Google's Kage Project Rethinks Linux Kernel Security With Isolated Device Drivers
Linux Journal, Tuesday, October 6th, 2026
Google's experimental Kage uses compiler-based sandboxing to isolate Linux drivers without moving them to user space.
Presented at Linux Plumbers Conference 2026, Google and Stanford's Kage project uses LLVM Lightweight Fault Isolation to sandbox device drivers inside the kernel, containing memory corruption bugs and exploits while keeping in-kernel performance.
Prototypes already work with NVMe, networking and Wi-Fi drivers, though Kage is still research and questions remain about performance, hardware access and complex drivers such as graphics.
If it matures, it could shrink one of Linux's largest attack surfaces.