Linux – Wine and Kernel Access

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My knowledge on the topic is rather limited, but does one have Kernel access/the general ability to change programs at run time whilst running Wine?

For Clarification: Can the user of the computer access any information they want via the Kernel on the underlying system running Wine, or does normal Windows security still apply?

Best Answer

Windows programs are encapsulated within Wine and can't access memory outside of the Wine-Process.

The FAQ of Wine actually answers this, how good is Wine at sandboxing Windows apps?

Wine does not sandbox in any way at all. When run under Wine, a Windows app can do anything your user can. Wine does not (and cannot) stop a Windows app directly making native syscalls, messing with your files, altering your startup scripts, or doing other nasty things.

You need to use AppArmor, SELinux or some type of virtual machine if you want to properly sandbox Windows apps.

That said, winetricks does have a sandbox verb that does at least a partial job of isolating Wine programs from the rest of your system. It protects against errors rather than malice. It's useful for, e.g., keeping games from saving their settings in random subdirectories of your home directory.

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