Comment by tuananh

1 month ago

isn't sandbox-exec already deprecated?

Yes, for about a decade. But it’s available everywhere, and still works - and protects us - like brand new!

  • It's quite naive to assume that. There is a reason why it is deprecated by Apple.

    Apple is likely preparing to remove it for a secure alternative and all it takes is someone to find a single or a bunch of multiple vulnerabilities in sandbox-exec to give a wake up call to everyone why were they using it in the first place.

    I predict that there is a CVE lurking in sandbox-exec waiting to be discovered.

    • On the other hand, the underlying functionality for sandboxing is used heavily throughout the OS, both for App Sandboxes and for Apple’s own system processes. My guess is sandbox-exec is deprecated more because it never was adequately documented rather than because it’s flawed in some way.

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    • As I understand it, Chrome, Claude Code, and OpenAI Codex all use sandbox-exec. I’m not sure Apple could remove it even if they were sufficiently motivated to.

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