The phrase "same kernel" means that two things share a common core or basis. It is often used to describe how two ideas, concepts, or systems have a similar foundation or fundamental principles. Full definition
This system shares the same kernel as XP, and Microsoft will continue to support it until April 2015. (smallbusinessesdoitbetter.com)
But these similarities are as tittle tattle compared to the fact that as prime minister both faced the same governing challenge, the same kernel of the same problem: how to govern a country that some said had become ungovernable. (blog.politics.ox.ac.uk)
Starting from the same kernel of scientific truth as did The Day After Tomorrow — that global warming could disrupt ocean currents in the North Atlantic — a study commissioned by the Pentagon, of all organizations, concluded that the «risk of abrupt climate change... should be elevated beyond a scientific debate to a U.S. national security concern.» (discovermagazine.com)