diff --git a/runsc/config/config.go b/runsc/config/config.go
index 1b403277f..3f34d5639 100644
--- a/runsc/config/config.go
+++ b/runsc/config/config.go
@@ -31,9 +31,11 @@ import (
 // Follow these steps to add a new flag:
 //   1. Create a new field in Config.
 //   2. Add a field tag with the flag name
-//   3. Register a new flag in flags.go, with name and description
+//   3. Register a new flag in flags.go, with same name and add a description
 //   4. Add any necessary validation into validate()
 //   5. If adding an enum, follow the same pattern as FileAccessType
+//   6. Evaluate if the flag can be changed with OCI annotations. See
+//      overrideAllowlist for more details
 //
 type Config struct {
 	// RootDir is the runtime root directory.
diff --git a/runsc/config/config_test.go b/runsc/config/config_test.go
index 57c241c86..420df1868 100644
--- a/runsc/config/config_test.go
+++ b/runsc/config/config_test.go
@@ -305,3 +305,60 @@ func TestOverrideError(t *testing.T) {
 		})
 	}
 }
+
+func TestOverrideAllowlist(t *testing.T) {
+	c, err := NewFromFlags()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	for _, tc := range []struct {
+		flag  string
+		value string
+		error string
+	}{
+		{
+			flag:  "debug",
+			value: "true",
+		},
+		{
+			flag:  "debug",
+			value: "123",
+			error: "error setting flag",
+		},
+		{
+			flag:  "oci-seccomp",
+			value: "true",
+		},
+		{
+			flag:  "oci-seccomp",
+			value: "false",
+			error: `disabling "oci-seccomp" requires flag`,
+		},
+		{
+			flag:  "oci-seccomp",
+			value: "123",
+			error: "invalid syntax",
+		},
+		{
+			flag:  "profile",
+			value: "true",
+			error: "flag override disabled",
+		},
+		{
+			flag:  "profile",
+			value: "123",
+			error: "flag override disabled",
+		},
+	} {
+		t.Run(tc.flag, func(t *testing.T) {
+			err := c.Override(tc.flag, tc.value)
+			if len(tc.error) == 0 {
+				if err != nil {
+					t.Errorf("Unexpected error: %v", err)
+				}
+			} else if err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), tc.error) {
+				t.Errorf("Override(%q, %q) wrong error: %v", tc.flag, tc.value, err)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
diff --git a/runsc/config/flags.go b/runsc/config/flags.go
index 5678cd6b6..f5ca6b868 100644
--- a/runsc/config/flags.go
+++ b/runsc/config/flags.go
@@ -81,8 +81,8 @@ func RegisterFlags() {
 		flag.Bool("verity", false, "specifies whether a verity file system will be mounted.")
 		flag.Bool("fsgofer-host-uds", false, "allow the gofer to mount Unix Domain Sockets.")
 		flag.Bool("vfs2", true, "enables VFSv2. This uses the new VFS layer that is faster than the previous one.")
-		flag.Bool("fuse", false, "TEST ONLY; use while FUSE in VFSv2 is landing. This allows the use of the new experimental FUSE filesystem.")
-		flag.Bool("lisafs", false, "Enables lisafs protocol instead of 9P. This is only effective with VFS2.")
+		flag.Bool("fuse", false, "TEST ONLY; This allows the use of the new experimental FUSE filesystem. Only works with VFS2.")
+		flag.Bool("lisafs", false, "Enables lisafs protocol instead of 9P. Only works with VFS2.")
 		flag.Bool("cgroupfs", false, "Automatically mount cgroupfs.")
 		flag.Bool("ignore-cgroups", false, "don't configure cgroups.")
 
@@ -103,6 +103,33 @@ func RegisterFlags() {
 	})
 }
 
+// overrideAllowlist lists all flags that can be changed using OCI
+// annotations without an administrator setting `--allow-flag-override` on the
+// runtime. Flags in this list can be set by container authors and should not
+// make the sandbox less secure.
+var overrideAllowlist = map[string]struct {
+	check func(name string, value string) error
+}{
+	"debug":           {},
+	"strace":          {},
+	"strace-syscalls": {},
+	"strace-log-size": {},
+
+	"oci-seccomp": {check: checkOciSeccomp},
+}
+
+// checkOciSeccomp ensures that seccomp can be enabled but not disabled.
+func checkOciSeccomp(name string, value string) error {
+	enable, err := strconv.ParseBool(value)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	if !enable {
+		return fmt.Errorf("disabling %q requires flag %q to be enabled", name, "allow-flag-override")
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
 // NewFromFlags creates a new Config with values coming from command line flags.
 func NewFromFlags() (*Config, error) {
 	conf := &Config{}
@@ -168,10 +195,6 @@ func (c *Config) ToFlags() []string {
 
 // Override writes a new value to a flag.
 func (c *Config) Override(name string, value string) error {
-	if !c.AllowFlagOverride {
-		return fmt.Errorf("flag override disabled, use --allow-flag-override to enable it")
-	}
-
 	obj := reflect.ValueOf(c).Elem()
 	st := obj.Type()
 	for i := 0; i < st.NumField(); i++ {
@@ -186,6 +209,9 @@ func (c *Config) Override(name string, value string) error {
 			// Flag must exist if there is a field match above.
 			panic(fmt.Sprintf("Flag %q not found", name))
 		}
+		if err := c.isOverrideAllowed(name, value); err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("error setting flag %s=%q: %w", name, value, err)
+		}
 
 		// Use flag to convert the string value to the underlying flag type, using
 		// the same rules as the command-line for consistency.
@@ -201,6 +227,23 @@ func (c *Config) Override(name string, value string) error {
 	return fmt.Errorf("flag %q not found. Cannot set it to %q", name, value)
 }
 
+func (c *Config) isOverrideAllowed(name string, value string) error {
+	if c.AllowFlagOverride {
+		return nil
+	}
+	// If the global override flag is not enabled, check if individual flag is
+	// safe to apply.
+	if allow, ok := overrideAllowlist[name]; ok {
+		if allow.check != nil {
+			if err := allow.check(name, value); err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+		}
+		return nil
+	}
+	return fmt.Errorf("flag override disabled, use --allow-flag-override to enable it")
+}
+
 func getVal(field reflect.Value) string {
 	if str, ok := field.Addr().Interface().(fmt.Stringer); ok {
 		return str.String()