CAPE Sandbox vs Context Agent Sandboxes

CAPE Sandbox is a free, open-source malware sandbox that executes malicious files in isolation while recording behavior and forensic artifacts. It captures API-hook activity, file changes, network traffic as PCAP, desktop screenshots, and full memory dumps. Malware classification can use YARA scans of unpacked payloads, Suricata scans of network captures, and behavioral signatures from API-hook output. CAPE also performs dynamic unpacking and extracts malware configuration through static and dynamic analysis. Its programmable debugger supports custom unpacking and configuration extractors, anti-sandbox countermeasures, and instruction traces. Configuration parsing works with CAPE’s framework and the listed RATDecoders, DC3-MWCP, MalDuck, and MaCo projects. Documentation covers a REST API, distributed deployment, and endpoints for tasks, reports, files, PCAPs, and machines. Additional integrations include Box-js, Curtain, LibreNMS, and Suricata. The project recommends Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, Windows 10 or Windows 11 23H2 targets, and KVM. Active unpacking is off by default because it may affect detonation quality.

Context Agent Sandboxes gives each agent task a separate sandbox on the customer's cluster, using the permissions of the person who requested it. Each run begins in a fresh environment, which is destroyed after an idle period set to 30 minutes by default. Sandboxes run as non-root container pods with capabilities dropped, a seccomp profile, and no cluster service-account token. Administrators can choose open, domain-allowlist, or workspace-only network access, with allowlist decisions logged. In the supervised preset, commands require human approval and connections outside the allowlist prompt for a decision. Drive is not mounted: files pass through a permission-checking gateway, and outputs are pushed explicitly. Credentials are injected at the edge only after authorization. An append-only audit log records commands, files, connections, and permission decisions, including the actor and decision maker. Context lists more than 180 integrations across business categories, plus remote MCP servers. Enterprise sandboxes run on the customer's Kubernetes cluster, with KOTS installation options for EKS or AKS and an air-gapped bundle. Plans include Free at free, Plus at $20 a month, Pro at $200 a month, and custom-priced Enterprise.