diff --git a/docs/reference/configuration.md b/docs/reference/configuration.md
index 13db1f0be3..d5e8436936 100644
--- a/docs/reference/configuration.md
+++ b/docs/reference/configuration.md
@@ -756,7 +756,7 @@ their corresponding top-level category object in your `settings.json` file.
 
 #### `tools`
 
-- **`tools.sandbox`** (string):
+- **`tools.sandbox`** (boolean | string | object):
   - **Description:** Sandbox execution environment. Set to a boolean to enable
     or disable the sandbox, provide a string path to a sandbox profile, or
     specify an explicit sandbox command (e.g., "docker", "podman", "lxc").
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/utils/sandbox.ts b/packages/cli/src/utils/sandbox.ts
index b82a5d98a0..dbd2ec64e3 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/utils/sandbox.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/utils/sandbox.ts
@@ -7,9 +7,9 @@
 import {
   exec,
   execFile,
-  execFileSync,
   execSync,
   spawn,
+  spawnSync,
   type ChildProcess,
 } from 'node:child_process';
 import path from 'node:path';
@@ -876,10 +876,10 @@ async function start_lxc_sandbox(
   const removeDevices = () => {
     for (const deviceName of devicesToRemove) {
       try {
-        execFileSync(
+        spawnSync(
           'lxc',
           ['config', 'device', 'remove', containerName, deviceName],
-          { timeout: 2000 },
+          { timeout: 1000, killSignal: 'SIGKILL', stdio: 'ignore' },
         );
       } catch {
         // Best-effort cleanup; ignore errors on exit.
diff --git a/packages/core/src/config/config.ts b/packages/core/src/config/config.ts
index 56828f5a17..6e179eca11 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/config/config.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/config/config.ts
@@ -469,6 +469,15 @@ export const ConfigSchema = z.object({
         .optional(),
       image: z.string().optional(),
     })
+    .superRefine((data, ctx) => {
+      if (data.enabled && !data.command) {
+        ctx.addIssue({
+          code: z.ZodIssueCode.custom,
+          message: 'Sandbox command is required when sandbox is enabled',
+          path: ['command'],
+        });
+      }
+    })
     .optional(),
 });
 
@@ -839,19 +848,7 @@ export class Config implements McpContext, AgentLoopContext {
     this.embeddingModel =
       params.embeddingModel ?? DEFAULT_GEMINI_EMBEDDING_MODEL;
     this.fileSystemService = new StandardFileSystemService();
-    this.sandbox = params.sandbox
-      ? {
-          enabled: params.sandbox.enabled ?? false,
-          allowedPaths: params.sandbox.allowedPaths ?? [],
-          networkAccess: params.sandbox.networkAccess ?? false,
-          command: params.sandbox.command,
-          image: params.sandbox.image,
-        }
-      : {
-          enabled: false,
-          allowedPaths: [],
-          networkAccess: false,
-        };
+    this.sandbox = params.sandbox;
     this.targetDir = path.resolve(params.targetDir);
     this.folderTrust = params.folderTrust ?? false;
     this.workspaceContext = new WorkspaceContext(this.targetDir, []);
diff --git a/packages/core/src/services/shellExecutionService.ts b/packages/core/src/services/shellExecutionService.ts
index d92f395706..054940bb71 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/services/shellExecutionService.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/services/shellExecutionService.ts
@@ -26,10 +26,8 @@ import {
   serializeTerminalToObject,
   type AnsiOutput,
 } from '../utils/terminalSerializer.js';
-import {
-  sanitizeEnvironment,
-  type EnvironmentSanitizationConfig,
-} from './environmentSanitization.js';
+import { sanitizeEnvironment, type EnvironmentSanitizationConfig } from './environmentSanitization.js';
+import { NoopSandboxManager } from './sandboxManager.js';
 import { killProcessGroup } from '../utils/process-utils.js';
 const { Terminal } = pkg;
 
@@ -326,6 +324,15 @@ export class ShellExecutionService {
     shouldUseNodePty: boolean,
     shellExecutionConfig: ShellExecutionConfig,
   ): Promise<ShellExecutionHandle> {
+    const sandboxManager = new NoopSandboxManager();
+    const { env: sanitizedEnv } = await sandboxManager.prepareCommand({
+      command: commandToExecute,
+      args: [],
+      env: process.env,
+      cwd,
+      config: shellExecutionConfig,
+    });
+
     if (shouldUseNodePty) {
       const ptyInfo = await getPty();
       if (ptyInfo) {
@@ -337,6 +344,7 @@ export class ShellExecutionService {
             abortSignal,
             shellExecutionConfig,
             ptyInfo,
+            sanitizedEnv,
           );
         } catch (_e) {
           // Fallback to child_process
@@ -695,6 +703,7 @@ export class ShellExecutionService {
     abortSignal: AbortSignal,
     shellExecutionConfig: ShellExecutionConfig,
     ptyInfo: PtyImplementation,
+    sanitizedEnv: Record<string, string | undefined>,
   ): Promise<ShellExecutionHandle> {
     if (!ptyInfo) {
       // This should not happen, but as a safeguard...
@@ -724,10 +733,7 @@ export class ShellExecutionService {
         cols,
         rows,
         env: {
-          ...sanitizeEnvironment(
-            process.env,
-            shellExecutionConfig.sanitizationConfig,
-          ),
+          ...sanitizedEnv,
           GEMINI_CLI: '1',
           TERM: 'xterm-256color',
           PAGER: shellExecutionConfig.pager ?? 'cat',