Destructive mode with sudo: /snap/bin/snapcraft: 4: exec: /bin/snapcraft: not found
Metadata
Current evaluation
Confirmed snap shim failure under sudo in Docker when SNAP is stripped; setting SNAP=/snap/snapcraft/current works around the launcher error, but ownership remains unresolved.
Suggested action: keep open
Reason: Maintainer @lengau identified a likely snap shim or snapd behavior change, and the reporter confirmed that SNAP=/snap/snapcraft/current bypasses the original /bin/snapcraft failure. The problem is acknowledged, reproducible, and blocking Firefox CI, but no fix, root-cause confirmation, or owning snapd issue has been identified.
Evaluated by: mr-cal-bot
Impact:
46
Quick Win:
14
Complexity:
52
Confidence:
88
Actionability:
64
Issue body
### Check existing issues
- [x] I've verified that this bug isn't described by any existing issues.
### Bug description
The Firefox CI, which runs Snapcraft in Docker, has been failing when cross-compiling to Arm64:
```
[task 2026-09-14T13:17:52.860+00:00] + snapcraft --destructive-mode --verbosity verbose --build-for arm64
[task 2026-09-14T13:17:53.817+00:00] Starting snapcraft, version 8.14.5
[task 2026-09-14T13:17:53.817+00:00] Logging execution to '/builds/worker/.local/state/snapcraft/log/snapcraft-20260914-131753.793351.log'
[task 2026-09-14T13:17:53.817+00:00] Running snapcraft without a command will not be possible in future releases. Use 'snapcraft pack' instead.
[task 2026-09-14T13:17:53.819+00:00] Warning: Running in destructive mode as a non-super user is not recommended and may cause unexpected behavior.
[task 2026-09-14T13:17:56.984+00:00] Package repositories installed
[task 2026-09-14T13:17:56.995+00:00] Initializing lifecycle
[task 2026-09-14T13:17:56.998+00:00] Installing build-packages
[task 2026-09-14T13:18:00.737+00:00] Packages list not refreshed, not running as superuser.
```
-- https://firefoxci.taskcluster-artifacts.net/E8kZ5nrXTw-tMKuHsdWmfQ/0/public/logs/live_backing.log
If I try to run snapcraft with sudo, this happens instead:
```
[task 2026-09-15T08:35:50.175+00:00] + sudo snapcraft --destructive-mode --verbosity verbose --build-for amd64
[task 2026-09-15T08:35:50.183+00:00] /snap/bin/snapcraft: 4: exec: /bin/snapcraft: not found
```
-- https://firefoxci.taskcluster-artifacts.net/HvJB-_qpSfCKFmzK-gboUA/0/public/logs/live_backing.log
The script running snapcraft is [run.sh](https://searchfox.org/firefox-main/source/taskcluster/docker/snap-coreXX-build/run.sh).
This is Snapcraft 8.14.5. Unfortunately, I do not have information as to at which version started being an issue.
### Steps to reproduce
I reproduce the error by cloning Firefox sources and doing a TRY run with `./mach try fuzzy --full -q "'snap 'upstream 'local"`.
### Environment
Snapcraft in destructive mode in Docker
### snapcraft.yaml
```yaml
If the issue is specific to a project, share its `snapcraft.yaml`. This field automatically renders as YAML, so you don't need to add special formatting.
```
### Log output
```shell
Provide any relevant logging. This field automatically renders as a log, so you don't need to add special formatting.
```
Evaluation history
| Date | Model | Scores | Action | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| stealth/space-bunny-alpha |
Impact:
46
Quick Win:
14
Complexity:
52
Confidence:
88
Actionability:
64
|
keep open | Confirmed snap shim failure under sudo in Docker when SNAP is stripped; setting SNAP=/snap/snapcraft/current works around the launcher error, but ownership remains unresolved. | |
| stealth/space-bunny-alpha |
Impact:
42
Quick Win:
11
Complexity:
57
Confidence:
89
Actionability:
60
|
needs triage | Confirmed Snap shim failure when Snapcraft runs via sudo in Docker: SNAP is unset, causing a /bin/snapcraft lookup failure. Snapd 2.76.3 workaround works; root cause is unassigned. | |
| stealth/space-bunny-alpha |
Impact:
43
Quick Win:
11
Complexity:
58
Confidence:
81
Actionability:
63
|
needs triage | Snapcraft 8.14.5's snap shim fails under sudo in Docker with exec: /bin/snapcraft: not found. Maintainers suspect snapd; preserving SNAP works around it, but later dependency errors remain. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Impact:
60
Quick Win:
33
Staleness:
5
Complexity:
45
Confidence:
70
Support Request:
10
|
needs triage | Running snapcraft with sudo in destructive mode fails with '/snap/bin/snapcraft: 4: exec: /bin/snapcraft: not found'. Fresh report with clear reproduction steps and logs. |
Update history
| Date | Change |
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| updated | |
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Related issues
| Issue | Project | State | Summary | Similarity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #6328 Snapcraft 9: cannot create directory '/snap/command-chain': Permission denied Edit | snapcraft | closed | Confirmed as a Snapcraft 9 destructive-mode regression and moved to internal SNAPCRAFT-1366, but no public fixing PR or commit was recorded before closure. |