UsePrivacyMode=y breaks snapshot restore in SBIE+ 1.5.1

[ksmustang]

Describe what you noticed and did

Snapshot restores fail when you:

1. Create a snapshot for a “Standard Isolation Sandbox” sandbox
2. Add UsePrivacyMode=y to the sandbox’s configuration

Attempts to restore the snapshot will fail manually (with Snapshots Manager) or automatically (when closing & reopening the sandbox). The sandbox will be empty (except for the snapshot.ini file, snapshot folders, the ‘DON’T-USE.TXT’ file and the RegHive file).

The problem occurs because UsePrivacyMode=y prevents sandboxie from accessing snapshot.ini and the snapshot folders.

A workaround is to manually add OpenFilePath=C:\Sandbox\%USER%\%SANDBOX%\snapshot* to the sandbox configuration.

The attached example sandboxie.ini allows snapshots to work for Firefox with UsePrivacyMode=y enabled. Once a snapshot has been created, it can only be restored if OpenFilePath=C:\Sandbox\%USER%\%SANDBOX%\snapshot* is present.

Sandboxie should handle snapshot recovery properly if UsePrivacyMode=y is present in a sandbox’s configuration.

How often did you encounter it so far?

Happens every time for any sandbox configured with UsePrivacyMode=y when attempting to restore a snapshot

Affected program

Not relevant

Download link

Not relevant

Where is the program located?

Not relevant to my request.

Expected behavior

Snapshot restore should work properly for sandboxes configured with UsePrivacyMode=y

What is your Windows edition and version?

Windows 10 21H2

In which Windows account you have this problem?

A local or Microsoft account without special changes.

Please mention any installed security software

Not relevant

What version of Sandboxie are you running?

Sandboxie-Pluse 1.5.1

Is it a new installation of Sandboxie?

I have been using the same version for some time.

Is it a regression?

Unknown - Started using snapshots in 1.5.1

In which sandbox type you have this problem?

In a sandbox with data protection (blue sandbox icon).

Can you reproduce this problem on an empty sandbox?

I can confirm it also on an empty sandbox.

Did you previously enable some security policy settings outside Sandboxie?

Not relevant

Crash dump

No response

Trace log

No response

Sandboxie.ini configuration

[UserSettings_052E014C]
SbieCtrl_AutoStartAgent=SandMan.exe
SbieCtrl_EnableAutoStart=y

[DefaultBox]
Enabled=y
BlockNetworkFiles=y
BorderColor=#ff8c00,ttl,6
Template=OpenBluetooth
Template=SkipHook
Template=FileCopy
Template=qWave
Template=BlockPorts
Template=LingerPrograms
Template=AutoRecoverIgnore
ConfigLevel=9
BoxNameTitle=n
CopyLimitKb=81920

ForceProcess=firefox.exe
UsePrivacyMode=y
AutoDelete=y


#---- Process Groups ----#
ProcessGroup=<FirefoxPM_ResourceAccess>,firefox.exe
# Enable COM timeout for browsers to allow entry of credentials to sites such as microsoft.com
RpcMgmtSetComTimeout=firefox.exe,y
#---- Registry access ----*
NormalKeyPath=<FirefoxPM_ResourceAccess>,HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft
NormalKeyPath=<FirefoxPM_ResourceAccess>,HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Mozilla
#---- C: drive access ----#
NormalFilePath=<FirefoxPM_ResourceAccess>,C:\Users\%USER%\Desktop
NormalFilePath=<FirefoxPM_ResourceAccess>,%LOCALAPPDATA%
NormalFilePath=<FirefoxPM_ResourceAccess>,%APPDATA%

#----- Open snapshot.ini and snapshot folders to enable snapshots.
OpenFilePath=C:\Sandbox\%USER%\%SANDBOX%\snapshot*

[DavidXanatos]

This is very strange but i can reproduce it, will look into fixing it asap

[ksmustang]

Many thanks David.

FYI, I found that ReadFilePath also works to allow snapshot restores and is probably a better workaround than OpenFilePath until you can fix the underlying issue.