Install and Configure Greenbone Vulnerability Manager (GVM) on Kali Linux 2025

Last updated: Sep 27, 2025

Regularly scanning your network for security vulnerabilities is essential to maintaining a strong security posture. This is exactly what Greenbone Vulnerability Manager (GVM) is designed to do.

Greenbone Vulnerability Manager is a software framework that integrates several components, including the OpenVAS scanner and a web-based interface, to perform comprehensive vulnerability assessments.

With this framework, you can scan an entire network or a single host to detect known vulnerabilities and potential security risks.

Historically, GVM originated as a fork of the Nessus project, which later became proprietary software.

Main features:
- Comprehensive vulnerability scanning
- Originally a Nessus fork
- Identifies security weaknesses across computer networks

Install Greenbone Vulnerability Manager (GVM) on Kali Linux

Installation Steps

Follow these steps to install and initialize Greenbone Vulnerability Manager (GVM) on Kali Linux 2025.3.

Update your package list and upgrade existing packages:

kali@kali:~$ sudo apt update && sudo apt dist-upgrade

Install the required packages, including GVM and its dependencies:

kali@kali:~$ sudo apt install gvm postgresql nsis

Run the setup script to initialize GVM:

kali@kali:~$ sudo gvm-setup

This script will automatically:

Start services and create the PostgreSQL database
Generate GVM certificate files
Apply correct permissions
Download and update the vulnerability feeds
Create and configure the default admin account

💡 Note: Save the autogenerated password in a secure place. You will need it later to connect to GVM.

[…]
[*] Please note the password for the admin user
[*] User created with password 'xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxx'.

[>] You can now run gvm-check-setup to make sure everything is correctly configured

Start the gvmd (manager) and gsad (web interface) services:

kali@kali:~$ sudo systemctl start gvmd.service gsad.service

Enable the gvmd and gsad services to start automatically at boot:

kali@kali:~$ sudo systemctl enable gvmd.service gsad.service

Run the setup check script to verify the installation:

kali@kali:~$ sudo gvm-check-setup
[…]
It seems like your GVM-25.04.0 installation is OK.

Verify that the gvmd and gsad services are running:

kali@kali:~$ sudo systemctl status gvmd.service gsad.service

Check that the web interface (WebUI) is listening for connections:

kali@kali:~$ sudo ss -ltn4p | grep gsad
State         Recv-Q        Send-Q                Local Address:Port                 Peer Address:Port        Process                                                          
LISTEN        0             4096                         127.0.0.1:9392                       0.0.0.0:*            users:(("gsad",pid=3015,fd=10))
LISTEN        0             4096                         127.0.0.1:80                         0.0.0.0:*            users:(("gsad",pid=3038,fd=10))

You should now be able to connect to the https://127.0.0.1:9392 address using the admin login and the password displayed earlier during the gvm-setup phase:

Login page of Greenbone Vulnerability Manager (GVM) on Kali Linux 2025, showing username and password fields — Greenbone Vulnerability Manager (GVM) web interface login page on Kali Linux 2025.

Change GVM Listening Interface (Optional)

By default, the Greenbone Security Assistant (gsad) listens only on 127.0.0.1:9392, which restricts access to the local machine. If you want to access the web interface remotely, you can configure gsad to listen on a different interface (for example, 0.0.0.0 or a specific IP address). This step is optional and should be done with caution for security reasons.

Edit the /usr/lib/systemd/system/gvmd.service file and modify the ExecStart line to allow remote connections:

[Unit]
Description=Greenbone Vulnerability Manager daemon (gvmd)
After=network.target networking.service postgresql.service ospd-openvas.service
Wants=postgresql.service ospd-openvas.service
Documentation=man:gvmd(8)
ConditionKernelCommandLine=!recovery

[Service]
Type=forking
User=_gvm
Group=_gvm
PIDFile=/run/gvmd/gvmd.pid
RuntimeDirectory=gvmd
RuntimeDirectoryMode=2775
#ExecStart=/usr/sbin/gvmd --osp-vt-update=/run/ospd/ospd.sock --listen-group=_gvm
ExecStart=/usr/sbin/gvmd --osp-vt-update=/run/ospd/ospd.sock -a 0.0.0.0
Restart=always
TimeoutStopSec=10

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Edit the /usr/lib/systemd/system/gsad.service file and update the ExecStart line if you want the web interface to be accessible remotely:

[Unit]
Description=Greenbone Security Assistant daemon (gsad)
Documentation=man:gsad(8) https://www.greenbone.net
After=network.target gvmd.service
Wants=gvmd.service

[Service]
Type=exec
User=_gvm
Group=_gvm
RuntimeDirectory=gsad
RuntimeDirectoryMode=2775
PIDFile=/run/gsad/gsad.pid
#ExecStart=/usr/sbin/gsad --foreground --listen 127.0.0.1 --port 9392
ExecStart=/usr/sbin/gsad --foreground --listen 0.0.0.0 --mlisten=KALI_IP_ADDRESS --port 9392
Restart=always
TimeoutStopSec=10

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
Alias=greenbone-security-assistant.service

Reload the systemd configuration to apply the changes:

kali@kali:~$ sudo systemctl daemon-reload

Restart the gvmd (manager) and gsad (web interface) services:

kali@kali:~$ sudo systemctl restart gvmd.service gsad.service

Using Greenbone Vulnerability Manager (GVM)

In this section, we will perform our first vulnerability scan on a predefined host using the GVM web interface.

Create a Target in GVM

⚠️ Note: The first synchronization may take a long time (up to one or two hours, especially on slow disks).

Check on the Feed Status page that the feed are synchronized:

Screenshot of the Greenbone Vulnerability Manager Feed Status page on Kali Linux 2025 showing NVT, SCAP, CERT, and GVMD feeds with update status — Feed Status page in Greenbone Vulnerability Manager (GVM) on Kali Linux 2025, showing synchronization status of NVT, SCAP, CERT, and GVMD data feeds.

From the Configuration menu in the GVM web interface, click on Targets, then use the New Target button (highlighted with the red arrow) to create a new scan target:

GVM web interface showing how to add a new target from the Targets menu — GVM interface: select **Configuration > Targets** and click on the **New Target** button to define a new scan target.

Define the Target to be scanned by giving it a Name, specifying its IP address under Hosts, and adjusting the Alive Test option. Finally, click Save to create the target.

GVM form to create a new scan target, showing name, IP address, alive test, and save button. — GVM interface: in the **New Target** form, enter a **Name** (e.g. Router), specify the **IP address** of the host to scan, choose an *Alive Test* method (here *Consider Alive*), then click **Save**.

Create Task

From the Scans menu in the GVM web interface, click on Tasks, then use the New Task button (highlighted with the red arrow) to create a new scan task.

GVM web interface showing the Tasks menu and the New Task button highlighted with a red arrow. — GVM interface: go to **Scans > Tasks** and click on the **New Task** button to define a new vulnerability scan task.

Configure the New Task: set a Name, select the Target, and enable the Schedule option set to Once, then click Save.

New Task form in Greenbone Vulnerability Manager on Kali Linux 2025 showing fields for Name, Scan Targets, Schedule set to Once, and the Save button — Creating a new task in GVM: enter a task name (e.g., *My First Scan*), choose the target (e.g., *Router*), set the schedule to **Once**, and click **Save**.

From the Tasks page, click on the Play button (▶) to start the vulnerability scan task:

Screenshot of the Tasks page in Greenbone Vulnerability Manager on Kali Linux 2025 showing how to start a new vulnerability scan by clicking the Play button — Starting a scan in GVM: go to the **Tasks** page, select your task (e.g., *My First Scan*), and click the **Play** button to launch it.

Wait a few minutes for the task to complete, then click on the Last Report link to open the detailed vulnerability scan report:

Screenshot of the Tasks page in Greenbone Vulnerability Manager on Kali Linux 2025 showing the Last Report link to access the scan results — After the scan is done, click on the **Last Report** link from the *Tasks* page to open the vulnerability scan results in GVM.

After the scan, you will have access to a complete vulnerability report with detailed results, including severity levels, affected hosts, and detected weaknesses:

Screenshot of a vulnerability scan report in Greenbone Vulnerability Manager on Kali Linux 2025 showing results, severity ratings, affected host 192.168.1.254, and detected vulnerabilities such as SSL/TLS and weak MAC algorithms — Example of a **GVM vulnerability scan report** on Kali Linux 2025. The results include severity ratings, detected issues (e.g., weak SSL/TLS protocols, weak MAC algorithms), and details about the affected host (**192.168.1.254**).

Useful GVM Commands

Update Network Vulnerability Tests (NVTs):

kali@kali:~$ sudo -u _gvm greenbone-nvt-sync

Keep the feeds up to date (CERT, SCAP, GVMD data):

kali@kali:~$ sudo greenbone-feed-sync --type CERT
kali@kali:~$ sudo greenbone-feed-sync --type SCAP
kali@kali:~$ sudo greenbone-feed-sync --type GVMD_DATA

Create a new GVM user (example: gvadmin):

kali@kali:~$ sudo runuser -u _gvm -- gvmd --create-user=gvadmin --password=stPassw0rd --disable-password-policy

List all users with their UUIDs:

kali@kali:~$ sudo runuser -u _gvm -- gvmd --get-users --verbose

Change a user password (example: gvadmin):

kali@kali:~$ sudo runuser -u _gvm -- gvmd --user=gvadmin --new-password=gvadmin