diff --git a/packages/orchestrator/pkg/sandbox/cgroup/manager.go b/packages/orchestrator/pkg/sandbox/cgroup/manager.go
index 8325b681a5..8e272e291b 100644
--- a/packages/orchestrator/pkg/sandbox/cgroup/manager.go
+++ b/packages/orchestrator/pkg/sandbox/cgroup/manager.go
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import (
 	"io"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
+	"slices"
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
@@ -341,6 +342,11 @@ type Manager interface {
 	// The handle provides access to the cgroup's FD, stats, and cleanup
 	// Returns error if cgroup creation fails
 	Create(ctx context.Context, cgroupName string) (*CgroupHandle, error)
+
+	// Destroy kills any remaining processes in an already-created sandbox
+	// cgroup and removes it. Intended for reclaiming cgroups leaked by
+	// sandboxes that did not shut down cleanly.
+	Destroy(ctx context.Context, cgroupName string) error
 }
 
 type managerImpl struct{}
@@ -414,6 +420,44 @@ func (m *managerImpl) Create(ctx context.Context, cgroupName string) (*CgroupHan
 	return handle, nil
 }
 
+// Destroy kills any remaining processes in an existing sandbox cgroup and
+// removes it.
+func (m *managerImpl) Destroy(ctx context.Context, cgroupName string) error {
+	handle, err := m.openExisting(ctx, cgroupName)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	// Remove kills any remaining processes internally and returns nil once the
+	// cgroup is gone, so it is the authoritative teardown signal.
+	return handle.Remove(ctx)
+}
+
+// openExisting returns a handle for an already-created sandbox cgroup, intended
+// for teardown of leaked cgroups. It deliberately does not open memory.peak
+// (unlike Create), since callers only Kill/Remove the cgroup and never read peak
+// memory.
+func (m *managerImpl) openExisting(ctx context.Context, cgroupName string) (*CgroupHandle, error) {
+	cgroupPath := m.cgroupPath(cgroupName)
+	info, err := os.Stat(cgroupPath)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to stat cgroup directory: %w", err)
+	}
+	if !info.IsDir() {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("cgroup path is not a directory: %s", cgroupPath)
+	}
+
+	logger.L().Debug(ctx, "opened existing cgroup for sandbox",
+		zap.String("cgroup_name", cgroupName),
+		zap.String("path", cgroupPath))
+
+	return &CgroupHandle{
+		cgroupName: cgroupName,
+		path:       cgroupPath,
+		manager:    m,
+	}, nil
+}
+
 func (m *managerImpl) getStatsForPath(ctx context.Context, cgroupPath string, memoryPeakFile *os.File) (*Stats, error) {
 	stats := &Stats{}
 
@@ -496,3 +540,31 @@ func (m *managerImpl) readAndResetMemoryPeak(ctx context.Context, memoryPeakFile
 func (m *managerImpl) cgroupPath(cgroupName string) string {
 	return filepath.Join(RootCgroupPath, cgroupName)
 }
+
+func IsSandboxCgroupName(name string) bool {
+	return strings.HasPrefix(name, "sbx-") && len(name) > len("sbx-")
+}
+
+func ListSandboxCgroups(root string) ([]string, error) {
+	entries, err := os.ReadDir(root)
+	if err != nil {
+		if os.IsNotExist(err) {
+			return nil, nil
+		}
+
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to read cgroup root: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	names := make([]string, 0, len(entries))
+	for _, entry := range entries {
+		if !entry.IsDir() || !IsSandboxCgroupName(entry.Name()) {
+			continue
+		}
+
+		names = append(names, entry.Name())
+	}
+
+	slices.Sort(names)
+
+	return names, nil
+}
diff --git a/packages/orchestrator/pkg/sandbox/cgroup/noop.go b/packages/orchestrator/pkg/sandbox/cgroup/noop.go
index c219965149..6d6c51f01d 100644
--- a/packages/orchestrator/pkg/sandbox/cgroup/noop.go
+++ b/packages/orchestrator/pkg/sandbox/cgroup/noop.go
@@ -22,6 +22,10 @@ func (m *noopManager) Create(_ context.Context, cgroupName string) (*CgroupHandl
 	return newNoopHandle(cgroupName), nil
 }
 
+func (m *noopManager) Destroy(_ context.Context, _ string) error {
+	return nil
+}
+
 // newNoopHandle creates a CgroupHandle that performs no real cgroup operations.
 // GetFD returns NoCgroupFD, GetStats returns (nil, nil), Remove is a no-op.
 func newNoopHandle(cgroupName string) *CgroupHandle {
diff --git a/packages/orchestrator/pkg/sandbox/cgroup/reclaim_test.go b/packages/orchestrator/pkg/sandbox/cgroup/reclaim_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3434de3742
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/orchestrator/pkg/sandbox/cgroup/reclaim_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+//go:build linux
+
+package cgroup
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+)
+
+func TestIsSandboxCgroupName(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	require.True(t, IsSandboxCgroupName("sbx-sandbox-rand"))
+	require.False(t, IsSandboxCgroupName("sbx-"))
+	require.False(t, IsSandboxCgroupName("other-sbx-sandbox"))
+}
+
+func TestListSandboxCgroups(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	dir := t.TempDir()
+	for _, name := range []string{"sbx-b", "other", "sbx-a"} {
+		require.NoError(t, os.Mkdir(filepath.Join(dir, name), 0o700))
+	}
+	require.NoError(t, os.WriteFile(filepath.Join(dir, "sbx-file"), []byte("x"), 0o600))
+
+	names, err := ListSandboxCgroups(dir)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.Equal(t, []string{"sbx-a", "sbx-b"}, names)
+}