Proposal for a whitelist-based countermeasure against abusing BPF

Proposal for a whitelist-based countermeasure against abusing BPF | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Proposal for a whitelist-based countermeasure against abusing BPF Yuta Takabayashi, Masahiro Mambo This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6339871/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Malware that exploits Berkeley Packet Filter (BPF) to evade detection has been reported as an emerging cybersecurity threat. There are two types of BPF: extended BPF (eBPF) and classic BPF (cBPF), but existing countermeasures typically focus on mitigating only one of these exploit types, thereby leaving systems vulnerable to the other. In this paper, we propose a whitelist-based protection mechanism that can handle both eBPF and cBPF. By adopting a whitelist-based approach, it is possible to comprehensively counter BPF exploits while maintaining low implementation complexity. This comprehensive approach ensures enhanced security while maintaining system efficiency. Evaluations have shown that the overhead of the proposed method is negligibly small, and its effectiveness in real environments has been confirmed. Furthermore, our analysis reveals that the downtime during reloading with the proposed method is at least \SI{300}{ms}. We also discuss various potential attack vectors that exploit this downtime and thoroughly explore strategies for mitigating such risks. BPF Whitelist Evasive malware Exploit mitigation Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6339871","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":455922183,"identity":"7a63f12c-387d-4327-bac1-3e762d3212a1","order_by":0,"name":"Yuta Takabayashi","email":"data:image/png;base64,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","orcid":"","institution":"Kanazawa University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yuta","middleName":"","lastName":"Takabayashi","suffix":""},{"id":455922184,"identity":"27967090-cbc8-49ec-b33c-bd7a51372913","order_by":1,"name":"Masahiro Mambo","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Kanazawa University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Masahiro","middleName":"","lastName":"Mambo","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-03-30 18:23:15","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6339871/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6339871/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":84498291,"identity":"5ab3f060-c1ee-464e-a213-20cd4f73013c","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-06-12 16:01:37","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":445224,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"ijismaster.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6339871/v1_covered_e61cc296-9190-4ed7-bf7a-244a6c96fcce.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Proposal for a whitelist-based countermeasure against abusing BPF","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"BPF, Whitelist, Evasive malware, Exploit mitigation","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6339871/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6339871/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"Malware that exploits Berkeley Packet Filter (BPF) to evade detection has been reported as an emerging cybersecurity threat. There are two types of BPF: extended BPF (eBPF) and classic BPF (cBPF), but existing countermeasures typically focus on mitigating only one of these exploit types, thereby leaving systems vulnerable to the other. In this paper, we propose a whitelist-based protection mechanism that can handle both eBPF and cBPF. By adopting a whitelist-based approach, it is possible to comprehensively counter BPF exploits while maintaining low implementation complexity. This comprehensive approach ensures enhanced security while maintaining system efficiency. Evaluations have shown that the overhead of the proposed method is negligibly small, and its effectiveness in real environments has been confirmed. Furthermore, our analysis reveals that the downtime during reloading with the proposed method is at least \\SI{300}{ms}. 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