
Sandboxie-Plus – a fork of Sandboxie with improved functionality - realpanzer
https://github.com/sandboxie-plus/Sandboxie/releases/tag/v0.3
======
dannyw
> The SbieDrv.sys driver must be signed, and since the appropriate
> certificates are prohibitively expensive, I head to use a leaked code
> signing certificate I found laying around the Internets. This means some
> anti malware applications wrongfully flag it as potentially dangerous or a
> virus.

Finding leaked but operational EV code singing certs online should not be a
thing ...

~~~
corty
Just emphasizes what is common knowledge anyways: code signing is security
circus in windows, it's just an entry tax really.

~~~
R0b0t1
To anyone who doubts this: while there is strict enforcement for kernel code
just having a signature on binaries or scripts silences errors.

~~~
GordonS
A _valid_ signature. That means the signature must chain to a trusted root CA,
and the signing must have taken place within the signing certificate's
validity period. If the certificate has expired at the time the user executes
the binary, a counter-signature from a trusted timestamping service must also
be present, to prove the binary was indeed signed within the certificate's
validity period.

This seems fairly sane to me, and and allows doing things in software like
trusting particular publishers.

~~~
R0b0t1
No, it doesn't need to chain to a trusted root. Any signature silences a whole
class of errors. You can also do strict enforcement if you'd like but the last
I looked at this it's not the default.

~~~
GordonS
Digital signatures absolutely do need to chain to a trusted root (also, I
forgot to mention that the certificate also has to have the "digital
signature" EKU).

What errors do you believe are silenced when an executable has an invalid or
untrusted signature?

~~~
R0b0t1
From memory adding a valid but unchained signature to a binary will change how
SmartScreen initially evaluates your application. If there's no signature at
all you get a yellow box or at least a message that is more alarming than if
there is a valid signature even if unrecognized.

Similar thing for the script signing policies -- during my testing the default
seems to want _a_ signature, but not a valid chained one. I was confused in
the same way you are, but the documentation doesn't actually say you need a
valid chained signature nor does it really describe the threat and security
models.

They just have signatures, because signatures make things more secure, right?

~~~
GordonS
Apologies, I was thinking of Windows installers, rather than executables - a
warning is given for installers with an invalid or untrusted signature, but
you were correct that no warning is given for executables.

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imiric
After an uncertain period for this project, I'm very happy Sophos decided to
open source it and that the community is continuing its development. It's
absolutely essential if you're running any untrusted applications on Windows,
allowing an extensive level of control over the resources the app is allowed
to access (registry, filesystem, network, etc.).

It's similar to containers on Linux in that sense, it has little to no
overhead (sandboxing games works great in most cases), but in an even more
user-friendly package than something like Docker. Highly recommended.

------
miles
Since version 1903, Windows 10 has included a built-in sandbox feature as
well:

How to Safely Run Software With Windows 10 Sandbox [https://www.pcmag.com/how-
to/how-to-safely-run-software-with...](https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/how-to-
safely-run-software-with-windows-10-sandbox)

~~~
pmoriarty
How does this compare with Sandboxie?

Are there any reasons to use one over the other?

~~~
whiw
1\. When you open a win10 sandbox it appears as a fresh install of windows.
Only Microsoft Edge is pre-installed. If you like to tweak privacy settings
etc then you'll need to re-tweak them every time you start up a win10 sandbox
(as they too get forgotten)>

2\. Everything gets wiped when you close a win10 sandbox (so installations
can't survive beyond a login session). In Sandboxie you appear to get a copy
of your existing OS, and the copy is only wiped when you choose to wipe it (so
it can survive across login sessions). The win10 sandbox is wiped when you
close it, and you have to close it to turn off the PC.

3\. Win10 sandbox seems not to like making the camera or microphone available
to apps (eg zoom, skype) whereas Sandboxie is happy with making them
available.

4\. Because of the above, win10 sandbox is _probably_ more secure than
sandboxie, but there is no indication of where the sandbox state was stored,
so it isn't possible to secure delete it like you can with sandboxie.

~~~
pmoriarty
There's a feature that I really like in Sandboxie, which is that it can
preserve certain folders from being deleted.

I use this feature when I run Firefox in a Sandboxie sandbox while preserving
it history and bookmarks. I find it pretty annoying to have those cleared
whenever I delete my sandbox, so much prefer to have those saved.

It sounds like the win10 sandbox can't do this.

------
swatkat
There's another Sandboxie fork here:
[https://github.com/sandboxie](https://github.com/sandboxie)

As per this[1] post, it's going to be a continuation of existing Sandboxie
without major changes. And, it's going to have signed driver.

[1] [https://www.wilderssecurity.com/threads/sandboxie-
technologi...](https://www.wilderssecurity.com/threads/sandboxie-technologies-
sbie-open-source.428156/)

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manjalyc
Sandboxie is one of the few programs that I allow to autostart on my Windows
installations. It is an ingenious piece of software with a dead simple yet
extremely powerful interface. Glad to see it’s free software/open source
instead of just dying a slow death. It’s saved my ass more than once and made
my life a lot easier.

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freedomben
I decommissioned my last Windows about 10 years ago, but Sandboxie was a
killer app that I missed sorely. It was ingenius and saved my ass a few times.

Much the way people probably feel when iOS started showing clipboard access so
you could physically see when apps were doing something invasive? _That was
the feeling I got constantly with every app and every invasive action_ when I
was using Sandboxie. Truly a gem.

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G4E
I used Sandboxie 10 years ago, when I was still using Windows. It is a really
neat piece of software. I'm glad it went open-source instead of simply dying
because of lack time and/or interest.

I had a surprising hard time to find an equivalent for linux. Today firejail
fill that void pretty well.

------
realpanzer
You can follow the news about it here:
[https://www.wilderssecurity.com/threads/sandboxie-plus-
sbie-...](https://www.wilderssecurity.com/threads/sandboxie-plus-sbie-
fork.427755/)

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algo_trader
a. sandboxie[plus] is fantastic, both as a concept and in actual use.

b. What is the status of docker-on-windows? is it stable-but-slow or simply
not ready yet ?

c. Why didnt Sandboxie become a multi-million-$ project? It was years ahead of
docker, and there is a great need for it on Windows than Linux IMHO.

~~~
ComodoHacker
c. Probably because Windows has gained native sandboxing mechanisms to cover
majority of common use cases.

I wonder if this new incarnation of Sandboxie uses any of them.

~~~
runxel
But only in the Pro version?! Windows 10 Home doesn't have it.

~~~
moreorless
There is a workaround:

[https://geekermag.com/enable-windows-sandbox-in-
windows-10-h...](https://geekermag.com/enable-windows-sandbox-in-
windows-10-home/)

~~~
runxel
Well, thanks, I guess? Hahah, seems so weird to download random things from
random sites to _gain_ a security feature...

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fny
Any idea if it's possible to do this with macOS and 'nix systems?

I've been thinking about giving it a stab myself, and I can't think of any
obvious roadblocks.

~~~
nacs
There are tons of sandboxing applications for Linux.

Also a few solutions like Snap and Flatpak exist on Linux where the
applications come pre-sandboxed. For Mac, the official Mac App Store's
applications are all sandboxed also.

~~~
pmoriarty
_" There are tons of sandboxing applications for Linux."_

Which of them are widely used, as easy to use and as feature rich as
Sandboxie, and are well maintained?

