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Interview question · Systems, OS & Memory Safety

How does seccomp-bpf filter system calls, what can and can't a filter see, and how do you build a policy that holds?

A seccomp filter decides on a system call number and six integers. It cannot read the file path a pointer refers to, and that one limitation shapes every good policy.

hardEssentialNewPreparation tags: Google, Amazon, MicrosoftUpdated Nov 2026

A seccomp filter decides on a system call number and six integers. It cannot read the file path a pointer refers to, and that one limitation shapes every good policy.

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  1. 01 State the assumptions your answer depends on.
  2. 02 Explain the mechanism and choose a control.
  3. 03 Name a condition that would change your decision.

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What if · the follow-ups in this answer

The answer works through 6 follow-ups like an interviewer would

You are hardening a container that runs an image-processing service written in C.

  1. What does seccomp-bpf do?
  2. Why can it not filter on pointer contents?
  3. How do you build a policy for this service?
  4. Why does this help a C parser?
  5. What complements seccomp?
  6. How would you confine the container?

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