[GH-ISSUE #303] Suggestion: possible to have some indication on program window that it's sandboxed?

gitea-mirror commented

2026-05-05 05:19:58 -06:00

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Originally created by @RonCam on GitHub (Feb 19, 2016).
Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/netblue30/firejail/issues/303

I installed firejail/firetools for first time, and opened a sandboxed instance of Firefox through the Firetools icon. Very nice!!

I note -- unless I'm missing something -- a sandboxed program looks identical to one running without protection. Is there any thought of having some sort of visual indication -- of any type -- that would reassure the user, that he or she really was, in fact, running a sandboxed instance?

Sandboxie early on did 'something' -- forget exactly what, maybe 'brackets' -- to the window's title, then later put a colored outline around the window's border. This was configurable in Preferences.

I suppose with GNU/Linux it may be difficult given the variety of desktop environments. But, do you think it's possible to give the user a visual alert, in some other way?

Originally created by @RonCam on GitHub (Feb 19, 2016). Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/netblue30/firejail/issues/303 I installed firejail/firetools for first time, and opened a sandboxed instance of Firefox through the Firetools icon. Very nice!! I note -- unless I'm missing something -- a sandboxed program looks identical to one running without protection. Is there any thought of having some sort of visual indication -- of any type -- that would reassure the user, that he or she really was, in fact, running a sandboxed instance? Sandboxie early on did 'something' -- forget exactly what, maybe 'brackets' -- to the window's title, then later put a colored outline around the window's border. This was configurable in Preferences. I suppose with GNU/Linux it may be difficult given the variety of desktop environments. But, do you think it's possible to give the user a visual alert, in some other way?

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2026-05-05 05:19:58 -06:00

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gitea-mirror commented

2026-05-05 05:20:04 -06:00

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@genodeftest commented on GitHub (Feb 19, 2016):

For Gtk+ applications:
For Gtk+ 2.x and 3.x applications you could do this on the client side but you would need to load a module into each firejailed application (See documentation on GTK3_MODULES).
I don't know about how this could work in Qt.

On the other hand you could implement this for your window manager, which probably doesn't work on Gtk+ 3.x applications since some of them can only use client side window decorations (see docs for gtk_window_set_decorated()). So with your window manager involved you could just display some symbol beside/above the window, which will probably break the application in some cases. Maybe you know the Exclamation mark symbol Java applets on Windows have (had?) when running a separate window: [http://www.java-gaming.org/index.php?topic=19525.0]. This was done to warn users about possibly malicious applications.
Implementing this in Gnome-Shell should be quite easy. But you would need another implementation for many other window managers…

Qubes OS, a highly secure/paranoid Linux based OS has some kind of support for that, I haven't looked into how they realized it, but probably through their window manager: Screenshots

@genodeftest commented on GitHub (Feb 19, 2016): For Gtk+ applications: For Gtk+ 2.x and 3.x applications you could do this on the client side but you would need to load a module into each firejailed application (See documentation on [`GTK3_MODULES`](https://developer.gnome.org/gtk3/stable/gtk-running.html)). I don't know about how this could work in Qt. On the other hand you could implement this for your window manager, which probably doesn't work on Gtk+ 3.x applications since some of them can only use client side window decorations (see [docs for `gtk_window_set_decorated()`](https://developer.gnome.org/gtk3/stable/GtkWindow.html#gtk-window-set-decorated)). So with your window manager involved you could just display some symbol beside/above the window, which will probably break the application in some cases. Maybe you know the Exclamation mark symbol Java applets on Windows have (had?) when running a separate window: [http://www.java-gaming.org/index.php?topic=19525.0]. This was done to warn users about possibly malicious applications. Implementing this in Gnome-Shell should be quite easy. But you would need another implementation for many other window managers… [Qubes OS](https://www.qubes-os.org/), a highly secure/paranoid Linux based OS has some kind of support for that, I haven't looked into how they realized it, but probably through their window manager: [Screenshots](https://www.qubes-os.org/screenshots/)

gitea-mirror commented

2026-05-05 05:20:06 -06:00

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@netblue30 commented on GitHub (Feb 19, 2016):

For programs running in a terminal is already implemented in the window title. For GUI programs it has to come from the window manager or from the application itself.

@netblue30 commented on GitHub (Feb 19, 2016): For programs running in a terminal is already implemented in the window title. For GUI programs it has to come from the window manager or from the application itself.

gitea-mirror commented

2026-05-05 05:20:09 -06:00

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@RonCam commented on GitHub (Feb 19, 2016):

@netblue30 : Thanks, first of all for Firejail, and second, thanks for the comment. On my installation, Firetools brings up xterm. Nothing different in the window title, but I do see square-brackets in the command prompt. This is similar to an early indicator used by Sandboxie.
@genodeftest : I was thinking the same as you, about an interaction with the window manager -- probably the way you said it is more accurate than my reference to working on different desktop environments. Yes, Gnome is very popular.

I happen to be running KDE. Do you think implementing this in KDE would also be quite easy? Something the end user could do, on his own system? I would be interested to learn more ...

Reason for my asking: The KDE start menu (Kickoff Application Launcher) has one section where 'Favorites' (frequently-used programs) are listed, and another section where the applications are listed by category. Right-click on the menu opens 'Edit Applications' and here I am opening any program that touches the Internet and prefixing 'Firejail' to its command. You can't separately edit the 'Favorites' section, however.

So, I started Firefox from Favorites, but then when I looked at its window, I realized I had no way of knowing, was this instance sandboxed -- or not??

@RonCam commented on GitHub (Feb 19, 2016): @netblue30 : Thanks, first of all for _Firejail_, and second, thanks for the comment. On my installation, _Firetools_ brings up _xterm_. Nothing different in the window title, but I do see square-brackets in the command prompt. This is similar to an early indicator used by Sandboxie. @genodeftest : I was thinking the same as you, about an interaction with the window manager -- probably the way you said it is more accurate than my reference to working on different desktop environments. Yes, Gnome is very popular. I happen to be running KDE. Do you think implementing this in KDE would also be quite easy? Something the end user could do, on his own system? I would be interested to learn more ... Reason for my asking: The KDE start menu (Kickoff Application Launcher) has one section where 'Favorites' (frequently-used programs) are listed, and another section where the applications are listed by category. Right-click on the menu opens 'Edit Applications' and here I am opening any program that touches the Internet and prefixing 'Firejail' to its command. You can't separately edit the 'Favorites' section, however. So, I started Firefox from Favorites, but then when I looked at its window, I realized I had no way of knowing, was this instance sandboxed -- or not??

gitea-mirror commented

2026-05-05 05:20:11 -06:00

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@genodeftest commented on GitHub (Feb 19, 2016):

@RonCam QubesOS is using KDE and Xfce (alternatively) so yes, this is possible with KDE. Although I don't know how and I don't now how portable it is. You can find this patch for KDE here: https://github.com/QubesOS/qubes-desktop-linux-kde/tree/master/plastik-for-qubes

@genodeftest commented on GitHub (Feb 19, 2016): @RonCam QubesOS is using KDE and Xfce (alternatively) so yes, this is possible with KDE. Although I don't know how and I don't now how portable it is. You can find this patch for KDE here: https://github.com/QubesOS/qubes-desktop-linux-kde/tree/master/plastik-for-qubes

gitea-mirror commented

2026-05-05 05:20:14 -06:00

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@RonCam commented on GitHub (Feb 19, 2016):

@genodeftest : QubesOS is also using Fedora (rpm) and I have LinuxMint (deb). However, the KDE is a match. I believe it's possible to convert packages from from rpm to deb? So then, the patch could be applied.
Is QubesOS using Firejail? Or do we think this patch would only work, with whatever QubesOS is using? If they're both using Firejail, or something compatible, then it could work. Have you any advice on this point?

@RonCam commented on GitHub (Feb 19, 2016): @genodeftest : QubesOS is also using Fedora (rpm) and I have LinuxMint (deb). However, the KDE _is_ a match. I believe it's possible to convert packages from from rpm to deb? So then, the patch could be applied. Is QubesOS using Firejail? Or do we think this patch would only work, with whatever QubesOS is using? If they're both using Firejail, or something compatible, then it could work. Have you any advice on this point?

gitea-mirror commented

2026-05-05 05:20:18 -06:00

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@RonCam commented on GitHub (Feb 19, 2016):

Ah ... I'm reading the QubesOS documentation more carefully, and the different window border colors are triggered by changing to a different Virtual Machine -- apparently nothing to do with different namespaces. If I'm correct in my understanding of Firejail, then the principles the qubesOS patch uses to color the window borders may be helpful, but not the patch itself ... any comments will be welcome.

@RonCam commented on GitHub (Feb 19, 2016): Ah ... I'm reading the _QubesOS_ documentation more carefully, and the different window border colors are triggered by changing to a different Virtual Machine -- apparently nothing to do with different _namespaces_. If I'm correct in my understanding of _Firejail_, then the _principles_ the _qubesOS_ patch uses to color the window borders may be helpful, but not the patch itself ... any comments will be welcome.

gitea-mirror commented

2026-05-05 05:20:20 -06:00

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@genodeftest commented on GitHub (Feb 19, 2016):

QubesOS is not using firejail, but I wanted to show that this can be done and already is done. The code just uses different criteria (QubesOS: which virtual machine is this app running in?) than you'd like to have for firejail (Is this application sandboxed?). Of course this code has to be modified

@genodeftest commented on GitHub (Feb 19, 2016): QubesOS is not using firejail, but I wanted to show that this can be done and already is done. The code just uses different criteria (QubesOS: which virtual machine is this app running in?) than you'd like to have for firejail (Is this application sandboxed?). Of course this code has to be modified

gitea-mirror commented

2026-05-05 05:20:21 -06:00

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@RonCam commented on GitHub (Feb 20, 2016):

As I am becoming more accustomed to using Firejail with Firetools, I now see a user who wanted to be sure any given program is really sandboxed could open the Firetools context menu, select Tools, open 'Sandbox List' and see if the program's name appears in the 'Command' column.

So that could be a work-around, although it would be nice to verify a program's status immediately, just by looking at the window in which it's running.

With that, for now, the problem is resolved with a work-around.

@RonCam commented on GitHub (Feb 20, 2016): As I am becoming more accustomed to using _Firejail_ with _Firetools_, I now see a user who wanted to be sure any given program is _really_ sandboxed could open the _Firetools_ context menu, select Tools, open 'Sandbox List' and see if the program's name appears in the 'Command' column. So that could be a work-around, although it would be nice to verify a program's status immediately, just by looking at the window in which it's running. With that, for now, the problem is resolved with a work-around.

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[GH-ISSUE #303] Suggestion: possible to have some indication on program window that it's sandboxed? #211