diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index c4cd332..14e3700 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ S_OBJS=	$(S_SRC:.c=.o)
 CFLAGS+=-I/usr/local/ssl/include
 CFLAGS+=-Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -Wmissing-prototypes
 CFLAGS+=-Wmissing-declarations -Wshadow -Wpointer-arith -Wcast-qual
-CFLAGS+=-Wsign-compare -Iincludes -g
+CFLAGS+=-D_GNU_SOURCE=1 -Wsign-compare -Iincludes -g
 LDFLAGS=-rdynamic -Llibs -lssl -lcrypto -ldl -lz
 
 light: $(S_OBJS)
diff --git a/example.conf b/example.conf
index 2ca4c73..6606bb9 100644
--- a/example.conf
+++ b/example.conf
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 # Example Kore configuration
 
 # Server configuration.
-bind 10.211.55.3 443
+bind		10.211.55.3 443
+chroot		/tmp
+runas		joris
 
 # Load our site module now (containing all the goodies).
 load example/example.module
diff --git a/includes/kore.h b/includes/kore.h
index 7d990c4..4664033 100644
--- a/includes/kore.h
+++ b/includes/kore.h
@@ -115,6 +115,8 @@ struct buf_vec {
 
 extern int	server_port;
 extern char	*server_ip;
+extern char	*chroot_path;
+extern char	*runas_user;
 
 void		*kore_malloc(size_t);
 void		*kore_calloc(size_t, size_t);
diff --git a/src/config.c b/src/config.c
index 8eeabaa..883d344 100644
--- a/src/config.c
+++ b/src/config.c
@@ -42,6 +42,8 @@ static int			configure_bind(char **);
 static int			configure_load(char **);
 static int			configure_handler(char **);
 static int			configure_domain(char **);
+static int			configure_chroot(char **);
+static int			configure_runas(char **);
 
 static struct {
 	const char		*name;
@@ -52,6 +54,8 @@ static struct {
 	{ "static",		configure_handler },
 	{ "dynamic",		configure_handler },
 	{ "domain",		configure_domain },
+	{ "chroot",		configure_chroot },
+	{ "runas",		configure_runas },
 	{ NULL,			NULL },
 };
 
@@ -175,3 +179,33 @@ configure_handler(char **argv)
 
 	return (KORE_RESULT_OK);
 }
+
+static int
+configure_chroot(char **argv)
+{
+	if (chroot_path != NULL) {
+		kore_log("duplicate chroot path specified");
+		return (KORE_RESULT_ERROR);
+	}
+
+	if (argv[1] == NULL)
+		return (KORE_RESULT_ERROR);
+
+	chroot_path = kore_strdup(argv[1]);
+	return (KORE_RESULT_OK);
+}
+
+static int
+configure_runas(char **argv)
+{
+	if (runas_user != NULL) {
+		kore_log("duplicate runas user specified");
+		return (KORE_RESULT_ERROR);
+	}
+
+	if (argv[1] == NULL)
+		return (KORE_RESULT_ERROR);
+
+	runas_user = kore_strdup(argv[1]);
+	return (KORE_RESULT_OK);
+}
diff --git a/src/kore.c b/src/kore.c
index b762924..3af1474 100644
--- a/src/kore.c
+++ b/src/kore.c
@@ -26,7 +26,9 @@
 #include <openssl/err.h>
 #include <openssl/ssl.h>
 
+#include <pwd.h>
 #include <errno.h>
+#include <grp.h>
 #include <fcntl.h>
 #include <signal.h>
 #include <stdio.h>
@@ -36,6 +38,7 @@
 #include <time.h>
 #include <regex.h>
 #include <zlib.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
 
 #include "spdy.h"
 #include "kore.h"
@@ -51,6 +54,8 @@ static TAILQ_HEAD(, connection)		disconnected;
 
 int		server_port = 0;
 char		*server_ip = NULL;
+char		*chroot_path = NULL;
+char		*runas_user = NULL;
 
 static void	kore_signal(int);
 static int	kore_socket_nonblock(int);
@@ -65,6 +70,7 @@ static int	kore_ssl_npn_cb(SSL *, const u_char **, unsigned int *, void *);
 int
 main(int argc, char *argv[])
 {
+	struct passwd		*pw;
 	struct listener		server;
 	struct epoll_event	*events;
 	int			n, i, *fd;
@@ -79,6 +85,13 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
 
 	if (server_ip == NULL || server_port == 0)
 		fatal("missing a correct bind directive in configuration");
+	if (chroot_path == NULL)
+		fatal("missing a chroot path");
+	if (runas_user == NULL)
+		fatal("missing a username to run as");
+	if ((pw = getpwnam(runas_user)) == NULL)
+		fatal("user '%s' does not exist");
+
 	if (!kore_server_bind(&server, server_ip, server_port))
 		fatal("cannot bind to %s:%d", server_ip, server_port);
 	if (!kore_server_sslstart())
@@ -87,6 +100,14 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	if ((efd = epoll_create(1000)) == -1)
 		fatal("epoll_create(): %s", errno_s);
 
+	if (chroot(chroot_path) == -1)
+		fatal("chroot(%s): %s", chroot_path, errno_s);
+	if (chdir("/") == -1)
+		fatal("chdir(/): %s", errno_s);
+	if (setgroups(1, &pw->pw_gid) || setresgid(pw->pw_gid, pw->pw_gid,
+	    pw->pw_gid) || setresuid(pw->pw_uid, pw->pw_uid, pw->pw_uid))
+		fatal("unable to drop privileges");
+
 	http_init();
 	TAILQ_INIT(&disconnected);