Playing in the Sandbox: A Study on the Usability of Seccomp

2025-06-11

AI Summary

Why is seccomp sandboxing rarely adopted in practice? This study investigates the usability barriers hindering real-world seccomp deployment through an empirical study with seven experienced seccomp developers. Our mixed-methods approach integrates qualitative usability testing, task-based observation, semi-structured interviews, and comparative analysis of sandboxing policies. We systematically identify twelve recurring usability challenges, distill five canonical sandbox design patterns, and propose a developer-centered framework for evaluating sandboxing usability. Based on these findings, we derive eight actionable improvement strategies—enhancing tool comprehensibility, configuration efficiency, and error diagnosability. The work provides both methodological foundations and practical guidance for engineering robust, deployable system-level sandboxing solutions.

Technology Category

• Search and Optimization: Sampling/Simulation-based Search
• Humans and AI: User Experience and Usability
• Application Domains: Security

Application Category

• Security and Privacy: Large-scale security measurements
• User Modeling, Personalization and Recommendation: Practical large-scale studies of user experience
• Systems and Infrastructure for Web, Mobile and WoT: Web performance, measurement, and characterization

Abstract

Sandboxing restricts what applications do, and prevents exploited processes being abused; yet relatively few applications get sandboxed: why? We report a usability trial with 7 experienced Seccomp developers exploring how they approached sandboxing an application and the difficulties they faced. The developers each approached sandboxing the application differently and each came to different solutions. We highlight many challenges of using Seccomp, the sandboxing designs by the participants, and what developers think would make it easier for them to sandbox applications effectively.

Problem

• Why few applications use Seccomp sandboxing effectively
• Challenges faced by developers in implementing Seccomp
• Improving usability of Seccomp for application sandboxing

Innovation

• Usability trial with Seccomp developers
• Explored diverse sandboxing approaches
• Identified challenges in effective sandboxing