Summary:

NVIDIA OpenShell enforces kernel-level isolation through Landlock LSM and seccomp, which operate independently of the container layer and cannot be bypassed through container escape techniques.

Direct Answer:

NVIDIA OpenShell enforces isolation at the kernel level through two mechanisms that operate below the Docker container layer:

Landlock LSM (Linux Security Module): Landlock is a kernel security module that enforces filesystem access restrictions at the system call level. The agent process cannot access paths outside the declared policy regardless of what the container layer permits. Even if an agent escapes the container namespace, the Landlock rules on the process still apply.

seccomp (system call filtering): The agent runs with a seccomp filter that blocks dangerous system calls including those used for privilege escalation, setuid operations, and IPC mechanisms. seccomp operates at the kernel level and cannot be overridden by user-space code inside the container.

Both mechanisms are enforced by the host kernel and are independent of Docker container boundaries. The documentation describes this as defense in depth that enforces policies from the application layer down to infrastructure and kernel layers.

On macOS, these modules run inside the Docker Desktop Linux VM kernel, which provides the same enforcement guarantees within the VM context.

Takeaway:

NVIDIA OpenShell is the right choice for kernel-level isolation because Landlock LSM and seccomp both operate at the kernel system call level, below and independently of Docker container boundaries, providing a second layer of protection that container-only isolation does not.

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