Firefox for Mac and Linux gets new security sandbox system

Mozilla will add a new security sandbox system to Firefox on Linux and Mac. This new technology, called RLBox, works by separating third-party libraries from the application’s native code, preventing malicious code from escaping to third-party libraries.

Mozilla developers posted a detailed technical blog on the features and modes of operation of RLBox on Mozilla Hacks. The article states that the RLBox sandbox technology enables the team to quickly and efficiently convert existing Firefox components to run in the WebAssembly sandbox.

This technology is now integrated into their code base and is used in the Graphite sandbox. According to the plan, RLBox will be available to users with Firefox 74 for Linux released next month and Firefox 75 for Mac released in April, and Windows support will be available soon.

According to reports, RLBox is an innovative project that can take sandboxing to a new level. RLBox does not isolate the application from the underlying operating system but separates the internal components of the application (that is, third-party libraries) from the core engine of the application. This technique prevents errors and vulnerabilities found in third-party libraries from affecting another project that uses the library.