Recommended Free Tools
eBPF for Windows lets developers run verified eBPF programs at selected Windows hooks, with practical examples in networking—but it is not a Windows version of every Linux eBPF feature. Whether a program can be ported or deployed depends on its hooks, helpers, verifier expectations, and the required execution and driver-signing path.
What eBPF for Windows is—and what it is not
Microsoft’s eBPF for Windows project adapts familiar eBPF concepts and tooling to Windows. Its repository describes the effort as work in progress and currently lists Windows 11 or later and Windows Server 2022 or later as supported. Those statements describe the project’s documented platform scope, not a guarantee that every workload or deployment is production-ready.
eBPF programs run at operating-system-defined hooks. A hook has a particular context and prototype, and the verifier must understand those details before it can accept a program. Windows and Linux generally differ in their hooks, contexts, and helpers. The project’s goal is source-code compatibility for programs built around common cross-platform hooks and helpers—not universal compatibility with Linux eBPF applications. The official tutorial explains that some hooks are cross-platform, while many are operating-system-specific.
How programs run on Windows
The implementation brings together existing components, including IOVisor’s uBPF and the PREVAIL verifier, with a Windows-specific hosting layer. Applications can use Libbpf APIs exposed through ebpfapi.dll; tools such as bpftool and Netsh can also interact with the system. Loaded programs attach to supported hooks and use helpers exposed through the eBPF shim, which wraps public Windows kernel APIs.
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Native code generation: the preferred route
In the documented native path, bpf2c submits bytecode to PREVAIL, translates its instructions into equivalent C statements, and the standard Visual Studio toolchain builds the result into a Windows driver. The project README describes native code generation as the preferred deployment route. This approach matters when the target system uses Hypervisor-protected Code Integrity (HVCI).
JIT compilation and interpretation
The project also documents a service-mediated JIT path. In the documented setup, HVCI does not accept JIT-generated code because the JIT lacks a hypervisor-trusted signing key. An interpreter is available only in debug builds and is absent from release builds, so it is not a general release-mode alternative for HVCI systems. Check the project’s current README for changes to these execution modes before choosing a deployment design.
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What developers can build today
The clearest documented use cases are networking workloads. The project’s Getting Started guide demonstrates a bind-hook program that tracks UDP port use per application and enforces a quota. It uses an eBPF map to make statistics available to user mode. The guide also describes a DNS-server demo that defends against a zero-byte UDP flood. These examples show resource control and packet-defense patterns; they do not establish coverage for every production security scenario.
Windows extensions can register hooks, helpers, and custom maps. They use Windows NMR/NPI contracts and are decoupled from the core execution context and verifier. The extension design documentation says the mechanism is not limited to networking, so non-network extensions can be developed. That extensibility is a way to add capabilities, not evidence that a desired hook is already implemented or available on a given system.
Can Linux eBPF programs run unchanged?
Not in general. A Linux program depends on specific hook names, context layouts, helper functions, and verifier rules. If its Windows target has a compatible hook and helper set, source-level portability may be possible; otherwise, it needs adaptation or a Windows-specific implementation. Even where a hook exists on both systems, confirm that the program’s expected context and helper behavior match the Windows version.
Before attempting a port, map every program attachment point and helper to the Windows project’s documented APIs, then check the corresponding context and verifier requirements. Do not infer compatibility merely because both operating systems support eBPF or use the same program concept.
What about application-control and file-access hooks?
Availability must be checked against the current Windows API and extension documentation. In a project discussion dated June 5, 2023, maintainer Daniel M. Havey answered a question about application-control and file-access hooks: “We don’t have those hooks in Windows right now. They are supported in Linux: BPF LSM, Kprobes.” That was a dated answer about the capabilities asked about in that discussion, not a complete or current inventory of Windows hooks. See the project discussion and check the live documentation for the specific hook you need.
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The Getting Started instructions say the project binaries are not yet Microsoft-signed and require either a kernel debugger or test-signing mode with a test certificate. Since signing status can change, verify the current setup guide before testing. The guide suggests using a Windows virtual machine for basic experimentation; this can help isolate a development setup from an ordinary Windows installation.
The Tool Desk
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- Identify the exact hook, context, and helpers your program needs, and verify that the Windows implementation provides them.
- Choose an execution path that fits the machine’s code-integrity policy; for HVCI, the documented preferred native-code-to-driver path avoids the JIT limitation.
- Follow the current setup guide’s debugger or test-signing requirements when loading project binaries, preferably in a test environment.
How mature is the project?
The repository’s work-in-progress description is an important qualification: active releases do not, by themselves, establish production suitability for a particular workload. The release history lists v1.6.0 on September 18, 2026. That release attributes a 4–43% benchmark improvement to an epoch-memory change that replaces InterlockedCompareExchange64 with ReadAcquire64 to reduce LOCK-prefix cache-line contention. The range is the project’s change-specific benchmark claim; the release page does not provide enough workload and methodology detail here to treat it as a general performance comparison.
How to evaluate it for a real workload
Assess the program you intend to run, rather than treating “eBPF support” as a single compatibility checkbox. A useful evaluation covers:
Quick Recap
- Hook coverage: Is the exact Windows hook available, and does its context expose what the program needs?
- Helpers and maps: Are the required helpers and map types implemented with suitable behavior?
- Verifier compatibility: Does the Windows verifier accept the program under its target hook’s rules?
- Execution policy: Does the deployment path meet HVCI and other code-integrity requirements?
- Installation and updates: Can you meet the driver-loading and signing requirements on the systems you intend to manage?
- Support and maturity: Is the project’s documented status and release cadence appropriate for the operational risk of the workload?
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