Sandlock

Lightweight process sandbox for Linux. Confines untrusted code using Landlock (filesystem + network + IPC), seccomp-bpf (syscall filtering), and seccomp user notification (resource limits, IP enforcement, /proc virtualization). No root, no cgroups, no containers.

sandlock run -w /tmp -r /usr -r /lib -m 512M -- python3 untrusted.py

Why Sandlock?

Containers and VMs are powerful but heavy. Sandlock targets the gap: strict confinement without image builds or root privileges. Built-in COW filesystem protects your working directory automatically.

Feature	Sandlock	Container	MicroVM (Firecracker)
Root required	No	Yes*	Yes (KVM)
Image build	No	Yes	Yes
Startup time	~5 ms	~200 ms	~100 ms
Kernel	Shared	Shared	Separate guest
Filesystem isolation	Landlock + seccomp COW	Overlay	Block-level
Network isolation	Landlock + seccomp notif	Network namespace	TAP device
Syscall filtering	seccomp-bpf	seccomp	N/A
Resource limits	seccomp notif + SIGSTOP	cgroup v2	VM config

* Rootless containers exist but require user namespace support and /etc/subuid configuration.

Architecture

Sandlock is implemented in Rust for performance and safety:

• sandlock-core — Rust library: Landlock, seccomp, supervisor, COW, pipeline
• sandlock-cli — Rust CLI binary (sandlock run ...)
• sandlock-ffi — C ABI shared library (libsandlock_ffi.so)
• Python SDK — ctypes bindings to the FFI library

                    ┌─────────────┐
                    │  Python SDK │  ctypes FFI
                    │  (sandlock) │──────────────┐
                    └─────────────┘              │
                                                 ▼
┌──────────────┐    ┌──────────────────────────────┐
│ sandlock CLI │───>│       libsandlock_ffi.so      │
└──────────────┘    └──────────────┬───────────────┘
                                   │
                    ┌──────────────▼───────────────┐
                    │        sandlock-core          │
                    │  Landlock · seccomp · COW ·   │
                    │  pipeline · policy_fn · vDSO  │
                    └──────────────────────────────┘

Requirements

• Linux 6.12+ (Landlock ABI v6), Rust 1.70+ (to build)
• Python 3.8+ (optional, for Python SDK)
• No root, no cgroups

Feature	Minimum kernel
seccomp user notification	5.6
Landlock filesystem rules	5.13
Landlock TCP port rules	6.7 (ABI v4)
Landlock IPC scoping	6.12 (ABI v6)

Install

From source

# Build the Rust binary and shared library
cargo build --release

# Install Python SDK (auto-builds Rust FFI library)
cd python && pip install -e .

CLI only

cargo install --path crates/sandlock-cli

Quick Start

CLI

# Basic confinement
sandlock run -r /usr -r /lib -w /tmp -- ls /tmp

# Interactive shell
sandlock run -i -r /usr -r /lib -r /lib64 -r /bin -r /etc -w /tmp -- /bin/sh

# Resource limits + timeout
sandlock run -m 512M -P 20 -t 30 -- ./compute.sh

# Domain-based network isolation
sandlock run --net-allow-host api.openai.com -r /usr -r /lib -r /etc -- python3 agent.py

# TCP port restrictions (Landlock)
sandlock run --net-bind 8080 --net-connect 443 -r /usr -r /lib -r /etc -- python3 server.py

# IPC scoping + clean environment
sandlock run --isolate-ipc --isolate-signals --clean-env --env CC=gcc \
  -r /usr -r /lib -w /tmp -- make

# Deterministic execution (frozen time + seeded randomness)
sandlock run --time-start "2000-01-01T00:00:00Z" --random-seed 42 -- ./build.sh

# Port virtualization (multiple sandboxes can bind the same port)
sandlock run --port-remap --net-bind 6379 -r /usr -r /lib -r /etc -- redis-server --port 6379

# COW filesystem (writes captured, committed on success)
sandlock run --workdir /opt/project -r /usr -r /lib -- python3 task.py

# Dry-run (show what files would change, then discard)
sandlock run --dry-run --workdir . -w . -r /usr -r /lib -r /bin -r /etc -- make build

# Use a saved profile
sandlock run -p build -- make -j4

# Filesystem-only confinement (Landlock only, no seccomp/supervisor)
sandlock run --fs-only -r /usr -r /lib -r /lib64 -r /bin -w /tmp -- ./script.sh

# Nested sandboxing: confine sandlock's own supervisor
sandlock run --fs-only -r /proc -r /usr -r /lib -r /lib64 -r /bin -r /etc -w /tmp -- \
  sandlock run -r /usr -w /tmp -- untrusted-command

Python API

from sandlock import Sandbox, Policy, confine

policy = Policy(
    fs_writable=["/tmp/sandbox"],
    fs_readable=["/usr", "/lib", "/etc"],
    max_memory="256M",
    max_processes=10,
    isolate_ipc=True,
    clean_env=True,
)

# Run a command
result = Sandbox(policy).run(["python3", "-c", "print('hello')"])
assert result.success
assert b"hello" in result.stdout

# Confine the current process (Landlock filesystem only, irreversible)
confine(Policy(fs_readable=["/usr", "/lib"], fs_writable=["/tmp"]))

# Dry-run: see what files would change, then discard
policy = Policy(fs_writable=["."], workdir=".", fs_readable=["/usr", "/lib", "/bin", "/etc"])
result = Sandbox(policy).dry_run(["make", "build"])
for c in result.changes:
    print(f"{c.kind}  {c.path}")  # A=added, M=modified, D=deleted

Pipeline

Chain sandboxed stages with the | operator — each stage has its own independent policy. Data flows through kernel pipes.

from sandlock import Sandbox, Policy

trusted = Policy(fs_readable=["/usr", "/lib", "/bin", "/etc", "/opt/data"])
restricted = Policy(fs_readable=["/usr", "/lib", "/bin", "/etc"])

# Reader can access data, processor cannot
result = (
    Sandbox(trusted).cmd(["cat", "/opt/data/secret.csv"])
    | Sandbox(restricted).cmd(["tr", "a-z", "A-Z"])
).run()
assert b"SECRET" in result.stdout

XOA pattern (eXecute Over Architecture) — planner generates code, executor runs it with data access but no network:

planner = Policy(fs_readable=["/usr", "/lib", "/bin", "/etc"])
executor = Policy(fs_readable=["/usr", "/lib", "/bin", "/etc", "/data"])

result = (
    Sandbox(planner).cmd(["python3", "-c", "print('cat /data/input.txt')"])
    | Sandbox(executor).cmd(["sh"])
).run()

Dynamic Policy (policy_fn)

Inspect syscall events at runtime and adjust permissions on the fly. Each event includes rich metadata: path, host, port, argv, category, parent PID. The callback returns a verdict to allow, deny, or audit.

from sandlock import Sandbox, Policy
import errno

def on_event(event, ctx):
    # Block download tools
    if event.syscall == "execve" and event.argv_contains("curl"):
        return True  # deny

    # Custom errno for sensitive files
    if event.category == "file" and event.path_contains("/secret"):
        return errno.EACCES

    # Restrict network after setup phase
    if event.syscall == "execve" and event.path_contains("untrusted"):
        ctx.restrict_network([])
        ctx.deny_path("/etc/shadow")

    # Audit file access (allow but flag)
    if event.category == "file":
        return "audit"

    return 0  # allow

policy = Policy(
    fs_readable=["/usr", "/lib", "/etc"],
    net_allow_hosts=["api.example.com"],
)
result = Sandbox(policy, policy_fn=on_event).run(["python3", "agent.py"])

Verdicts: 0/False = allow, True/-1 = deny (EPERM), positive int = deny with errno, "audit"/-2 = allow + flag.

Event fields: syscall, category (file/network/process/memory), pid, parent_pid, path, host, port, argv, denied.

Context methods:

• ctx.restrict_network(ips) / ctx.grant_network(ips) — network control
• ctx.restrict_max_memory(bytes) / ctx.restrict_max_processes(n) — resource limits
• ctx.deny_path(path) / ctx.allow_path(path) — dynamic filesystem restriction
• ctx.restrict_pid_network(pid, ips) — per-PID network override

Held syscalls (child blocked until callback returns): execve, connect, sendto, bind, openat.

Rust API

use sandlock_core::{Policy, Sandbox, Pipeline, Stage, confine_current_process};

// Basic run
let policy = Policy::builder()
    .fs_read("/usr").fs_read("/lib")
    .fs_write("/tmp")
    .max_memory(ByteSize::mib(256))
    .build()?;
let result = Sandbox::run(&policy, &["echo", "hello"]).await?;
assert!(result.success());

// Confine the current process (Landlock filesystem only, irreversible)
let policy = Policy::builder()
    .fs_read("/usr").fs_read("/lib")
    .fs_write("/tmp")
    .build()?;
confine_current_process(&policy)?;

// Pipeline
let result = (
    Stage::new(&policy_a, &["echo", "hello"])
    | Stage::new(&policy_b, &["tr", "a-z", "A-Z"])
).run(None).await?;

// Dynamic policy
use sandlock_core::policy_fn::Verdict;
let policy = Policy::builder()
    .fs_read("/usr").fs_read("/lib")
    .policy_fn(|event, ctx| {
        if event.argv_contains("curl") {
            return Verdict::Deny;
        }
        if event.syscall == "execve" {
            ctx.restrict_network(&[]);
            ctx.deny_path("/etc/shadow");
        }
        Verdict::Allow
    })
    .build()?;

Profiles

Save reusable policies as TOML files in ~/.config/sandlock/profiles/:

# ~/.config/sandlock/profiles/build.toml
fs_writable = ["/tmp/work"]
fs_readable = ["/usr", "/lib", "/lib64", "/bin", "/etc"]
clean_env = true
isolate_ipc = true
max_memory = "512M"
max_processes = 50

[env]
CC = "gcc"
LANG = "C.UTF-8"

sandlock profile list
sandlock profile show build
sandlock run -p build -- make -j4

How It Works

Sandlock applies confinement in sequence after fork():

Parent                              Child
  │  fork()                           │
  │──────────────────────────────────>│
  │                                   ├─ 1. setpgid(0,0)
  │                                   ├─ 2. Optional: chdir(cwd)
  │                                   ├─ 3. NO_NEW_PRIVS
  │                                   ├─ 4. Landlock (fs + net + IPC)
  │                                   ├─ 5. seccomp filter (deny + notif)
  │                                   │     └─ send notif fd ──> Parent
  │  receive notif fd                 ├─ 6. Wait for "ready" signal
  │  start supervisor (tokio)         ├─ 7. Close fds 3+
  │  optional: vDSO patching          └─ 8. exec(cmd)
  │  optional: policy_fn thread
  │  optional: CPU throttle task

Seccomp Supervisor

The async notification supervisor (tokio) handles intercepted syscalls:

Syscall	Handler
clone/fork/vfork	Process count enforcement
mmap/munmap/brk/mremap	Memory limit tracking
connect/sendto/sendmsg	IP allowlist + on-behalf execution
bind	On-behalf bind + port remapping
openat	/proc virtualization, COW interception
unlinkat/mkdirat/renameat2	COW write interception
execve/execveat	policy_fn hold + vDSO re-patching
getrandom	Deterministic PRNG injection
clock_nanosleep/timer_settime	Timer adjustment for frozen time
getdents64	PID filtering, COW directory merging
getsockname	Port remap translation

COW Filesystem

Two modes of copy-on-write filesystem isolation:

Seccomp COW (default when workdir is set): Intercepts filesystem syscalls via seccomp notification. Writes go to an upper directory; reads resolve upper-then-lower. No mount namespace, no root. Committed on exit, aborted on error.

OverlayFS COW: Uses kernel OverlayFS in a user namespace. Requires unprivileged user namespaces to be enabled.

Dry-run mode: --dry-run runs the command, inspects the COW layer for changes (added/modified/deleted files), prints a summary, then aborts — leaving the workdir completely untouched. Useful for previewing what a command would do before committing.

COW Fork & Map-Reduce

Initialize expensive state once, then fork COW clones that share memory. Each fork uses raw fork(2) (bypasses seccomp notification) for minimal overhead. 1000 clones in ~530ms, ~1,900 forks/sec.

Each clone's stdout is captured via its own pipe. reduce() reads all pipes and feeds combined output to a reducer's stdin — fully pipe-based data flow with no temp files.

from sandlock import Sandbox, Policy

def init():
    global model, data
    model = load_model()          # 2 GB, loaded once
    data = preprocess_dataset()

def work(clone_id):
    shard = data[clone_id::4]
    print(sum(shard))             # stdout → per-clone pipe

# Map: fork 4 clones with separate policies
mapper = Sandbox(data_policy, init_fn=init, work_fn=work)
clones = mapper.fork(4)

# Reduce: pipe clone outputs to reducer stdin
result = Sandbox(reduce_policy).reduce(
    ["python3", "-c", "import sys; print(sum(int(l) for l in sys.stdin))"],
    clones,
)
print(result.stdout)  # b"total\n"

let mut mapper = Sandbox::new_with_fns(&map_policy,
    || { load_data(); },
    |id| { println!("{}", compute(id)); },
)?;
let mut clones = mapper.fork(4).await?;

let reducer = Sandbox::new(&reduce_policy)?;
let result = reducer.reduce(
    &["python3", "-c", "import sys; print(sum(int(l) for l in sys.stdin))"],
    &mut clones,
).await?;

Map and reduce run in separate sandboxes with independent policies — the mapper has data access, the reducer doesn't. Each clone inherits Landlock + seccomp confinement. CLONE_ID=0..N-1 is set automatically.

Port Virtualization

Each sandbox gets a full virtual port space. Multiple sandboxes can bind the same port without conflicts. The supervisor performs bind() on behalf of the child via pidfd_getfd (TOCTOU-safe). When a port conflicts, a different real port is allocated transparently. /proc/net/tcp is filtered to only show the sandbox's own ports.

Performance

Benchmarked on a typical Linux workstation:

Workload	Bare metal	Sandlock	Docker	Sandlock overhead
/bin/echo startup	2 ms	7 ms	307 ms	5 ms (44x faster than Docker)
Redis SET (100K ops)	82K rps	80K rps	52K rps	97.1% of bare metal
Redis GET (100K ops)	79K rps	77K rps	53K rps	97.1% of bare metal
Redis p99 latency	0.5 ms	0.6 ms	1.5 ms	~2.5x lower than Docker
COW fork ×1000	—	530 ms	—	530μs/fork, ~1,900 forks/sec

Testing

# Rust tests
cargo test --release

# Python tests
cd python && pip install -e . && pytest tests/

Policy Reference

Policy(
    # Filesystem (Landlock)
    fs_writable=["/tmp"],          # Read/write access
    fs_readable=["/usr", "/lib"],  # Read-only access
    fs_denied=["/proc/kcore"],     # Explicitly denied

    # Syscall filtering (seccomp)
    deny_syscalls=None,            # None = default blocklist
    allow_syscalls=None,           # Allowlist mode (stricter)

    # Network
    net_allow_hosts=["api.example.com"],  # Domain allowlist
    net_bind=[8080],               # TCP bind ports (Landlock ABI v4+)
    net_connect=[443],             # TCP connect ports

    # Socket restrictions
    no_raw_sockets=True,           # Block SOCK_RAW (default)
    no_udp=False,                  # Block SOCK_DGRAM

    # IPC scoping (Landlock ABI v6+)
    isolate_ipc=False,             # Block abstract UNIX sockets to host
    isolate_signals=False,         # Block signals to host processes

    # Resources
    max_memory="512M",             # Memory limit
    max_processes=64,              # Fork count limit
    max_cpu=50,                    # CPU throttle (% of one core)
    max_open_files=256,            # fd limit
    port_remap=False,              # Virtual port space

    # Deterministic execution
    time_start="2000-01-01T00:00:00",  # Frozen time
    random_seed=42,                # Deterministic getrandom()
    no_randomize_memory=False,     # Disable ASLR
    no_huge_pages=False,           # Disable THP
    no_coredump=False,             # Disable core dumps

    # Environment
    clean_env=False,               # Minimal env
    env={"KEY": "value"},          # Override env vars

    # COW isolation
    workdir=None,                  # COW root directory
    cwd=None,                      # Child working directory
    fs_isolation=FsIsolation.NONE, # NONE | OVERLAYFS | BRANCHFS
    on_exit=BranchAction.COMMIT,   # COMMIT | ABORT | KEEP
    on_error=BranchAction.ABORT,

    # Misc
    chroot=None,
    close_fds=True,
    privileged=False,              # UID 0 in user namespace
)