Extended Berkeley Packet Filter (eBPF) is revolutionizing how we interact with the Linux kernel. By allowing custom programs to run safely within kernel space, eBPF enables unprecedented visibility into system behavior and high-performance networking without kernel module development or system calls overhead.
eBPF Use Cases in Production
Cilium, the eBPF-based networking solution for Kubernetes, replaces traditional iptables-based networking with programmable datapath processing. This results in significantly better performance at scale, as eBPF programs process packets more efficiently than traversing long iptables rule chains that grow linearly with service count.
Observability tools built on eBPF can capture detailed system telemetry without any application instrumentation. Tools like Pixie and Hubble extract metrics from system calls, network packets, and kernel events, providing deep visibility into application behavior including HTTP request details, DNS lookups, and database queries without code changes.
Security applications of eBPF include runtime threat detection and system call filtering. Falco and Tetragon use eBPF to monitor system behavior in real time, detecting anomalous activities like unexpected network connections, file access patterns, or privilege escalation attempts with minimal performance overhead.