discover-ebpf

eBPF (extended Berkeley Packet Filter) is a virtual machine in the Linux kernel that runs sandboxed programs without modifying kernel code. It enables real-time tracing, monitoring, and observability by attaching to kernel events, network packets, and system calls, providing low-overhead visibility into system behavior.

eBPF allows you to attach tracing programs directly to network events and kernel functions to capture packet flows, latency, and throughput metrics. You can monitor network stack behavior in real time, identify bottlenecks at the kernel level, and trace specific connections without application changes.

Yes. eBPF programs can monitor system calls, file access, process execution, and network connections in real time. Security applications use eBPF to detect suspicious behavior, enforce policies, and collect audit logs with minimal performance overhead compared to traditional kernel module approaches.

eBPF provides dynamic, low-overhead in-kernel execution without recompilation or kernel module loading, whereas traditional tools like kprobes or tracepoints require more setup. eBPF enables safer custom logic execution directly in the kernel and supports observability at scale with reduced latency.

While kernel knowledge helps, eBPF programs are typically written in C or higher-level languages and use helper functions to access kernel data safely. The learning curve is steep for advanced use cases, but fundamental tracing and observability tasks are accessible to systems engineers familiar with networking and Linux.

eBPF has stack space constraints, cannot make all kernel function calls, and requires Linux kernel 4.4 or later. Complex logic may hit verification limits, and debugging requires specialized tools. High-frequency tracing can impact performance despite eBPF's efficiency advantages.