The Cortex XDR agent protects Linux servers by preventing known and unknown malware from running by halting any attempts to leverage software exploits and vulnerabilities to compromise the server. The agent also extends exploit and malware protection to processes that run in Linux containers. When you install the agent on a Linux server that uses containers, it automatically protects any new and existing containerized processes regardless of the container solution (for example, docker). Because Cortex XDR issues the license per Linux server, each container does not consume any additional licenses.
The protection capabilities and features that the Cortex XDR agent for Linux provide depend on the operation modes you choose to deploy the Cortex XDR agent on your Linux server:
Kernel Mode
Cortex XDR agent runs in the supported kernel version itself. The Palo Alto Networks Compatibility Matrix provides more information about supported versions.
User Space Mode
Allows you to leverage the protection provide by Cortex XDR agent on Linux distributions running kernel 5.0 and above without loading a kernel module.
To enable the User Space mode, make sure you:
Configure in your Add a New Agent Settings Profile the Agent Operation Mode as User Space.
For new Cortex XDR agents and Cortex XDR agents running on versions earlier than 7.8, the current YAML file is incompatible. You must create and deploy the new YAML installer for Kubernetes based installations.
Note
User Space mode is available for machines running kernel 5.0 and above.
The following table details protection capabilities provided according to each operation mode.
Protection Capabilities | Kernel | User Space |
|---|---|---|
Exploit Protection | x | x |
Malware Protection | x | x |
Endpoint EDR Data Collection | x | x |
Event Monitoring | x | x |
File Execution
| x | x |
Kernel Integrity Monitoring | x | — |
Local Privilege Escalation Protection | x | — |
The following topics describe how to install and use the Cortex XDR agent for Linux: