Isolated Execution Environment for eBPF

The post below is an update on a research project sponsored by the eBPF Foundation. It is the first in a series of posts about this research. The post was prepared by Zhe Wang (Institute of Computing Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences; [email protected]), and Patrick Peihua Zhang (WeChat, Tencent; [email protected]). Read about the status of all the sponsored research projects in this post. 1. Project Overview eBPF has evolved into a foundational technology in the Linux kernel, powering diverse subsystems from networking to observability. To safeguard kernel integrity, BPF programs undergo static verification before execution. However, the eBPF verifier faces challenges—security vulnerabilities and inherent complexity—that undermine its reliability. In response, we propose a paradigm shift: redefining BPF programs as kernel-mode applications requiring dedicated isolation. This project introduces a novel execution environment designed to isolate BPF programs, offering ... Read full article.