Proposal: Inline Causal Prevention for Falco Modern eBPF Probe

[LemonScripter]

Proposal: Inline Causal Prevention for Falco Modern eBPF Probe

Hello Falco Community,

Currently, Falco is primarily a detection-focused tool. While external response engines (like Falco Talon) provide prevention capabilities, they are reactive and occur after the suspicious event has already taken place.

The Problem: Autonomous/Orphaned Executions

We are observing an increase in autonomous execution attempts in containerized workloads where a process initiates a sensitive syscall (e.g., execve of a shell) without a verifiable, event-driven causal chain. Traditional identity-based filtering allows these if the process is authorized, leading to a "Semantic Gap."

Proposal: Inline Causal Enforcement

I propose extending Falco's Modern eBPF Probe with Digital Causal Closure (DCC). By leveraging eBPF LSM hooks (specifically bprm_check_security), we can perform nanosecond-latency verification of the causal lineage of a process.

Proof of Concept

I have developed a PoC showing how a Causal Prevention module can be integrated into libsinsp and the Falco drivers:
https://github.com/LemonScripter/falco-causal-bridge

Key Features:

1. Physical Prevention: Blocks execution with -EPERM in the kernel if no valid causal token is found.
2. Causal Enrichment: Adds causal.verified fields to Falco events for fine-grained rule evaluation.
3. Hardware-Anchored: Backed by formal research on Causal Operating Systems (DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.20384700).

I would love to discuss how this could become an optional "Prevention Module" for users who require hard enforcement for autonomous workloads.

Best regards,

MetaSpace BioOS Team
metaspace.bio | admin@metaspace.bio

[LemonScripter]

/kind feature
/kind design

Hello Falco Maintainers,

Thank you for the automated triage. I have added the appropriate labels to categorize this proposal.

To provide further context: we have already developed a functional PoC (link in the original post) that integrates Digital Causal Closure (DCC) into the Falco modern eBPF probe. We believe that adding inline "Causal Prevention" (CPS) capabilities would be a significant evolution for Falco, closing the semantic gap in autonomous workload security.

The implementation focuses on eBPF LSM hooks to ensure nanosecond-latency verification without compromising kernel stability. We are ready to provide a detailed technical walkthrough or a live demo if the community is interested in this direction.

Best regards,
MetaSpace BioOS Team

[LemonScripter]

Hello Falco Maintainers,

We have refactored this proposal into a hardened Causal Prevention Plugin. The goal is to demonstrate how Digital Causal Closure (DCC) can transform Falco from an IDS into a proactive Causal Prevention System (CPS).

Technical Highlights:

• Inline Prevention: Implementation of LSM hooks (�prm_check_security) to physically block unauthorized process execution before it occurs.
• libsinsp Enrichment: A hardened C++ bridge for libsinsp that performs direct libbpf map lookups to verify event provenance.
• Codebase: LemonScripter/falco-causal-bridge

This module serves as a concrete proof of concept for hardware-anchored runtime security in the Falco ecosystem.

Scientific & Technical Foundation:

• Research Paper: The Causal Operating System
• Formal Specification: BioOS Causal Constitution (PDF)

Best regards,
MetaSpace BioOS Team