Hi, I’ve added attestation to my app, and everything worked as expected during setup. However, after deployment, I noticed some unknownSystemFailure entries in the production logs on New Relic. Could you help me understand what typically causes this error? The documentation suggests issues such as failing to generate a token. What scenarios could lead to that?
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Issue: Plain Executables Do Not Appear Under “Screen & System Audio Recording” on macOS 26.1 (Tahoe)
Summary
I am investigating a change in macOS 26.1 (Tahoe) where plain (non-bundled) executables that request screen recording access no longer appear under:
System Settings → Privacy & Security → Screen & System Audio Recording
This behavior differs from macOS Sequoia, where these executables did appear in the list and could be managed through the UI. Tahoe still prompts for permission and still allows the executable to capture the screen once permission is granted, but the executable never shows up in the UI list. This breaks user expectations and removes UI-based permission management.
To confirm the behavior, I created a small reproduction project with both:
a plain executable, and
an identical executable packaged inside an .app bundle.
Only the bundled version appears in System Settings.
Observed Behaviour
1. Plain Executable (from my reproduction project)
When running a plain executable that captures the screen:
macOS displays the normal screen-recording permission prompt.
Before granting permission: screenshots show only the desktop background.
After granting permission: screenshots capture the full display.
The executable does not appear under “Screen & System Audio Recording”.
Even when permission is granted manually (e.g., dragging the executable into the pane), the executable still does not appear, which prevents the user from modifying or revoking the permission through the UI.
If the executable is launched from inside another app (e.g., VS Code, Terminal), the parent app appears in the list instead, not the executable itself.
2. Bundled App Version (from the reproduction project)
I packaged the same code into a simple .app bundle (ScreenCaptureApp.app).
When running the app:
The same permission prompt appears.
Pre-permission screenshots show the desktop background.
Post-permission screenshots capture the full display.
The app does appear under “Screen & System Audio Recording”.
This bundle uses the same underlying executable — the only difference is packaging.
Hypothesis
macOS 26.1 (Tahoe) appears to require app bundles for an item to be shown in the Screen Recording privacy UI.
Plain executables:
still request and receive permission,
still function correctly after permission is granted,
but do not appear in the System Settings list.
This may be an intentional change, undocumented behavior, or a regression.
Reproduction Project
The reproduction project includes:
screen_capture.go A simple Go program that captures screenshots in a loop.
screen_capture_executable Plain executable built from the Go source.
ScreenCaptureApp.app/ App bundle containing the same executable.
build.sh Builds both the plain executable and the app bundle.
Permission reset and TCC testing scripts.
The project demonstrates the behavior consistently.
Steps to Reproduce
Plain Executable
Build:
./build.sh
Reset screen capture permissions:
sudo tccutil reset ScreenCapture
Run:
./screen_capture_executable
Before granting: screenshots show desktop only.
Grant permission when prompted.
After granting: full screenshots.
Executable does not appear in “Screen & System Audio Recording”.
Bundled App
Build (if not already built):
./build.sh
Reset permissions (optional):
sudo tccutil reset ScreenCapture
Run:
open ScreenCaptureApp.app
Before granting: screenshots show desktop.
After granting: full screenshots.
App bundle appears in the System Settings list.
Additional Check
I also tested launching the plain executable as a child process of another executable, similar to how some software architectures work.
Result:
Permission prompt appears
Permission can be granted
Executable still does not appear in the UI, even though TCC tracks it internally → consistent with the plain-executable behaviour.
This reinforces that only app bundles are listed.
Questions for Apple
Is the removal of plain executables from “Screen & System Audio Recording” an intentional change in macOS Tahoe?
If so, does Apple now require all screen-recording capable binaries to be packaged as .app bundles for the UI to display them?
Is there a supported method for making a plain executable (launched by a parent process) appear in the list?
If this is not intentional, what is the recommended path for reporting this as a regression?
Files
Unfortunately, I have discovered the zip file that contains my reproduction project can't be directly uploaded here.
Here is a Google Drive link instead: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sXsr3Q0g6_UzlOIL54P5wbS7yBkpMJ7A/view?usp=sharing
Thank you for taking the time to review this. Any insight into whether this change is intentional or a regression would be very helpful.
I have reached out to support and they simply tell me they are unable to help me, first redirecting me to generic Apple support, after following up they provided the explanation that they only handle administrative tasks and to post on the forums.
I am unable to change my App Tracking Transparency it provides no real error, though network traffic shows a 409 HTTP response from the backend API when trying to save. Here is a screenshot of the result when trying to save.
Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get this resolved? I've commented back to the reviewers and they simply provided help documentation. I have a technical issue and am unable to get anyone to help resolve this.
Hi Apple,
Currently we want to have enhancement for SMS OTP that we want to implement OTP Autofill, But after do some research we're stuck with option that the OTP only show in keyboard suggestion, is there any way for making OTP is automatically filled without user have to click the keyboard suggestion when receiving the SMS.
Thanks
Best Regards,
Admiral Sultano Harly.
Hi. I enter a password using the security command at the command line. It appears in the keychain access app, but not in the passwords app. I don't understand why.
rickhedin@Ricks-MacBook-Pro zalando % security add-generic-password -U -s "birds" -a "cats" -w "dogs"
rickhedin@Ricks-MacBook-Pro zalando %
rickhedin@Ricks-MacBook-Pro zalando % security find-generic-password -s "birds" -wa "cats"
dogs
rickhedin@Ricks-MacBook-Pro zalando %
I'm told the two apps are two views of the same data, so I guess some filter must be being applied?
Topic:
Privacy & Security
SubTopic:
General
Recently, we have adapted the passkey function on the Mac, but we always encounter the error message "Unable to verify the web credentials association of xxx with domain aaa. Please try again in a few seconds."
We can confirm that https://aaa/.well-known/apple-app-site-association has been configured and is accessible over the public network. Additionally, the entitlements in the app have also been set with webcredentials:aaa.
This feature has been experiencing inconsistent performance. When I restart my computer or reinstall the pkg, this feature may work or it may still not work. I believe this is a system issue.
Here is feed back ID: FB20876945
In the feedback, I provided the relevant logs.
If you have any suggestions or assistance, please contact me. I would be extremely grateful!
Topic:
Privacy & Security
SubTopic:
General
Tags:
macOS
Objective-C
Authentication Services
Passkeys in iCloud Keychain
Hello,
When using ASWebAuthenticationSession with an HTTPS callback URL (Universal Link), I receive the following error:
Authorization error: The operation couldn't be completed.
Application with identifier jp.xxxx.yyyy.dev is not associated with domain xxxx-example.go.link.
Using HTTPS callbacks requires Associated Domains using the webcredentials service type for xxxx-example.go.link.
I checked Apple’s official documentation but couldn’t find any clear statement that webcredentials is required when using HTTPS callbacks in ASWebAuthenticationSession.
What I’d like to confirm:
Is webcredentials officially required when using HTTPS as a callback URL with ASWebAuthenticationSession?
If so, is there any official documentation or technical note that states this requirement?
Environment
iOS 18.6.2
Xcode 16.4
Any clarification or official references would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
Topic:
Privacy & Security
SubTopic:
General
Tags:
iOS
Security
Authentication Services
Universal Links
I'm looking to implement USB monitoring for FIDO2 authentication through a custom Authorization Plugin, specifically for the below ones.
This plugin applies to the following macOS authorization mechanisms:
system.login.console — login window authentication
system.login.screensaver — screensaver unlock authentication
The goal is to build a GUI AuthPlugin, an authorization plugin that presents a custom window prompting the user to "Insert your FIDO key”. Additionally, the plugin should detect when the FIDO2 device is removed and respond accordingly.
Additional Info:
We have already developed a custom authorization plugin which is a primary authentication using OTP at login and Lock Screen. We are now extending to include FIDO2 support as a primary.
Our custom authorization plugin is designed to replace the default loginwindow:login mechanism with a custom implementation.
Question: Is there a reliable approach to achieve the USB monitoring functionality through a custom authorization plugin? Any guidance or pointers on this would be greatly appreciated.
Why can’t sandboxed mac app store apps have full disk access available in the system settings for full disk access?
I discovered mac app store apps in release mode cannot access the ai auggie command line program and other command line programs like opengrep on your system. Debug builds fine.
I came up with a workaround: Since I have an ssh client built in for connecting to remote servers, why not connect to ssh on the same local machine… Ask the user for their username and password in a popup.
To do this, you have to enable remote login on your mac in system settings -> sharing.
In addition you must grant full disk access to cli ssh in system settings: add /usr/libexec/sshd-keygen-wrapper
It all works, but I don’t see the cli program in mac settings. To remove the cli program you must run a command line program to remove all full disk access support from all apps. No way to just undo ssh.
So my question is, even though I got CodeFrog all working for a mac app store release, should I not do it because it’s insecure or too complicated with the system settings? Should I instead sell the app off the store like Panic Nova?
Need some advice. I have not implemented in app purchases yet. Should I just have a reality check and sell the app off the store, or try for app store approval?
Bummer…
Maybe I’m ahead of my time, but perhaps Apple could review the source code for apps requesting full disk access and make sure there’s nothing fraudulent in them. Then, developer tools app store apps could be in the store with the user’s assurance that nothing is happening behind the scenes that is scary.
From: https://blog.greenrobot.com/2025/11/10/i-have-a-decision-to-make/
Related post:
https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/806187
I submitted a code level tech support question for this. They directed me here.
I cannot find any reference to this within the Apple developer documents (or certainly searching for multiple possible keywords yields no results).
The only reference I can find is to documents written in support of its announcement in 2002: https://developer.apple.com/news/?id=huqjyh7k.
Is there any further documentation on implementing or has the capability been deprecated?
Topic:
Privacy & Security
SubTopic:
General
Is there any particular reason why ASWebAuthenticationSession doesn't have support for async/await? (example below)
do {
let callbackURL = try await webAuthSession.start()
} catch {
// handle error
}
I'm curious if this style of integration doesn't exist for architectural reasons? Or is the legacy completion handler style preserved in order to prevent existing integrations from breaking?
I am developing a daemon-based product that needs a cryptographic, non-spoofable proof of machine identity so a remote management server can grant permissions based on the physical machine.
I was thinking to create a signing key in the Secure Enclave and use a certificate signed by that key as the machine identity. The problem is that the Secure Enclave key I can create is only accessible from user context, while my product runs as a system daemon and must not rely on user processes or launchAgents.
Could you please advise on the recommended Apple-supported approaches for this use case ?
Specifically, Is there a supported way for a system daemon to generate and use an unremovable Secure Enclave key during phases like the pre-logon, that doesn't have non user context (only the my application which created this key/certificate will have permission to use/delete it)
If Secure Enclave access from a daemon is not supported, what Apple-recommended alternatives exist for providing a hardware-backed machine identity for system daemons?
I'd rather avoid using system keychain, as its contents may be removed or used by root privileged users.
The ideal solution would be that each Apple product, would come out with a non removable signing certificate, that represent the machine itself (lets say that the cetificate name use to represent the machine ID), and can be validated by verify that the root signer is "Apple Root CA"
General:
Forums topic: Privacy & Security
Apple Platform Security support document
Developer > Security
Enabling enhanced security for your app documentation article
Creating enhanced security helper extensions documentation article
Security Audit Thoughts forums post
Cryptography:
Forums tags: Security, Apple CryptoKit
Security framework documentation
Apple CryptoKit framework documentation
Common Crypto man pages — For the full list of pages, run:
% man -k 3cc
For more information about man pages, see Reading UNIX Manual Pages.
On Cryptographic Key Formats forums post
SecItem attributes for keys forums post
CryptoCompatibility sample code
Keychain:
Forums tags: Security
Security > Keychain Items documentation
TN3137 On Mac keychain APIs and implementations
SecItem Fundamentals forums post
SecItem Pitfalls and Best Practices forums post
Investigating hard-to-reproduce keychain problems forums post
App ID Prefix Change and Keychain Access forums post
Smart cards and other secure tokens:
Forums tag: CryptoTokenKit
CryptoTokenKit framework documentation
Mac-specific resources:
Forums tags: Security Foundation, Security Interface
Security Foundation framework documentation
Security Interface framework documentation
BSD Privilege Escalation on macOS
Related:
Networking Resources — This covers high-level network security, including HTTPS and TLS.
Network Extension Resources — This covers low-level network security, including VPN and content filters.
Code Signing Resources
Notarisation Resources
Trusted Execution Resources — This includes Gatekeeper.
App Sandbox Resources
Share and Enjoy
—
Quinn “The Eskimo!” @ Developer Technical Support @ Apple
let myEmail = "eskimo" + "1" + "@" + "apple.com"
Hi,
I am developing a Platform SSO in order to have integrated with our IdP, which I am also adapting to provide the right endpoints for Platform SSO.
I have a few questions about the implementation:
does the client-request-id need to be present on all requests? Is it unique per request, or requests that are bound together like those requesting a nonce and those who will use that nonce should use the same client-request-id?
I am not sure how the loginManager.presentRegistrationViewController works. I'd like to get the user to authenticate to my IdP before device registration. So I am not sure if I should provide my own Webview or something similar or if this method should do something for me;
My idea is to request user authentication once, save the state when performing device registration, so that I avoid asking for user authentication twice when performing user registration. Is this the right way to do it?
How does platform SSO handles tokens? If one application of my IdP requests the authentication on a common OIDC/OAuth2 flow, should I perform some sort of token exchange?
How about SAML? Platform SSO seems to be token-centric, but how does one handle SAML flows? Is it by using WebView as well?
I'm trying to setup device attestation. I believe I have everything setup correctly but the final step of signature validation never succeeds. I've added validation on the client side for debugging and it doesn't validate using CryptoKit.
After the assertion is created, I try to validate it:
assertion = try await DCAppAttestService.shared.generateAssertion(keyId, clientDataHash: clientDataHash)
await validateAssertionLocallyForDebugging(keyId: keyId, assertionObject: assertion, clientDataHash: clientDataHash)
In the validateAssertionLocallyForDebugging method, I extract all the data from the CBOR assertionObject and then setup the parameters to validate the signature, using the key that was created from the original attestation flow, but it fails every time. I'm getting the public key from the server using a temporary debugging API.
let publicKeyData = Data(base64Encoded: publicKeyB64)!
let p256PublicKey = try P256.Signing.PublicKey(derRepresentation: publicKeyData)
let ecdsaSignature = try P256.Signing.ECDSASignature(derRepresentation: signature)
let digestToVerify = SHA256.hash(data: authenticatorData + clientDataHash)
print(" - Recreated Digest to Verify: \(Data(digestToVerify).hexDescription)")
if p256PublicKey.isValidSignature(ecdsaSignature, for: digestToVerify) {
print("[DEBUG] SUCCESS: Local signature validation passed!")
} else {
print("[DEBUG] FAILED: Local signature validation failed.")
}
I have checked my .entitlements file and it is set to development. I have checked the keyId and verified the public key. I have verified the public key X,Y, the RP ID Hash, COSE data, and pretty much anything else I could think of. I've also tried using Gemini and Claude to debug this and that just sends me in circles of trying hashed, unhashed, and double hashed clientData. I'm doing this from Xcode on an M3 macbook air to an iPhone 16 Pro Max. Do you have any ideas on why the signature is not validating with everything else appears to be working?
Thanks
It seems it is not possible to give a CLI app (non .app bundle) full disk access in macOS 26.1. This seems like a bug and if not that is a breaking change. Anybody seeing the same problem?
Our application needs full disk access for a service running as a LaunchDaemon. The binary is located in a /Library subfolder.
Hi everyone,
I’m looking for clarification on best practices for storing API keys in an iOS app — for example, keys used with RevenueCat, PostHog, AWS Rekognition, barcode scanners, and similar third-party services.
I understand that hard-coding API keys directly in the app’s source code is a bad idea, since they can be extracted from the binary. However, using a .plist file doesn’t seem secure either, as it’s still bundled with the app and can be inspected.
I’m wondering:
What are Apple’s recommended approaches for managing these kinds of keys?
Does Xcode Cloud offer a built-in or best-practice method for securely injecting environment variables or secrets at build time?
Would using an external service like AWS Secrets Manager or another server-side solution make sense for this use case?
Any insights or examples of how others are handling this securely within Apple’s ecosystem would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks for considering my questions!
— Paul
Topic:
Privacy & Security
SubTopic:
General
We are using Apple's PSSO to federate device login to out own IdP. We have developed our own extension app and deployed it using MDM. Things works fine but there are 2 issues that we are trying to get to the root cause -
On some devices after restarting we see an error message on the logic screen saying "The registration for this device is invalid and must be repaired"
And other error message is "SmartCard configuration is invalid for this account"
For the 1st we have figured out that this happens when the registration doesn't happen fully and the key is not tied to the user so when the disk needs to be decrypted at the FileVault screen the issue is raised.
For the "SmartCard configuration is invalid for this account" issue also one aspect is invalid registration but there has been other instances as well where the devices were registered completely but then also the the above error was raised. We verified the registration being completed by checking if the SmartCard is visible in the System Report containing the key.
Has anyone seen the above issues and any possible resolution around it?
FB18383742
Setup
🛠️ Xcode 16.4 (16F6)
📱 iPhone 13 mini (iOS 18.0.1)
⌚️ Apple Watch Series 10 (watchOS 11.3.1)
Observations
As AccessorySetupKit does not request "Core Bluetooth permissions", when a watchOS companion app is installed after having installed the iOS app, the toggle in the watch settings for Privacy & Security > Bluetooth is turned off and disabled
After removing the iPhone associated with the Apple Watch, Bluetooth works as expected in the watchOS app
Upon reinstalling the iOS app, there's a toggle for Bluetooth in the iOS ASK app's settings and the ASK picker cannot be presented 🤨
From ASK Documentation:
AccessorySetupKit is available for iOS and iPadOS. The accessory’s Bluetooth permission doesn’t sync to a companion watchOS app.
But this doesn't address not being able to use Core Bluetooth in a watch companion app at all 🥲
Reproducing the bug
Install the iOS + watchOS apps
Launch iOS app, tap "start scan", observe devices can be discovered (project is set up to find heart rate monitors)
Launch watchOS, tap allow on Bluetooth permission pop-up
watchOS app crashes 💥
Meanwhile, in the iOS app, there should be a log entry for 💗 CBCentralManager state: poweredOff and the ASK picker is no longer able to discover any devices
The state of the device permissions:
iOS app has no paired accessories or Bluetooth permission
watchOS app's Bluetooth permission shown as turned off & disabled
Remove the iOS app
Relaunch the watchOS app
Notice the CBCentralManager state is unauthorized
Remove and reinstall the watchOS app
Tap allow on Bluetooth permission pop-up
watchOS app does not crash and CBCentralManager state is poweredOn
The state of the watch permissions:
Bluetooth is turned on & the toggle is not disabled
Note that at this time the iOS app is not installed, there is no way to remove Bluetooth permission for the watch app.
Reinstall + launch the iOS app
Notice a warning in the log:
[##### WARNING #####] App has companion watch app that maybe affected if using CoreBluetooth framework. Please read developer documentation for AccessorySetupKit.
Notice a log entry for 💗 CBCentralManager state: poweredOn before tapping start scan
Tap start scan and observe another log entry:
Failed to show picker due to: The operation couldn’t be completed. (ASErrorDomain error 550.)
ASErrorDomain 550:
The picker can't be used because the app is in the background.
Is this the expected error? 🤔
The state of the iOS permissions:
The app's settings show a Bluetooth toggle normally associated with Core Bluetooth, but the app never showed a Core Bluetooth pop-up
The iOS ASK app now has Core Bluetooth permission 😵💫
Following up with Apple
This is a known bug that should be fixed in watchOS 26 when Bluetooth permissions for watch apps can be set independently of the iOS app. I've yet to test it with watchOS 26.
See repo for the same post with screenshots of the settings and demo code reproducing the bug:
https://github.com/superturboryan/AccessorySetupKit-CoreBluetooth-watchOS-Demo
I've been spending days trying to solve the memory leak in a small menu bar application I've wrote (SC Menu). I've used Instruments which shows the leaks and memory graph which shows unreleased allocations. This occurs when someone views a certificate on the smartcard.
Basically it opens a new window and displays the certificate, the same way Keychain Access displays a certificate. Whenever I create an SFCertificateView instance and set setDetailsDisclosed(true) - a memory leak happens. Instruments highlights that line.
import Cocoa
import SecurityInterface
class ViewCertsViewController: NSViewController {
var selectedCert: SecIdentity? = nil
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
self.view = NSView(frame: NSRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: 500, height: 500))
self.view.wantsLayer = true
var secRef: SecCertificate? = nil
guard let selectedCert else { return }
let certRefErr = SecIdentityCopyCertificate(selectedCert, &secRef)
if certRefErr != errSecSuccess {
os_log("Error getting certificate from identity: %{public}@", log: OSLog.default, type: .error, String(describing: certRefErr))
return
}
let scrollView = NSScrollView()
scrollView.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
scrollView.borderType = .lineBorder
scrollView.hasHorizontalScroller = true
scrollView.hasVerticalScroller = true
let certView = SFCertificateView()
guard let secRef = secRef else { return }
certView.setCertificate(secRef)
certView.setDetailsDisclosed(true)
certView.setDisplayTrust(true)
certView.setEditableTrust(true)
certView.setDisplayDetails(true)
certView.setPolicies(SecPolicyCreateBasicX509())
certView.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
scrollView.documentView = certView
view.addSubview(scrollView)
// Layout constraints
NSLayoutConstraint.activate([
scrollView.leadingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.leadingAnchor),
scrollView.trailingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.trailingAnchor),
scrollView.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.topAnchor),
scrollView.bottomAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.bottomAnchor),
// Provide certificate view a width and height constraint
certView.widthAnchor.constraint(equalTo: scrollView.widthAnchor),
certView.heightAnchor.constraint(greaterThanOrEqualToConstant: 500)
])
}
}
https://github.com/boberito/sc_menu/blob/dev_2.0/smartcard_menu/ViewCertsViewController.swift
Fairly simple.