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IDProjectCategoryView StatusLast Update
0009853Kali LinuxKali Package Bugpublic2026-09-07 13:41
Reporterflyingsquirrel Assigned To 
PrioritynormalSeverityminorReproducibilityhave not tried
Status newResolutionopen 
Summary0009853: Net Installer fails at "Select and install software", openssh-client conflicts with openssh-client-gssapi
Description

Package: openssh-client / openssh-client-gssapi
Version: 1:10.4p1-5
Architecture: amd64
Related: kali-system-core, kali-linux-core, tasksel

PROBLEM

"Select and install software" fails on every netinst GUI install,
whether I select all, some, or none of the options on that screen:

E: Unable to satisfy dependencies. Reached two conflicting assignments:

  1. kali-linux-core:amd64=2026.3.3 is selected for install
  2. kali-linux-core:amd64 Depends kali-system-core
    • kali-system-core:amd64 Depends openssh-client-gssapi
      • openssh-client-gssapi:amd64 is not selected for install because:
        1. openssh-client:amd64=1:10.4p1-5 is selected for install
        2. openssh-client-gssapi:amd64 Conflicts openssh-client
          tasksel: apt-get failed (100)

REPRODUCIBILITY: always.

FACTS

With only the kali-rolling mirror in sources.list, no media entry:

apt-cache show openssh-client | grep ^Priority

Priority: standard

apt-cache show openssh-client-gssapi | grep ^Priority

Priority: optional

tasksel --task-packages standard | grep -i ssh

openssh-common
openssh-client

apt-get install -s openssh-client kali-linux-core

[same conflict as above]

So this reproduces from the mirror alone, with no media involved.

MY HYPOTHESIS (unverified)

I think the tasksel "standard" task is the trigger: it requires
openssh-client because of that package's priority, which blocks
openssh-client-gssapi and therefore kali-system-core. That would make any
install including the standard task unsatisfiable, and would also explain
why deselecting all, some or none of the items on the software selection screen does not
help, since the standard task is not offered there.

SUGGESTED FIX

Raise openssh-client-gssapi to Priority: standard and lower
openssh-client to optional, so the tasksel "standard" task pulls the
package kali-system-core requires.

WORKAROUND

Let the step fail, Ctrl+Alt+F2, then:

chroot /target /bin/bash
sed -i '/^deb cdrom:/s/^/#/' /etc/apt/sources.list
apt-get update
apt-get install -y openssh-client-gssapi
apt-get install -y kali-linux-core kali-desktop-gnome
exit

Then Ctrl+Alt+F1, "Install the GRUB boot loader", and finish. Installing
openssh-client-gssapi first prevents openssh-client from being selected.
The resulting system works normally.

uname -a
Linux kali 7.1.5+kali-amd64 0000001 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Kali 7.1.5-1kali1 (2026-07-29) x86_64 GNU/Linux

dpkg -s libc6 | grep ^Version:
Version: 2.43-4

Installed as a vm in VMware Workstation Pro 26H1 on Windows 11.

Activities

tired_of_signups

tired_of_signups

2026-09-06 09:00

reporter   ~0021978

The same problem also affects already installed bare-metal Kali 2026.3 systems (linux 7.1.5) which show since a few days the same error when trying to run "sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade". Seems like the problem was introduced since the installed openssh-client / openssh-client-gssapi version 1:10.4p1-4 shows upgrades to the new version 1:10.4p1-5 which can't get installed because of error "Unable to satisfy dependencies. Reached two conflicting assignments".

tired_of_signups

tired_of_signups

2026-09-07 08:36

reporter   ~0021980

As far as I'm concerned, the problem has been resolved now, and apt-get was able to install the pending updates half an hour ago after it hadn't been working for the past few days. Thanks for fixing it.

arnaudr

arnaudr

2026-09-07 13:41

manager   ~0021983

This is fixed with the latest version 2026.3.4 of kali-system-core, which just landed in kali-rolling.

The issue is that, in Debian, GSS-API support was moved out of the OpenSSH package, into the package openssh-client-gssapi, and as a result this package gained a Breaks relationship with package openssh-client. That broke Kali because we wanted to install openssh-client-gssapi, but during a complete system installation (like net install) or live build, there's alway something that pulls in the openssh-client as well. And it's not possible anymore to install both openssh-client and openssh-client-gssapi at the same time. So kali-system-core now depends on openssh-client.

That said, if users still need support for GSS-API for some reason, they can still install openssh-client-gssapi manually: that will work, and the package will replace openssh-client.

Thanks for the report, and sorry for the disruption.

Issue History

Date Modified Username Field Change
2026-09-05 01:43 flyingsquirrel New Issue
2026-09-06 09:00 tired_of_signups Note Added: 0021978
2026-09-07 08:36 tired_of_signups Note Added: 0021980
2026-09-07 13:41 arnaudr Note Added: 0021983