google/gvisorSandboxes containers via a userspace application kernel that intercepts system calls, limits host kernel access, and integrates with Docker/Kubernetes through an OCI runtime.
gVisor provides a strong layer of isolation between running applications and the host operating system. It is an application kernel that implements a Linux-like interface. Unlike Linux, it is written in a memory-safe language (Go) and runs in userspace.
gVisor includes an Open Container Initiative (OCI) runtime called runsc
that makes it easy to work with existing container tooling. The runsc runtime
integrates with Docker and Kubernetes, making it simple to run sandboxed
containers.
seccomp-bpf), nor a wrapper over
Linux isolation primitives (e.g. firejail, AppArmor, etc.).gVisor takes a distinct third approach, providing many security benefits of VMs while maintaining the lower resource footprint, fast startup, and flexibility of regular userspace applications.
Containers are not a sandbox. While containers have revolutionized how we develop, package, and deploy applications, using them to run untrusted or potentially malicious code without additional isolation is not a good idea. While using a single, shared kernel allows for efficiency and performance gains, it also means that container escape is possible with a single vulnerability.
gVisor is an application kernel for containers. It limits the host kernel surface accessible to the application while still giving the application access to all the features it expects. Unlike most kernels, gVisor does not assume or require a fixed set of physical resources; instead, it leverages existing host kernel functionality and runs as a normal process. In other words, gVisor implements Linux by way of Linux.
gVisor should not be confused with technologies and tools to harden containers against external threats, provide additional integrity checks, or limit the scope of access for a service. One should always be careful about what data is made available to a container.
User documentation and technical architecture, including quick start guides, can be found at gvisor.dev.
gVisor builds on x86_64 and ARM64. Other architectures may become available in the future.
For the purposes of these instructions, bazel and other build
dependencies are wrapped in a build container. It is possible to use
bazel directly, or type make help for standard targets.
Make sure the following dependencies are installed:
Build a release tarball containing runsc, the containerd-shim-runsc-v1
containerd shim, and a few sidecar binaries that runsc expects to find in a
gvisor-bin/ directory next to itself, then extract it to /usr/local/bin:
make release-tarball DESTINATION=bin/
sudo tar -C /usr/local/bin -xf bin/gvisor.tar.bz2
To build specific libraries or binaries, you can specify the target:
make build TARGETS="//pkg/tcpip:tcpip"
Using Bazel directly isn't recommended due to the extra overhead, but in order to get started:
After setting up dependencies, using Bazel is similar to the Makefile:
bazel build -c opt //debian:gvisor-release-tar
To run standard test suites, you can use:
make unit-tests
make tests
To run specific tests, you can specify the target:
# Makefile
make test TARGETS="//runsc:version_test"
# Bazel
bazel test //runsc:version_test
Some packages support running tests directly on macOS. At the time of this writing, gVisor requires bazel 8, which you can install via homebrew:
brew install bazel@8
# You can then run the tests, e.g.:
$(brew --prefix bazel@8)/bin/bazel test --macos_sdk_version=$(xcrun --show-sdk-version) -- //tools/nogo/... //tools/check{aligned,const,escape,linkname,locks,unsafe}/...
go getThis project uses bazel to build and manage dependencies. A synthetic
go branch is maintained that is compatible with standard go tooling for
convenience. This is useful for external packages and libraries that depend on
gVisor subpackages (e.g. userspace networking via Netstack) to import gVisor Go
code into their Go projects.
Select this branch explicitly with the go branch query. @latest resolves
master, which requires Bazel and is not compatible with standard Go tooling:
go get gvisor.dev/gvisor/pkg/tcpip/transport/tcp@go
NOTE: runsc builds from this branch are not supported. gVisor and
runsc require several binaries (some of which are not even written in Go) in
order to function. The go branch is supported in a best effort capacity, and
direct development on this branch is not supported. Development should occur on
the master branch, which is then reflected into the go branch.
See GOVERNANCE.md for project governance information.
The gvisor-users mailing list and gvisor-dev mailing list are good starting points for questions and discussion.
See SECURITY.md.
See Contributing.md.