View source for Software:EBPF

{{Short description|Safe dynamic programs and tools}}
{{Lowercase title}}
{{Infobox software
| name = eBPF
| logo = EBPF_logo.png
| screenshot = 
| caption = Safe dynamic programs and tools
| author = Alexei Starovoitov,<br />Daniel Borkmann<ref name=":1">{{cite web|url=https://www.linuxfoundation.org/press-release/facebook-google-isovalent-microsoft-and-netflix-launch-ebpf-foundation-as-part-of-the-linux-foundation/|title=Meta, Google, Isovalent, Microsoft and Netflix Launch eBPF Foundation as Part of the Linux Foundation|date=12 August 2021|website=[[Organization:Linux Foundation|Linux Foundation]]|access-date=1 July 2022}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{cite web|url=https://www.usenix.org/conference/lisa21/presentation/gregg-bpf|title=BPF Internals|date=1 June 2021|website=USENIX LISA 2021 conference|access-date=1 July 2022}}</ref>
| developer = Open source community, [[Company:Meta Platforms|Meta]], [[Company:Google|Google]], Isovalent, [[Company:Microsoft|Microsoft]], [[Company:Netflix|Netflix]]<ref name=":1" />
| released = {{Start date and age|2014}}<ref name=":2">{{cite web|url=https://kccnceu20.sched.com/event/ZemQ/ebpf-and-kubernetes-little-helper-minions-for-scaling-microservices-daniel-borkmann-cilium|title=eBPF and Kubernetes: Little Helper Minions for Scaling Microservices|date=19 August 2020|website=CNCF KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Europe 2020|access-date=1 July 2022}}</ref>
| repo = Linux: {{URL|https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/}}<br />Windows: {{URL|https://github.com/Microsoft/ebpf-for-windows/}}
| programming language = [[C (programming language)|C]]
| operating_system = [[Software:Linux|Linux]], [[Software:Microsoft Windows|Windows]]<ref name=":3">{{cite web|url=https://cloudblogs.microsoft.com/opensource/2021/05/10/making-ebpf-work-on-windows/|title=Making eBPF work on Windows|date=10 May 2021|website=[[Company:Microsoft|Microsoft]] Open Source Blog|access-date=1 July 2022}}</ref>
| genre = [[Runtime system]]
| license = Linux: [[Software:GNU General Public License|GPL]]<br />Windows: [[Software:MIT License|MIT License]]
| website = {{URL|https://www.ebpf.io/|ebpf.io}}
}}

'''eBPF''' ('''extended Berkeley Packet Filter''')<ref>https://youtube.com/clip/Ugkx_8EhQMmQeowTvS13ziMIL7GEOdM0xxzz?si=8Vtw9_seGUNHSUOq</ref> is a technology that can run programs in a [[Privilege (computing)|privileged context]] such as the [[Operating system|operating system]] [[Software:Kernel (operating system)|kernel]].<ref name=":8">{{cite web|url=https://ebpf.io/what-is-ebpf|title=eBPF Documentation: What is eBPF?|website=eBPF.io|access-date=1 July 2022}}</ref> It is the successor to the [[Software:Berkeley Packet Filter|Berkeley Packet Filter]] (BPF) filtering mechanism in Linux, and is also used in other parts of the Linux kernel as well.

It is used to safely and efficiently extend the capabilities of the kernel at [[Runtime (program lifecycle phase)|runtime]] without requiring changes to kernel [[Source code|source code]] or loading [[Software:Loadable kernel module|kernel modules]].<ref name=":9">{{cite web|url=https://www.infoq.com/presentations/facebook-google-bpf-linux-kernel/|title=eBPF - Rethinking the Linux Kernel|website=QCon 2020|access-date=1 July 2022}}</ref> Safety is provided through an in-kernel verifier which performs static code analysis and rejects programs which crash, hang or otherwise interfere with the kernel negatively.<ref name=":6">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AV8xY318rtc|title=Safe Programs The Foundation of BPF.|date=8 November 2020|website=eBPF Summit 2021|access-date=1 July 2022}}</ref><ref name=":7">{{cite web|url=https://popl22.sigplan.org/details/prisc-2022-papers/11/BPF-and-Spectre-Mitigating-transient-execution-attacks|title=BPF and Spectre: Mitigating transient execution attacks|date=22 January 2022|website=POPL 2022 conference|access-date=1 July 2022}}</ref> 

This validation model differs from sandboxed environments, where the execution environment is restricted and the runtime has no insight about the program.<ref name=":94">{{cite web|url=https://conferences.sigcomm.org/sigcomm/2023/files/workshop-ebpf/1-CloudNative.pdf#page=20|title=eBPF - The Silent Platform Revolution from Cloud Native|date=10 September 2023|website=SIGCOMM 2023, 1st Workshop on eBPF and Kernel Extensions|access-date=5 October 2023}}</ref> Examples of programs that are automatically rejected are programs without strong exit guarantees (i.e. for/while loops without exit conditions) and programs dereferencing pointers without safety checks.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hedam |first=Niclas |date=26 May 2023 |title=eBPF - From a Programmer's Perspective |url=https://hed.am/papers/2021-EBPF.pdf |language=en |doi=10.13140/RG.2.2.33688.11529/4}}</ref>

== Design ==
Loaded programs which passed the verifier are either [[Interpreter (computing)|interpreted]] or in-kernel just-in-time compiled (JIT compiled) for native execution performance. The execution model is [[Event-driven programming|event-driven]] and with few exceptions run-to-completion,<ref name=":4" /> meaning, programs can be attached to various [[Hooking|hook]] points in the [[Operating system|operating system]] kernel and are run upon triggering of an event. eBPF use cases include (but are not limited to) [[Packet processing|networking]] such as [[Software:Express Data Path|XDP]], [[Software:Tracing|tracing]] and [[Software:Computer security software|security]] subsystems.<ref name=":8" /> Given eBPF's efficiency and flexibility opened up new possibilities to solve production issues, Brendan Gregg famously dubbed eBPF "superpowers for Linux".<ref name=":5">{{cite web|url=https://www.brendangregg.com/blog/2016-03-05/linux-bpf-superpowers.html|title=Linux BPF Superpowers|date=5 March 2016|website=Brendan Gregg's Blog|access-date=1 July 2022}}</ref> Linus Torvalds said, "BPF has actually been really useful, and the real power of it is how it allows people to do specialized code that isn't enabled until asked for".<ref name=":12">{{cite web|url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/linus-torvalds-talks-about-coming-back-to-work-on-linux/|title=Linus Torvalds talks about coming back to work on Linux|date=23 October 2018|website=zdnet Interview with Linus Torvalds|access-date=1 July 2022}}</ref> Due to its success in Linux, the eBPF [[Runtime system|runtime]] has been ported to other operating systems such as [[Software:Windows|Windows]].<ref name=":3" />

== History ==
eBPF was built on top of the Berkeley Packet Filter (cBPF). At the lowest level, it introduced the use of ten 64-bit registers (instead of two 32-bit long registers for cBPF), different jump semantics, a call instruction and corresponding register passing convention, new instructions, and a different encoding for these instructions.<ref name="diff-cbpf">{{cite web|url=https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/v6.1/bpf/classic_vs_extended.html|title=Classic BPF vs eBPF|date=March 2014|website=LWN|access-date=6 January 2023}}</ref> 

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Most significant milestones in the evolution of eBPF
|-
! Date !! Event
|-
| April 2011 || The first in-kernel Linux just-in-time compiler (JIT compiler) for the classic Berkeley Packet Filter got merged.<ref name=":69">{{cite web|url=https://lore.kernel.org/netdev/1301838968.2837.200.camel@edumazet-laptop/|title=net: filter: Just In Time compiler|date=April 2011|website=lore.kernel.org|access-date=1 July 2022}}</ref>
|-
| January 2012 || The first non-networking use case of the classic Berkeley Packet Filter, [[Software:Seccomp|seccomp-bpf]],<ref name=":68">{{cite web|url=https://lwn.net/Articles/475043/|title=Yet another new approach to seccomp|date=1 January 2012|website=LWN|access-date=1 July 2022}}</ref> appeared; it allows filtering of system calls using a configurable policy implemented through BPF instructions.
|-
| March 2014 || David S. Miller, primary maintainer of the Linux networking stack, accepted the rework of the old in-kernel BPF [[Interpreter (computing)|interpreter]]. It was replaced by an eBPF interpreter and the Linux kernel internally translates classic BPF (cBPF) into eBPF instructions.<ref name=":70">{{cite web|url=https://lore.kernel.org/netdev/1396029506-16776-1-git-send-email-dborkman@redhat.com/|title=BPF updates|date=March 2014|website=lore.kernel.org|access-date=1 July 2022}}</ref>
|-
|- September 2014 | The bpf [[System call|system call]] was introduced into the Linux kernel, exposing the eBPF instruction set to user space.<ref name=":102">{{cite web|url=https://lore.kernel.org/bpf/20210926203409.kn3gzz2eaodflels@ast-mbp.dhcp.thefacebook.com/|title=Happy birthday BPF!|date=September 2014|website=lore.kernel.org|access-date=1 July 2022}}</ref>
|-
| March 2015 || The ability to attach eBPF to kprobes as first [[Software:Tracing|tracing]] use case was merged.<ref name=":71">{{cite web|url=https://lore.kernel.org/netdev/1425252465-27527-1-git-send-email-ast@plumgrid.com/|title=tracing: attach eBPF programs to kprobes|date=March 2015|website=lore.kernel.org|access-date=1 July 2022}}</ref> In the same month, initial infrastructure work got accepted to attach eBPF to the networking traffic control (tc) layer allowing to attach eBPF to the core ingress and later also egress paths of the network stack, later heavily used by projects such as Cilium.<ref name=":72">{{cite web|url=https://lore.kernel.org/netdev/cover.1425208501.git.daniel@iogearbox.net/|title=eBPF support for cls_bpf|date=March 2015|website=lore.kernel.org|access-date=1 July 2022}}</ref><ref name=":73">{{cite web|url=https://lore.kernel.org/netdev/61198814638d88ce3555dbecf8ef875523b95743.1452197856.git.daniel@iogearbox.net/|title=net, sched: add clsact qdisc|date=January 2016|website=lore.kernel.org|access-date=1 July 2022}}</ref><ref name=":110">{{cite web|url=https://cilium.io/|title=eBPF-based Networking, Observability, Security|date=January 2016|website=cilium.io|access-date=1 July 2022}}</ref>
|-
| August 2015 || The eBPF [[Compiler|compiler]] backend got merged into [[Software:LLVM|LLVM]] 3.7.0 release.<ref name=":74">{{cite web|url=https://releases.llvm.org/3.7.0/docs/ReleaseNotes.html#non-comprehensive-list-of-changes-in-this-release|title=LLVM 3.7 Release Notes|date=August 2015|website=releases.llvm.org|access-date=1 July 2022}}</ref>
|-
| September 2015 || Brendan Gregg announced a collection of new eBPF-based tracing tools as the bcc project, providing a front-end for eBPF to make it easier to write programs.<ref name=":75">{{cite web|url=https://www.brendangregg.com/blog/2015-09-22/bcc-linux-4.3-tracing.html|title=bcc: Taming Linux 4.3+ Tracing Superpowers|date=September 2015|website=brendangregg.com|access-date=1 July 2022}}</ref>
|-
| July 2016 || eBPF got the ability to be attached into network driver's core receive path. This layer is known today as [[Software:Express Data Path|eXpress DataPath]] (XDP) and was added as a response to DPDK to create a fast data path which works in combination with the Linux kernel rather than bypassing it.<ref name=":76">{{cite web|url=https://lore.kernel.org/netdev/1468955817-10604-1-git-send-email-bblanco@plumgrid.com/|title=Add driver bpf hook for early packet drop and forwarding|date=July 2016|website=lore.kernel.org|access-date=1 July 2022}}</ref><ref name=":77">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIyPm6K4ooY|title=eCHO episode 9: XDP and Load Balancing|date=June 2021|website=youtube.com|access-date=1 July 2022}}</ref><ref name=":78">{{cite conference|url=https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/3281411.3281443|date=December 2018|website=acm.org|pages=54–66 |doi=10.1145/3281411.3281443 |isbn=9781450360807 |s2cid=53779310 |access-date=1 July 2022 |title=The eXpress data path: Fast programmable packet processing in the operating system kernel |book-title=Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on emerging Networking EXperiments and Technologies |last1=Høiland-Jørgensen |first1=Toke |last2=Brouer |first2=Jesper Dangaard |last3=Borkmann |first3=Daniel |last4=Fastabend |first4=John |last5=Herbert |first5=Tom |last6=Ahern |first6=David |last7=Miller |first7=David |doi-access=free }}</ref>
|-
| August 2016 || Cilium was initially announced during LinuxCon as a project providing fast [[IPv6]] container networking with eBPF and XDP. Today, Cilium has been adopted by major cloud provider's [[Software:Kubernetes|Kubernetes]] offerings and is one of the most widely used CNIs.<ref name=":80">{{cite web|url=https://www.slideshare.net/ThomasGraf5/cilium-fast-ipv6-container-networking-with-bpf-and-xdp|title=Cilium - Fast IPv6 Container Networking with BPF and XDP|date=August 2016|website=slideshare.net|access-date=1 July 2022}}</ref><ref name=":110" /><ref name=":33" />
|-
| November 2016 || [[Company:Netronome|Netronome]] added offload of eBPF programs for XDP and tc BPF layer to their NIC.<ref name=":79">{{cite web|url=https://lore.kernel.org/netdev/1478193129-23476-1-git-send-email-jakub.kicinski@netronome.com/|title=nfp ring reconfiguration and XDP support|date=November 2016|website=lore.kernel.org|access-date=1 July 2022}}</ref>
|-
| May 2017 || [[Company:Meta Platforms|Meta]]'s layer 4 load-balancer, Katran, went live. Every packet towards facebook.com since then has been processed by eBPF & XDP.<ref name=":32" />
|-
| November 2017 || eBPF becomes its own kernel subsystem to ease the continuously growing kernel patch management. The first pull request by eBPF maintainers was submitted.<ref name=":81">{{cite web|url=https://lore.kernel.org/netdev/20171123120135.8371-1-daniel@iogearbox.net/|title=pull-request: bpf 2017-11-23|date=November 2017|website=lore.kernel.org|access-date=1 July 2022}}</ref>
|-
| September 2017 || Bpftool was added to the Linux kernel as a user space utility to introspect the eBPF subsystem.<ref name=":83">{{cite web|url=https://lore.kernel.org/netdev/20170926153522.31500-1-jakub.kicinski@netronome.com/|title=tools: add bpftool|date=September 2017|website=lore.kernel.org|access-date=1 July 2022}}</ref>
|-
| January 2018 || A new socket family called AF_XDP was published, allowing for high performance packet processing with zero-copy semantics at the XDP layer.<ref name=":86">{{cite web|url=https://lore.kernel.org/netdev/20180131135356.19134-1-bjorn.topel@gmail.com/|title=Introducing AF_XDP support|date=January 2018|website=lore.kernel.org|access-date=1 July 2022}}</ref> Today, DPDK has an official AF_XDP poll-mode driver support.<ref name=":87">{{cite web|url=https://doc.dpdk.org/guides/nics/af_xdp.html|title=AF_XDP Poll Mode Driver|date=August 2022|website=doc.dpdk.org|access-date=16 August 2022}}</ref>
|-
| February 2018 || The bpfilter prototype has been published, allowing translation of a subset of iptables rulesets into eBPF via a newly developed user mode driver. The work has caused controversies due to the ongoing nftables development effort and has not been merged into mainline.<ref name=":84">{{cite web|url=https://lwn.net/Articles/747551/|title=BPF comes to firewalls|date=February 2018|website=lwn.net|access-date=1 July 2022}}</ref><ref name=":85">{{cite web|url=https://cilium.io/blog/2018/04/17/why-is-the-kernel-community-replacing-iptables/|title=Why is the kernel community replacing iptables with BPF?|date=April 2018|website=cilium.io|access-date=1 July 2022}}</ref>
|-
| October 2018 || The new bpftrace tool has been announced by Brendan Gregg as [[Software:DTrace|DTrace]] 2.0 for Linux.<ref name=":89">{{cite web|url=https://www.brendangregg.com/blog/2018-10-08/dtrace-for-linux-2018.html|title=bpftrace (DTrace 2.0) for Linux 2018|date=October 2018|website=brendangregg.com|access-date=16 August 2022}}</ref>
|-
| November 2018 || eBPF introspection has been added for [[Transport Layer Security|kTLS]] in order to support the ability for in-kernel TLS policy enforcement.<ref name=":82">{{cite web|url=http://vger.kernel.org/lpc_net2018_talks/ktls_bpf.pdf|title=Combining kTLS and BPF for Introspection and Policy Enforcement|date=November 2018|website=vger.kernel.org|access-date=1 July 2022}}</ref>
|-
| November 2018 || BTF (BPF Type Format) has been added to the Linux kernel as an efficient meta data format which is approximately 100x smaller in size than DWARF.<ref name=":831">{{cite web|url=https://nakryiko.com/posts/btf-dedup/|title=BTF deduplication and Linux kernel BTF|date=November 2018|website=nakryiko.com|access-date=1 July 2022}}</ref>
|-
| December 2019 || The first 880-page long book on BPF, written by Brendan Gregg, was released.<ref name=":90">{{cite web|url=https://www.brendangregg.com/bpf-performance-tools-book.html|title=BPF Performance Tools (book)|date=December 2019|website=brendangregg.com|access-date=16 August 2022}}</ref>
|-
| March 2020 || [[Company:Google|Google]] upstreamed BPF LSM support into the Linux kernel, enabling programmable [[Linux Security Modules]] (LSMs) through eBPF.<ref name=":92">{{cite web|url=https://lore.kernel.org/bpf/20200329004356.27286-1-kpsingh@chromium.org/|title=MAC and Audit policy using eBPF (KRSI)|date=March 2020|website=lore.kernel.org|access-date=16 August 2022}}</ref>
|-
| September 2020 || The eBPF compiler backend for [[Software:GNU Compiler Collection|GNU Compiler Collection]] (GCC) was merged.<ref name=":91">{{cite web|url=https://lwn.net/Articles/831402/|title=BPF in GCC
|date=September 2020|website=lwn.net|access-date=16 August 2022}}</ref>
|}

== Branding ==
The alias eBPF is often interchangeably used with BPF,<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":11">{{cite book|author = Brendan Gregg|date = December 2019|title = BPF Performance Tools| publisher=Addison-Wesley |isbn = 978-0136554820}}</ref> for example by the Linux kernel community. eBPF and BPF is referred to as a technology name like [[Software:LLVM|LLVM]].<ref name=":4" /> eBPF evolved from the [[Software:Berkeley Packet Filter|Berkeley Packet Filter]] as an extended version, but its use case outgrew networking, and today eBPF as a pseudo-acronym is preferred.<ref name=":4" />

The [[Biology:Bee|bee]] is the official logo for eBPF. At the first eBPF Summit there was a vote taken and the bee [[Social:Mascot|mascot]] was named "eBee".<ref name=":26">{{cite web|url=https://cilium.io/blog/2020/10/29/ebpf-summit-day-2|title=eBPF Summit Day Two|date=October 2020|website=cilium.io|access-date=1 July 2022}}</ref><ref name=":27">{{cite web|url=https://ebpf.io/what-is-ebpf#what-is-the-bee-named|title=What is the bee named?|website=ebpf.io|access-date=1 July 2022}}</ref> The logo has originally been created by Vadim Shchekoldin.<ref name=":27" /> Earlier unofficial eBPF mascots have existed in the past,<ref name=":291">{{cite web|url=https://www.brendangregg.com/blog/2015-05-15/ebpf-one-small-step.html|title=eBPF: One Small Step|website=Brendan Gregg's Blog|date=May 2015|access-date=1 July 2022}}</ref> but haven't seen widespread adoption.

== Governance ==
The eBPF Foundation was created in August 2021 with the goal to expand the contributions being made to extend the powerful capabilities of eBPF and grow beyond Linux.<ref name=":1" /> Founding members include [[Company:Meta Platforms|Meta]], [[Company:Google|Google]], Isovalent, [[Company:Microsoft|Microsoft]] and [[Company:Netflix|Netflix]]. The purpose is to raise, budget and spend funds in support of various open source, open data and/or open standards projects relating to eBPF technologies<ref name=":28">{{cite web|url=https://ebpf.foundation/charter/|title=eBPF Foundation Charter|date=June 2021|website=ebpf.foundation|access-date=16 August 2022}}</ref> to further drive the growth and adoption of the eBPF ecosystem. Since inception, [[Company:Red Hat|Red Hat]], [[Company:Huawei|Huawei]], Crowdstrike, Tigera, DaoCloud, Datoms, FutureWei also joined.<ref name=":64">{{cite web|url=https://ebpf.foundation/governance/|title=eBPF Foundation Governance|date=August 2022|website=ebpf.foundation|access-date=16 August 2022}}</ref>

== Adoption ==
eBPF has been adopted by a number of large-scale production users, for example:

* [[Company:Meta Platforms|Meta]] uses eBPF through their Katran layer 4 load-balancer for all traffic going to facebook.com<ref name=":29">{{cite web|url=https://engineering.fb.com/2018/05/22/open-source/open-sourcing-katran-a-scalable-network-load-balancer/|title=Open-sourcing Katran, a scalable network load balancer|date=May 2018|website=fb.com|access-date=16 August 2022}}</ref><ref name=":30">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYBXZFKPS28|title=BPF at Facebook|date=December 2019|website=youtube.com|access-date=16 August 2022}}</ref><ref name=":31">{{cite web|url=https://lpc.events/event/11/contributions/950/|title=From XDP to socket|date=September 2021|website=lpc.events|access-date=16 August 2022}}</ref><ref name=":32">{{cite web|url=https://lpc.events/event/2/contributions/109/|title=XDP 1.5 Years In Production. Evolution and Lessons Learned.|date=November 2018|website=lpc.events|access-date=16 August 2022}}</ref>
* [[Company:Google|Google]] uses eBPF in [[Google Cloud Platform|GKE]], developed and uses BPF LSM to replace audit and it uses eBPF for networking<ref name=":33">{{cite web|url=https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/containers-kubernetes/bringing-ebpf-and-cilium-to-google-kubernetes-engine|title=New GKE Dataplane V2 increases security and visibility for containers|date=May 2021|website=cloud.google.com|access-date=16 August 2022}}</ref><ref name=":34">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBFYMBHrstI|title=eCHO episode 29: BPF LSM with KP Singh|date=November 2021|website=youtube.com|access-date=16 August 2022}}</ref><ref name=":35">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URm_q9ylxBk|title=BPF security auditing at Google - Brendan Jackman/KP Singh|date=November 2021|website=youtube.com|access-date=16 August 2022}}</ref><ref name=":36">{{cite web|url=https://legacy.netdevconf.info/0x14/session.html?talk-replacing-HTB-with-EDT-and-BPF|title=Replacing HTB with EDT and BPF|date=July 2020|website=netdevconf.info|access-date=16 August 2022}}</ref>
* [[Company:Cloudflare|Cloudflare]] uses eBPF for load-balancing and DDoS protection and security enforcement<ref name=":37">{{cite web|url=https://blog.cloudflare.com/cloudflare-architecture-and-how-bpf-eats-the-world/|title=Cloudflare architecture and how BPF eats the world|date=May 2019|website=blog.cloudflare.com|access-date=16 August 2022}}</ref><ref name=":38">{{cite web|url=https://blog.cloudflare.com/its-crowded-in-here/|title=It's crowded in here!|date=October 2019|website=blog.cloudflare.com|access-date=16 August 2022}}</ref><ref name=":39">{{cite web|url=https://blog.cloudflare.com/tubular-fixing-the-socket-api-with-ebpf/|title=Production ready eBPF, or how we fixed the BSD socket API|date=February 2022|website=blog.cloudflare.com|access-date=16 August 2022}}</ref><ref name=":63">{{cite web|url=https://blog.cloudflare.com/live-patch-security-vulnerabilities-with-ebpf-lsm/|title=Live-patching security vulnerabilities inside the Linux kernel with eBPF Linux Security Module|date=June 2022|website=blog.cloudflare.com|access-date=16 August 2022}}</ref><ref name=":88">{{cite web|url=https://blog.cloudflare.com/unimog-cloudflares-edge-load-balancer/|title=Unimog - Cloudflare's edge load balancer|date=September 2020|website=blog.cloudflare.com|access-date=16 August 2022}}</ref>
* [[Company:Netflix|Netflix]] uses eBPF for fleet-wide network [[Software:Observability|observability]] and performance diagnosis<ref name=":40">{{cite web|url=https://netflixtechblog.com/how-netflix-uses-ebpf-flow-logs-at-scale-for-network-insight-e3ea997dca96|title=How Netflix uses eBPF flow logs at scale for network insight|date=June 2021|website=netflixtechblog.com|access-date=16 August 2022}}</ref><ref name=":41">{{cite web|url=https://netflixtechblog.com/extending-vector-with-ebpf-to-inspect-host-and-container-performance-5da3af4c584b|title=Extending Vector with eBPF to inspect host and container performance|date=February 2019|website=netflixtechblog.com|access-date=16 August 2022}}</ref>
* [[Software:Dropbox|Dropbox]] uses eBPF through Katran for layer 4 load-balancing<ref name=":42">{{cite web|url=https://dropbox.tech/infrastructure/dropbox-traffic-infrastructure-edge-network|title=Dropbox traffic infrastructure: Edge network|date=October 2018|website=dropbox.tech|access-date=16 August 2022}}</ref>
* [[Software:Android (operating system)|Android]] uses eBPF for NAT46 and traffic monitoring<ref name=":43">{{cite web|url=https://source.android.com/docs/core/datausage/ebpf-traffic-monitor|title=eBPF Traffic Monitoring|date=August 2022|website=source.android.com|access-date=16 August 2022}}</ref><ref name=":44">{{cite web|url=https://source.android.com/docs/core/architecture/kernel/bpf|title=Extending the Kernel with eBPF|date=August 2022|website=source.android.com|access-date=16 August 2022}}</ref><ref name=":45">{{cite web|url=https://lore.kernel.org/bpf/20220407084727.10241-1-lina.wang@mediatek.com/|title=NAT46 translation with BPF|date=April 2022|website=lore.kernel.org|access-date=16 August 2022}}</ref>
* [[Company:Alibaba Group|Alibaba]] uses eBPF for [[Software:Kubernetes|Kubernetes]] Pod load-balancing<ref name=":46">{{cite web|url=https://www.alibabacloud.com/blog/how-does-alibaba-cloud-build-high-performance-cloud-native-pod-networks-in-production-environments_596590|title=How Does Alibaba Cloud Build High-Performance Cloud-Native Pod Networks in Production Environments?|date=September 2020|website=alibabacloud.com|access-date=16 August 2022}}</ref>
* [[Company:Datadog|Datadog]] uses eBPF for [[Software:Kubernetes|Kubernetes]] Pod networking and security enforcement<ref name=":47">{{cite web|url=https://datadogon.datadoghq.com/episodes/datadog-on-ebpf/|title=Datadog on eBPF|date=February 2021|website=datadogon.datadoghq.com|access-date=16 August 2022}}</ref><ref name=":48">{{cite web|url=https://www.sstic.org/media/SSTIC2021/SSTIC-actes/runtime_security_with_ebpf/SSTIC2021-Article-runtime_security_with_ebpf-fournier_afchain_baubeau.pdf|title=Runtime Security Monitoring with eBPF|date=February 2021|website=sstic.org|access-date=16 August 2022}}</ref><ref name=":49">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mTVuZUHLBg|title=Our eBPF Journey at Datadog - Laurent Bernaille & Tabitha Sable, Datadog|date=November 2020|website=youtube.com|access-date=16 August 2022}}</ref>
* Trip.com uses eBPF for [[Software:Kubernetes|Kubernetes]] Pod networking<ref name=":50">{{cite web|url=https://cilium.io/blog/2020/02/05/how-trip-com-uses-cilium/|title=User Story - How Trip.com uses Cilium|date=February 2020|website=cilium.io|access-date=16 August 2022}}</ref><ref name=":51">{{cite web|url=https://arthurchiao.art/blog/trip-stepping-into-cloud-native-networking-era/|title=Trip.com: Stepping into Cloud Native Networking Era with Cilium+BGP|date=November 2020|website=arthurchiao.art|access-date=16 August 2022}}</ref>
* [[Company:Microsoft|Microsoft]] ported eBPF and XDP to Windows<ref name=":52">{{cite web|url=https://cloudblogs.microsoft.com/opensource/2021/05/10/making-ebpf-work-on-windows/|title=Making eBPF work on Windows|date=May 2021|website=cloudblogs.microsoft.com|access-date=16 August 2022}}</ref><ref name=":53">{{cite web|url=https://cloudblogs.microsoft.com/opensource/2022/02/22/getting-linux-based-ebpf-programs-to-run-with-ebpf-for-windows/|title=Getting Linux based eBPF programs to run with eBPF for Windows|date=February 2022|website=cloudblogs.microsoft.com|access-date=16 August 2022}}</ref><ref name=":54">{{cite web|url=https://cloudblogs.microsoft.com/opensource/2021/11/29/progress-on-making-ebpf-work-on-windows/|title=Progress on making eBPF work on Windows|date=November 2019|website=cloudblogs.microsoft.com|access-date=16 August 2022}}</ref>
* Seznam uses eBPF through Cilium for layer 4 load-balancing<ref name=":55">{{cite web|url=https://cilium.io/blog/2022/04/12/cilium-standalone-L4LB-XDP/|title=Cilium Standalone Layer 4 Load Balancer XDP|date=July 2022|website=cilium.io|access-date=16 August 2022}}</ref>
* CapitalOne uses eBPF for [[Software:Kubernetes|Kubernetes]] Pod networking<ref name=":56">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwOpCKBaJ-w|title=Building a Secure and Maintainable PaaS - Bradley Whitfield, Capital One|date=November 2020|website=youtube.com|access-date=16 August 2022}}</ref>
* [[Company:Apple Inc.|Apple]] uses eBPF for [[Software:Kubernetes|Kubernetes]] Pod security<ref name=":57">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBlJSr6XkN8|title=Think eBPF for Kernel Security Monitoring - Falco at Apple- Eric Sage & Melissa Kilby, Apple|date=October 2021|website=youtube.com|access-date=16 August 2022}}</ref>
* Sky uses eBPF for [[Software:Kubernetes|Kubernetes]] Pod networking<ref name=":58">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-4naOMfs_w|title=eBPF & Cilium at Sky – Sebastian Duff, Anthony Comtois, Jospeh Samuel, Sky|date=August 2021|website=youtube.com|access-date=16 August 2022}}</ref>
* [[Company:Walmart|Walmart]] uses eBPF for layer 4 load-balancing<ref name=":59">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fu4L8ewcO70|title=Running and orchestrating multiple XDP and TC programs – Brian Merrell, Walmart|date=August 2021|website=youtube.com|access-date=16 August 2022}}</ref><ref name=":60">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thmAcyix8FM|title=High Performance Load Balancing @Walmart – Kanthi Pavuluri & Karan Dalal, Walmart|date=August 2021|website=youtube.com|access-date=16 August 2022}}</ref>
* [[Company:Huawei|Huawei]] uses eBPF through their DIGLIM secure boot system<ref name=":61">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iA7T4MAqKUc|title=DIGLIM eBPF: secure boot at application level with minimal changes to distros - Roberto Sassu|date=August 2022|website=youtube.com|access-date=16 August 2022}}</ref>
* Ikea uses eBPF for [[Software:Kubernetes|Kubernetes]] Pod networking<ref name=":62">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sg-F_R-ZVNc|title=IKEA Private Cloud, eBPF Based Networking, Load Balancing, and Observability with... Karsten Nielsen|date=May 2022|website=youtube.com|access-date=16 August 2022}}</ref>

== Security ==

Due to the ease of programmability, eBPF has been used as a tool for implementing microarchitectural timing side-channel attacks such as [[Spectre (security vulnerability)|Spectre]] against vulnerable microprocessors.<ref name=":65">{{cite web|url=https://googleprojectzero.blogspot.com/2018/01/reading-privileged-memory-with-side.html|title=Reading privileged memory with a side-channel|website=googleprojectzero.blogspot.com|date=3 January 2018 |access-date=16 August 2022}}</ref> While unprivileged eBPF implemented mitigations against transient execution attacks,<ref name=":66">{{cite web|url=https://popl22.sigplan.org/details/prisc-2022-papers/11/BPF-and-Spectre-Mitigating-transient-execution-attacks|title=BPF and Spectre: Mitigating transient execution attacks|website=popl22.sigplan.org|access-date=16 August 2022}}</ref> unprivileged use has ultimately been disabled by the kernel community by default to protect from use against future hardware vulnerabilities.<ref name=":67">{{cite web|url=https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=8a03e56b253e9691c90bc52ca199323d71b96204|title=bpf: Disallow unprivileged bpf by default|website=kernel.org|access-date=16 August 2022}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Software:Express Data Path|Express Data Path]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book |author=Gregg |first=Brendan |date=December 2019 |title=BPF Performance Tools |publisher=Addison-Wesley |isbn=978-0136554820 |}}
*{{cite book
 |      author = David Calavera, Lorenzo Fontana
 |      date = December 2019
 |      title = Linux Observability With BPF
 | publisher = O'Reilly Media, Incorporated
 |      isbn = 978-1492050209
 }}
*{{cite book |author=Gregg |first=Brendan |date=December 2020 |title=Systems Performance, Second edition |isbn=978-0136820154 |}}
*{{cite book |author=Rice |first=Liz |date=April 2022 |title=What Is eBPF? |isbn=978-1492097259 |}}
*{{cite book |author=Rice |first=Liz |date=April 2023 |title=Learning eBPF: Programming the Linux Kernel for Enhanced Observability, Networking, and Security |publisher=O'Reilly Media |isbn=978-1098135126 |}}

== External links ==
* [https://ebpf.io/ eBPF.io - Introduction, tutorials & eBPF community resources]
* [https://ebpf.foundation/ eBPF.foundation - Linux Foundation's eBPF Foundation site]

[[Category:Free software programmed in C]]

{{Sourceattribution|EBPF}}