Drop --clearenv; control the sandbox's environment at exec time

Moves responsibility for the sandboxed command's environment out of
bwrap's own --clearenv/--setenv flags and into the process-launching
code itself: build_sandbox_env() (bwrap.cpp) constructs the exact
environment (PATH, HOME, PWD, TERM if present), and run_bwrap() passes
it to run_process_foreground()'s new optional env override, which
replaces the forked child's entire environment via clearenv()/setenv()
(plain POSIX, not the GNU-only execvpe(), since the target platform
includes musl) right before exec. bwrap, nsenter (when interposed),
and slocker-lite-priv-drop all just forward whatever environment
they're launched with, so controlling it once at the outermost exec
is sufficient.

Also adds PWD=/ to the constructed environment: per bwrap's own man
page, --clearenv never actually unset PWD in the first place (bwrap
manages it separately, alongside --chdir), so the old --clearenv/
--setenv sequence was leaving it unset by omission rather than by
choice. Hardcoded to "/" to match --chdir's own value.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01Gv3s5jckJKzh6JkMoi2Akz
This commit is contained in:
2026-08-23 14:56:11 +00:00
parent 7a333788c1
commit bec5456c33
5 changed files with 69 additions and 19 deletions
+23 -4
View File
@@ -140,6 +140,19 @@ Source layout (all under `src/`):
`release_session_lock()` once `run_process_foreground()` returns (covering
every exit path — normal, nonzero, or a forwarded-signal exit — since that call
always blocks until the child has actually exited).
`build_bwrap_args()` no longer passes `--clearenv`/`--setenv` to `bwrap` itself;
instead, `build_sandbox_env()` builds the sandboxed command's exact environment
(`PATH`, `HOME`, `PWD` — hardcoded to `"/"`, matching `--chdir`'s own value; note
per bwrap's own man page `--clearenv` never actually unset `PWD` in the first
place, so this isn't a straight port of a prior `--setenv` — and `TERM`, only
if the host process has one) and `run_bwrap()` passes it straight to
`run_process_foreground()`'s own `env` override (see `process.{h,cpp}` below).
This works because `bwrap` (and `nsenter`, when interposed via
`wrap_for_root_namespace()`) doesn't alter its own inherited environment unless
told to, and neither does `slocker-lite-priv-drop` (just
`setgroups()`/`setgid()`/`setuid()`/`execvp()`, no env manipulation) — so
controlling it once, at the outermost exec, is sufficient for it to reach the
final sandboxed command unchanged.
- `priv_drop_helper.cpp` → the separate `slocker-lite-priv-drop` binary (its own
`executable()` target in `meson.build`, **built with `-static`**). Deliberately
has zero dependencies on the rest of this project (no fmt/spdlog/etc.) and is
@@ -163,9 +176,9 @@ Source layout (all under `src/`):
carries `home`, looked up by the final resolved uid's `/etc/passwd` entry (field 5)
regardless of whether `user` was given as a name or a number; falls back to
`"/root"` for uid 0 or `"/"` otherwise when there's no matching row.
`build_bwrap_args()` (`bwrap.cpp`) sets the sandboxed process's `HOME` from this —
`"/root"` only when no user override applies at all (no `--user`, no image-declared
`config.User`). `run_container()` (`main.cpp`) calls `resolve_user_and_group()`
`build_sandbox_env()` (`bwrap.cpp`) sets the sandboxed process's `HOME` from
this — `"/root"` only when no user override applies at all (no `--user`, no
image-declared `config.User`). `run_container()` (`main.cpp`) calls `resolve_user_and_group()`
with either the explicit `--user`/`--group` flags, or, when `--user` wasn't given,
the image's own declared `config.User` (`OciImageConfig::user`/`group`) — so a
container defaults to running as whatever user the image itself declares, not
@@ -185,7 +198,13 @@ Source layout (all under `src/`):
itself execs into something else first (e.g. `nsenter` handing off to the final
command via its own in-place `execvp()` — a pid never changes across `exec()`).
`run_bwrap()` (`bwrap.cpp`) is the one caller that uses it, for session pid-file
tracking (see `pid_file.{h,cpp}` below).
tracking (see `pid_file.{h,cpp}` below). `run_process_foreground()` also takes
an optional `env` (list of key/value pairs): when set, the forked child
replaces its entire environment via `clearenv()`/`setenv()` (plain POSIX, not
the GNU-only `execvpe()` — the target platform includes musl) before `execvp()`,
instead of inheriting this process's own. `nullopt` (the default) leaves the
child's environment untouched. `run_bwrap()` is again the one caller that uses
this, via `build_sandbox_env()` (`bwrap.cpp`) — see there.
- `pid_file.{h,cpp}` — tracks one running `-r/--run` session (a live `bwrap`
process) as a locked pid file, so an outside process (or a later
`slocker-lite` invocation) can tell whether it's still running.