Flatpack sandbox and safety

hello

how sealed are flatpacks in fedora silverblue?
I have read in several forums that flatpacks do not run properly in sandboxes. therefore ask about malware and how far it could go if something happens :sweat_smile:

ask because i don’t want flathub but need for libreoffice

sorry for asking this stupid question but i’m very careful

Flatpaks are sandboxed as a matter of fact. Please see this link for the official Flatpak comment about it. Basically you control how much access a flatpak application has to your system. Flathub is merely a distribution repo of flatpacks, I don’t understand your concern. I have never, in all of my many years running any Linux distribution, encountered a virus/malware/ or any other malignant piece of software on my system. (excepting maybe Debian and Unbuntu, just kidding…NOT).

1 Like

Flatpaks sandboxes are designed to prevent applications from accessing other apps files and can only access the directory/files specifically allowed. So if you did happened to install some malware, it would be limited in what it can do to your system by the sandbox. You should check who is the publisher of the flatpak and decide how reputable they are. I don’t know how much vetting the repo maintainers do for the flatpaks they host, so it is always a good idea to look at ratings and see if repo is properly signed.

I just stumbled on this great little app for viewing and managing flatpak permissions.

3 Likes

thanks for the answers
now i’m better informed about flatpack and sandboxing :grin: