Bubblewrap

Proper Noun · Open Source

Definitions

  1. A lightweight sandboxing tool for Linux that constructs restricted execution environments using unprivileged user namespaces, allowing an ordinary user to build a container-like sandbox without root. Bubblewrap assembles a new mount namespace with only the filesystem paths explicitly granted, and can additionally isolate process, network, IPC, and user namespaces, while seccomp filters restrict the reachable system calls. It is deliberately small and single-purpose, doing nothing about images, orchestration, or networking beyond isolation, which keeps its trusted surface reviewable. It is the sandboxing layer beneath Flatpak and is widely used to confine untrusted build steps and CI jobs where a full container runtime would be excessive.

    In plain English: A Linux tool for running programs in a restricted sandbox.

    Example: "The desktop app used Bubblewrap to isolate untrusted helpers."

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