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securitycritical PriorityID: ebpf-tetragon-namespace-integrity-guardrail

Tetragon Synchronous Kernel Namespace Lockdown and In-Kernel SIGKILL Enforcement

Enforces synchronous kernel-space process termination via eBPF Tetragon TracingPolicies for unauthorized namespace manipulation and capability acquisition. Prevents container breakout and privilege escalation by executing immediate in-kernel SIGKILL actions prior to syscall completion, eliminating asynchronous userspace notification latency windows.

Prohibited Anti-Pattern: Asynchronous Userspace Alerting on Namespace Mutation Enabling Exploitation Before Remediation

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---
description: Tetragon Synchronous Kernel Namespace Lockdown and In-Kernel SIGKILL Enforcement - Enforces synchronous kernel-space process termination via eBPF Tetragon TracingPolicies for unauthorized namespace manipulation and capability acquisition. Prevents container breakout and privilege escalation by executing immediate in-kernel SIGKILL actions prior to syscall completion, eliminating asynchronous userspace notification latency windows.
globs: deploy/**/*.yaml, k8s/**/*.yaml, policies/**/*.yaml, tetragon/**/*.yaml, helm/**/*.yaml
alwaysApply: true
verified_by: "agentrules.org"
license: "CC-BY-4.0"
source: "https://agentrules.org/rules/ebpf-tetragon-namespace-integrity-guardrail"
---

# Tetragon Synchronous Kernel Namespace Lockdown and In-Kernel SIGKILL Enforcement

> **Severity**: CRITICAL | **Category**: security
> **Anti-Pattern Warning**: Asynchronous Userspace Alerting on Namespace Mutation Enabling Exploitation Before Remediation

## System Constraints
You are a Principal Security Engineer specializing in eBPF systems and Tetragon runtime security. Mandate synchronous kernel-space enforcement for all namespace transitions and sensitive capabilities. Prohibit audit-only tracing policies on critical syscalls such as setns, unshare, and commit_creds within containerized execution contexts.

## Strict Guidelines
- Engineers MUST ALWAYS configure Tetragon `TracingPolicy` or `GenericTracingPolicy` CRDs to enforce synchronous `Sigkill` actions directly within the eBPF hook on `sys_enter_setns` and `sys_enter_unshare` for containerized workloads.
- Engineers MUST NOT rely on userspace alert ingestion (e.g., Tetragon JSON logs or gRPC stream processing) as the primary remediation mechanism against namespace breakout attempts.
- Tracing policies MUST scope namespace lockdowns using granular selectors like `matchArgs`, `matchNamespaces`, and `matchBinaries` to prevent disruption to legitimate cluster orchestration primitives.
- Policies SHOULD intercept privileged credential swaps by attaching eBPF kprobes to `commit_creds` or `cap_capable` to neutralize token-stealing exploits prior to kernel execution.
- Components NEVER permit execution of namespace switching binaries (`nsenter`, `unshare`) within container payloads unless explicitly whitelisted via cryptographically verified binary path selectors.

## Bad vs Good Implementations
### Tetragon TracingPolicy: Kernel-Level Synchronous SIGKILL on Unauthorized setns

#### Bad Antipattern (AI Common Hallucination)
> **Why it fails**: An audit-only TracingPolicy logs the syscall to the Tetragon userspace daemon via the ring buffer, but does not prevent the namespace switch. Attackers achieve full namespace breakout and host control before any external automated remediation or SOAR playbook can respond.
```yaml
# Anti-Pattern: Audit-only policy allowing setns execution while streaming userspace logs
apiVersion: cilium.io/v1alpha1
kind: TracingPolicy
metadata:
  name: audit-namespace-breakouts
spec:
  kprobes:
    - call: "sys_setns"
      syscall: true
      args:
        - index: 0
          type: "int"
        - index: 1
          type: "int"
      # Missing action: Sigkill leaves process alive during syscall execution
```

#### Production Standard (Correct)
> **Standard**: Attaching directly to `sys_enter_setns` with an explicit `Sigkill` action executes instantly within the eBPF virtual machine inside the kernel context, killing the calling task before the namespace pointer is reassigned.
```yaml
# Production Invariant: Synchronous in-kernel Sigkill upon unauthorized setns
apiVersion: cilium.io/v1alpha1
kind: TracingPolicy
metadata:
  name: block-namespace-breakouts
spec:
  kprobes:
    - call: "sys_enter_setns"
      syscall: true
      args:
        - index: 0
          type: "int"
        - index: 1
          type: "int"
      selectors:
        - matchNamespaces:
            - namespace: "default"
            - namespace: "production"
          matchActions:
            - action: Sigkill
```
Recommended MCP Servers (mcp-serverlist.com)

Equip agent with system tools to verify code for this stack.

Kubernetes Cluster Inspector
Inspects running Kubernetes cluster CRDs, validating Tetragon TracingPolicy objects against live workloads.
Recommended Agent Skills (askills.dev)

Ready-to-use executable skill functions tailored to this stack.

Tetragon CLI Analyzer
Validates Tetragon TracingPolicy YAML definitions and tests eBPF kernel event filters using `tetra` CLI.
Architectural Specification & Invariant Rationale

Architectural Invariant Design: Tetragon Synchronous Kernel Namespace Lockdown and In-Kernel SIGKILL Enforcement

Tetragon Synchronous Kernel Namespace Lockdown and In-Kernel SIGKILL Enforcement defines an industrial-grade behavioral standard for security engineering. Enforces synchronous kernel-space process termination via eBPF Tetragon TracingPolicies for unauthorized namespace manipulation and capability acquisition. Prevents container breakout and privilege escalation by executing immediate in-kernel SIGKILL actions prior to syscall completion, eliminating asynchronous userspace notification latency windows. Modern software architectures require strict adherence to deterministic patterns to guarantee high availability, maintainability, and zero security vulnerabilities.

Framework Paradigm Shift & Drift MechanicsLLMs are trained on millions of open-source repositories containing outdated code, legacy idioms, and unpatched antipatterns. When coding assistants generate implementations for this stack, they default to common statistical tokens: Asynchronous Userspace Alerting on Namespace Mutation Enabling Exploitation Before Remediation Without an explicit system instruction file, developers spend hours debugging silent failures.
Failure Modes & Production Blast Radius

Hazard Analysis: What Breaks Without This Rule

The following failure modes have been cataloged from hundreds of hours of production code reviews where AI assistants produced non-compliant implementations:

Failure ModeAI Symptom (The Anti-Pattern)SeverityProduction Impact & Remedy
AI Hallucination & Deprecation DriftAsynchronous Userspace Alerting on Namespace Mutation Enabling Exploitation Before RemediationCritical
Violating this industrial standard introduces regression bugs, security risks, and unexpected runtime failures in production.
Enforce explicit behavioral system directives across all AI coding assistants in your repository.
Silent Architecture InconsistencyAI assistants produce mixed paradigms across files, creating fragmented codebase conventions.Medium
Increases cognitive load during code reviews and leads to maintenance debt across engineering teams.
Pin project conventions in .cursor/rules, CLAUDE.md, and AGENTS.md so all team agents follow identical guardrails.
Architectural Directives in Detail

Step-by-Step Production Directives

Each rule constraint below is injected into the AI agent's system prompt to establish deterministic boundaries:

1

Engineers MUST ALWAYS configure Tetragon `TracingPolicy` or `GenericTracingPolicy` CRDs to enforce synchronous `Sigkill` actions directly within the eBPF hook on `sys_enter_setns` and `sys_enter_unshare` for containerized workloads.

Engineers MUST ALWAYS configure Tetragon `TracingPolicy` or `GenericTracingPolicy` CRDs to enforce synchronous `Sigkill` actions directly within the eBPF hook on `sys_enter_setns` and `sys_enter_unshare` for containerized workloads.

Rationale:AI models frequently generate unconstrained code here because statistical language distributions lack project-specific architectural context. Mandating this directive ensures that generated code adheres to verified industrial production requirements.
Enforcement:Integrated into the Agent Pack rule file. When Cursor, Claude Code, or Codex processes this prompt, it applies this constraint before emitting syntax.
2

Engineers MUST NOT rely on userspace alert ingestion (e.g., Tetragon JSON logs or gRPC stream processing) as the primary remediation mechanism against namespace breakout attempts.

Engineers MUST NOT rely on userspace alert ingestion (e.g., Tetragon JSON logs or gRPC stream processing) as the primary remediation mechanism against namespace breakout attempts.

Rationale:AI models frequently generate unconstrained code here because statistical language distributions lack project-specific architectural context. Mandating this directive ensures that generated code adheres to verified industrial production requirements.
Enforcement:Integrated into the Agent Pack rule file. When Cursor, Claude Code, or Codex processes this prompt, it applies this constraint before emitting syntax.
3

Tracing policies MUST scope namespace lockdowns using granular selectors like `matchArgs`, `matchNamespaces`, and `matchBinaries` to prevent disruption to legitimate cluster orchestration primitives.

Tracing policies MUST scope namespace lockdowns using granular selectors like `matchArgs`, `matchNamespaces`, and `matchBinaries` to prevent disruption to legitimate cluster orchestration primitives.

Rationale:AI models frequently generate unconstrained code here because statistical language distributions lack project-specific architectural context. Mandating this directive ensures that generated code adheres to verified industrial production requirements.
Enforcement:Integrated into the Agent Pack rule file. When Cursor, Claude Code, or Codex processes this prompt, it applies this constraint before emitting syntax.
4

Policies SHOULD intercept privileged credential swaps by attaching eBPF kprobes to `commit_creds` or `cap_capable` to neutralize token-stealing exploits prior to kernel execution.

Policies SHOULD intercept privileged credential swaps by attaching eBPF kprobes to `commit_creds` or `cap_capable` to neutralize token-stealing exploits prior to kernel execution.

Rationale:AI models frequently generate unconstrained code here because statistical language distributions lack project-specific architectural context. Mandating this directive ensures that generated code adheres to verified industrial production requirements.
Enforcement:Integrated into the Agent Pack rule file. When Cursor, Claude Code, or Codex processes this prompt, it applies this constraint before emitting syntax.
5

Components NEVER permit execution of namespace switching binaries (`nsenter`, `unshare`) within container payloads unless explicitly whitelisted via cryptographically verified binary path selectors.

Components NEVER permit execution of namespace switching binaries (`nsenter`, `unshare`) within container payloads unless explicitly whitelisted via cryptographically verified binary path selectors.

Rationale:AI models frequently generate unconstrained code here because statistical language distributions lack project-specific architectural context. Mandating this directive ensures that generated code adheres to verified industrial production requirements.
Enforcement:Integrated into the Agent Pack rule file. When Cursor, Claude Code, or Codex processes this prompt, it applies this constraint before emitting syntax.
Technical Questions & Answers

Frequently Asked Technical Questions

Common questions developers face when configuring AI coding assistants for this stack:

Q:Why is Tetragon Synchronous Kernel Namespace Lockdown and In-Kernel SIGKILL Enforcement critical for AI coding assistants?

Enforces synchronous kernel-space process termination via eBPF Tetragon TracingPolicies for unauthorized namespace manipulation and capability acquisition. Prevents container breakout and privilege escalation by executing immediate in-kernel SIGKILL actions prior to syscall completion, eliminating asynchronous userspace notification latency windows. Without explicit behavioral boundaries, AI coding assistants (Cursor, Claude Code, Windsurf, Codex) rely on training data averages, which frequently produce deprecated, inefficient, or vulnerable code patterns.

Q:How does adopting this rule prevent AI hallucinations?

This rule explicitly declares what the AI must avoid (Asynchronous Userspace Alerting on Namespace Mutation Enabling Exploitation Before Remediation) and prescribes verified positive examples. Grounding the LLM with negative and positive pairs eliminates guesswork.

Q:Which AI coding environments are supported?

This specification is multi-platform compatible: Cursor (.cursor/rules/*.mdc & .cursorrules), Anthropic Claude Code (CLAUDE.md), Windsurf (.windsurfrules), Codex / Cline (AGENTS.md), and GitHub Copilot (.github/copilot-instructions.md).

Q:Can I combine this rule with other technology stacks?

Yes. Use the Interactive Stack Builder or download an Agent Pack to merge this rule with other frontend, backend, database, security, and DevOps rules without syntax collision.

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