John the Ripper vs Yersinia: Which Kali Linux Tools tool is Best in 2025?

John the Ripper is a premier open-source password cracker pre-installed in Kali Linux (version 1.9.0), tailored for security administrators and penetration testers. This password-cracking tool for cybersecurity audits targets weak credentials using wordlists, brute-force, and rule-based attacks, making it a leading password security testing tool for ethical hacking. With a 77.63 MB footprint and support for hashes like SHA512crypt and MD5, John empowers users to strengthen system security through efficient password audits.

Yersinia is an open-source, robust framework for executing layer 2 (Data Link Layer) network attacks, designed to exploit vulnerabilities in various network protocols. Integrated into Kali Linux, Yersinia empowers cybersecurity professionals, penetration testers, and network administrators to analyze and test the security of deployed networks. Named after the plague-causing bacterium Yersinia pestis, it targets protocols like STP, DHCP, CDP, and VLAN, enabling users to simulate attacks such as DHCP starvation, VLAN hopping, and spanning tree manipulation.