

  W: GPG error: kali-rolling InRelease: The following signatures couldn't be verified because the public key is not available:

  NO_PUBKEY ED444FF07D8D0BF6

  E: The repository ' kali-rolling InRelease' is not signed.

  N: Updating from such a repository can't be done securely, and is therefore disabled by default.

  N: See apt-secure(8) manpage for repository creation and user configuration details.

Found this somewhere . Really helped me to update my OLD kali .For 2022

wget -O kali-archive-keyring_2022.1_all.deb

sudo dpkg -i kali-archive-keyring_2022.1_all.deb