diff --git a/src/runtime/virtcontainers/sandbox.go b/src/runtime/virtcontainers/sandbox.go
index b0697fd840..1d3b729ff5 100644
--- a/src/runtime/virtcontainers/sandbox.go
+++ b/src/runtime/virtcontainers/sandbox.go
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@ import (
 	"os"
 	"os/exec"
 	"path/filepath"
+
+	//"strconv"
 	"strings"
 	"sync"
 	"syscall"
@@ -28,6 +30,8 @@ import (
 	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 	"github.com/vishvananda/netlink"
 
+	cri "github.com/containerd/containerd/pkg/cri/annotations"
+	crio "github.com/containers/podman/v4/pkg/annotations"
 	"github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers/src/runtime/pkg/device/api"
 	"github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers/src/runtime/pkg/device/config"
 	"github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers/src/runtime/pkg/device/drivers"
@@ -36,6 +40,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers/src/runtime/pkg/katautils/katatrace"
 	resCtrl "github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers/src/runtime/pkg/resourcecontrol"
 	exp "github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers/src/runtime/virtcontainers/experimental"
+	"github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers/src/runtime/virtcontainers/image"
 	"github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers/src/runtime/virtcontainers/persist"
 	persistapi "github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers/src/runtime/virtcontainers/persist/api"
 	pbTypes "github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers/src/runtime/virtcontainers/pkg/agent/protocols"
@@ -134,52 +139,38 @@ type SandboxResourceSizing struct {
 // SandboxConfig is a Sandbox configuration.
 type SandboxConfig struct {
 	// Annotations keys must be unique strings and must be name-spaced
-	Annotations map[string]string
-
+	// with e.g. reverse domain notation (org.clearlinux.key).
+	Annotations    map[string]string
+	Hostname       string
+	ID             string
+	HypervisorType HypervisorType
 	// Custom SELinux security policy to the container process inside the VM
 	GuestSeLinuxLabel string
-
-	HypervisorType HypervisorType
-
-	ID string
-
-	Hostname string
-
+	// Volumes is a list of shared volumes between the host and the Sandbox.
+	Volumes []types.Volume
 	// SandboxBindMounts - list of paths to mount into guest
 	SandboxBindMounts []string
-
 	// Experimental features enabled
 	Experimental []exp.Feature
-
 	// Containers describe the list of containers within a Sandbox.
 	// This list can be empty and populated by adding containers
 	// to the Sandbox a posteriori.
-	// TODO: this should be a map to avoid duplicated containers
-	Containers []ContainerConfig
-
-	Volumes []types.Volume
-
-	NetworkConfig NetworkConfig
-
-	AgentConfig KataAgentConfig
-
+	//TODO: this should be a map to avoid duplicated containers
+	Containers       []ContainerConfig
+	NetworkConfig    NetworkConfig
+	AgentConfig      KataAgentConfig
 	HypervisorConfig HypervisorConfig
-
-	ShmSize uint64
-
+	ShmSize          uint64
 	SandboxResources SandboxResourceSizing
-
-	VfioMode config.VFIOModeType
-
+	VfioMode         config.VFIOModeType
 	// StaticResourceMgmt indicates if the shim should rely on statically sizing the sandbox (VM)
 	StaticResourceMgmt bool
-
+	// Offload the CRI image management service to the Kata agent.
+	ServiceOffload bool
 	// SharePidNs sets all containers to share the same sandbox level pid namespace.
 	SharePidNs bool
-
 	// SystemdCgroup enables systemd cgroup support
 	SystemdCgroup bool
-
 	// SandboxCgroupOnly enables cgroup only at podlevel in the host
 	SandboxCgroupOnly bool
 
@@ -339,6 +330,7 @@ func (s *Sandbox) Release(ctx context.Context) error {
 	if s.monitor != nil {
 		s.monitor.stop()
 	}
+	s.fsShare.StopFileEventWatcher(ctx)
 	s.hypervisor.Disconnect(ctx)
 	return s.agent.disconnect(ctx)
 }
@@ -621,6 +613,21 @@ func newSandbox(ctx context.Context, sandboxConfig SandboxConfig, factory Factor
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
+	if len(sandboxConfig.Containers) > 0 {
+		// These values are required by remote hypervisor
+		for _, a := range []string{cri.SandboxName, crio.SandboxName} {
+			if value, ok := sandboxConfig.Containers[0].Annotations[a]; ok {
+				sandboxConfig.HypervisorConfig.SandboxName = value
+			}
+		}
+
+		for _, a := range []string{cri.SandboxNamespace, crio.Namespace} {
+			if value, ok := sandboxConfig.Containers[0].Annotations[a]; ok {
+				sandboxConfig.HypervisorConfig.SandboxNamespace = value
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
 	// If we have a confidential guest we need to cold-plug the PCIe VFIO devices
 	// until we have TDISP/IDE PCIe support.
 	coldPlugVFIO := (sandboxConfig.HypervisorConfig.ColdPlugVFIO != hv.NoPort)
@@ -1292,6 +1299,13 @@ func (s *Sandbox) startVM(ctx context.Context, prestartHookFunc func(context.Con
 		return err
 	}
 
+	// not sure how we know that this callback has been executed
+	if s.config.HypervisorConfig.ConfidentialGuest && s.config.HypervisorConfig.GuestPreAttestation {
+		if err := s.hypervisor.AttestVM(ctx); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+	}
+
 	if prestartHookFunc != nil {
 		hid, err := s.GetHypervisorPid()
 		if err != nil {
@@ -2683,3 +2697,8 @@ func (s *Sandbox) resetVCPUsPinning(ctx context.Context, vCPUThreadsMap VcpuThre
 	}
 	return nil
 }
+
+// PullImage pulls an image on a sandbox.
+func (s *Sandbox) PullImage(ctx context.Context, req *image.PullImageReq) (*image.PullImageResp, error) {
+	return s.agent.PullImage(ctx, req)
+}