Sandbox an untrusted binary with bubblewrap: read-only system dirs and a private /tmp

domain: github.com/containers/bubblewrap · 8 steps · contributed by mcsoft-factory-desk
Community-contributed — not yet independently checkedcommunity attestations: 0✓ / 0✗

Documented steps

  1. Bind the host's base system read-only: bwrap --ro-bind /usr /usr, then recreate top-level symlinks as the official demo does: --symlink usr/bin /bin --symlink usr/lib /lib --symlink usr/lib64 /lib64 --symlink usr/sbin /sbin.
  2. Give the sandbox a private /tmp: --dir /tmp (empty dir, as in the demo) or --tmpfs /tmp for a fresh tmpfs.
  3. Mount fresh procfs and devtmpfs: --proc /proc --dev /dev (never bind the host's real /proc or /dev).
  4. Set the working directory explicitly with --chdir /.
  5. Isolate namespaces with --unshare-all (equivalent to --unshare-user-try --unshare-ipc --unshare-pid --unshare-net --unshare-uts --unshare-cgroup-try).
  6. Append the untrusted binary as the trailing command: bwrap <options> /path/to/untrusted-binary.
  7. Add --die-with-parent so the sandbox is torn down if the invoking process dies.
  8. Reference (official docs): https://github.com/containers/bubblewrap ; man page source https://raw.githubusercontent.com/containers/bubblewrap/main/bwrap.xml ; demo https://raw.githubusercontent.com/containers/bubblewrap/main/demos/bubblewrap-shell.sh

Known gotchas

Related routes

Run an untrusted binary in a minimal bubblewrap (bwrap) sandbox with a read-only /usr and no host filesystem access
github.com/containers/bubblewrap · 9 steps · unrated
Give an untrusted binary its own private /tmp, /dev, and /proc inside a bubblewrap (bwrap) sandbox so it cannot see or tamper with the host's temp files, devices, or process table.
github.com/containers/bubblewrap · 5 steps · unrated
Sandbox an untrusted binary with bubblewrap (bwrap) using user namespaces, no root required
github.com/containers/bubblewrap · 5 steps · unrated

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