How to Fix Cursor AppImage Sandbox Error on Linux and Add It to Your Desktop

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If you downloaded the Cursor editor as an AppImage on Linux, you may see this error when trying to run it:

The setuid sandbox is not running as root. Common causes:
  * An unprivileged process using ptrace on it, like a debugger.
  * A parent process set prctl(PR_SET_NO_NEW_PRIVS, ...)
Failed to move to new namespace: PID namespaces supported, Network namespace supported, but failed: errno = Operation not permitted
[147298:0405/173123.041336:FATAL:zygote_host_impl_linux.cc(207)] Check failed: . : Invalid argument (22)
[1]    147298 trace trap (core dumped)

This happens because the AppImage uses Chromium’s internal sandbox, which requires Linux features like user namespaces. Some Linux systems block these features for security reasons.

Here’s how to fix it and properly add Cursor to your desktop shortcuts.

Step 1: Run Cursor Without Sandboxing

The quickest way to fix the crash is to disable sandboxing when launching Cursor.

Run:

chmod +x Cursor-0.48.7-x86_64.AppImage
then 
./Cursor-0.48.7-x86_64.AppImage --no-sandbox

This should start Cursor normally.

Step 2: Move the AppImage to a Permanent Location

To keep things organised, move the AppImage to a permanent folder like Applications in your home directory:

mkdir -p $HOME/Applications
mv ~/Downloads/Cursor-0.48.7-x86_64.AppImage ~/Applications/Cursor.AppImage
chmod +x ~/Applications/Cursor.AppImage

Step 3: Create a Desktop Shortcut

Create a .desktop file so Cursor appears in your application launcher.

Run:

nano ~/.local/share/applications/cursor.desktop

Paste the following content:

[Desktop Entry]
Name=Cursor
Exec=/home/your-username/Applications/Cursor.AppImage --no-sandbox
Icon=cursor
Type=Application
Categories=Development;
Terminal=false

Replace your-username with your actual Linux username.

If you have an icon file (.png), you can replace Icon=cursor with the full path to your icon.

Save and exit.

Then make the shortcut executable:

chmod +x ~/.local/share/applications/cursor.desktop

Step 4: Refresh Your Application Database (Optional)

Most systems pick up new shortcuts automatically. If not, you can refresh manually:

update-desktop-database ~/.local/share/applications