--- title: Hiding Virtualization From Other Software | daily.dev description: A tool called vfio-native obscures the fact that software might be running in a virtual machine. Built by [sandwich], it includes kernel patches that fix some... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/hiding-virtualization-from-other-software-tax3m5gg0 twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Hiding Virtualization From Other Software | daily.dev og:description: A tool called vfio-native obscures the fact that software might be running in a virtual machine. Built by [sandwich], it includes kernel patches that fix some... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/hiding-virtualization-from-other-software-tax3m5gg0 og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/tAx3M5gg0.png og:image:alt: Hiding Virtualization From Other Software og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Hiding Virtualization From Other Software **[Hackaday](https://daily.dev/sources/hackaday)** · 2 min read · 2 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A tool called vfio-native obscures the fact that software might be running in a virtual machine. Built by [sandwich], it includes kernel patches that fix some bugs addressing behavioral differences, changes how the kernel identifies itself, and attempts to force CPUs to behave like real hardware. With these changes, a VM scores 1 out of 85 against one VM detection tool, versus 10 out of 85 for a standard KVM virtual machine. It's available in the AUR for Arch Linux. Beyond cheating at Counter-Strike, there are other reasons to use it, such as security researchers testing malware and licensed software that may disable itself when it detects a VM. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### How can I make a KVM virtual machine undetectable to VM detection tools? A tool called vfio-native applies kernel patches that fix behavioral differences between virtual and bare-metal CPUs, change how the kernel identifies itself, and force CPUs to act like real hardware. Using it, a KVM virtual machine scores 1 out of 85 against a VM detection tool, compared to 10 out of 85 for a standard KVM setup. It is available in the AUR for Arch Linux. _Developers working through VM-hiding techniques for KVM can find tools like this discussed on daily.dev._ ### Why would someone want to hide that software is running in a virtual machine? Security researchers analyzing malware need the malware to behave as it would on real hardware, since some malicious software behaves differently or stays dormant when it detects a VM. Some licensed software also disables itself when it detects virtualization, which becomes a problem for legacy industrial control software that only runs on unmaintained operating systems or hardware that's no longer available. _Anyone troubleshooting VM-detection issues for legacy or licensed software can follow tools like this on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [I use a single PC for my coding, gaming, and self-hosting tasks without them sabotaging each other](https://daily.dev/posts/i-use-a-single-pc-for-my-coding-gaming-and-self-hosting-tasks-without-them-sabotaging-each-other-xl3m5xlqk) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Your Container Is Not a Sandbox](https://daily.dev/posts/your-container-is-not-a-sandbox-dkskd3kl8) · Lobsters · 26 upvotes · 1 comments - [Flatpak Exploring GPU Virtualization To Ease Driver Challenges](https://daily.dev/posts/flatpak-exploring-gpu-virtualization-to-ease-driver-challenges-0irfkmyja) · Phoronix · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [What everyone gets wrong about building sandboxes](https://daily.dev/posts/what-everyone-gets-wrong-about-building-sandboxes-dx06jnwt5) · Inngest Blog · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#linux](https://daily.dev/tags/linux), [#infrastructure](https://daily.dev/tags/infrastructure), [#malware](https://daily.dev/tags/malware) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/hiding-virtualization-from-other-software-tax3m5gg0) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Hiding Virtualization From Other Software","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/hiding-virtualization-from-other-software-tax3m5gg0","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/hiding-virtualization-from-other-software-tax3m5gg0"},"datePublished":"2026-10-26T11:08:06.633Z","dateModified":"2026-10-26T11:14:10.417Z","description":"A tool called vfio-native obscures the fact that software might be running in a virtual machine. 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