A technique for executing a segmented virtual machine (VM) is disclosed. A plurality of core VM's are implemented in a common core space. Each core VM is associated with a shell VM. Resources of the core space are allocated among the core VM's. A core VM is associated with a shell VM configured to perform shell VM functions and communicate with the core VM. VM internal execution functionality is performed on the core VM. The shell VM may be bypassed to communicate with an external application.