We are interested in using a hardware-bound key in a launch daemon. In a previous post, Quinn explicitly told me this is not possible to use an SE keypair outside of the system context and my reading of the Apple documentation also supports that.
That said, we have gotten the following key-creation and persistence flow to work, so we have some questions as to how this fits in with the above.
(1) In a launch daemon (running thus as root), we do:
let key = SecureEnclave.P256.Signing.PrivateKey()
(2) We then use
key.dataRepresentation
to store a reference to the key in the system keychain as a kSecClassGenericPassword.
(3) When we want to use the key, we fetch the data representation from system keychain and we "rehydrate" the key using:
SecureEnclave.P256.Signing.PrivateKey(dataRepresentation: data)
(4) We then use the output of the above to sign whatever we want.
My questions:
in the above flow, are we actually getting a hardware-bound key from the Secure Enclave or is this working because it's actually defaulting to a non-hardware-backed key?
if it is an SE key, is it that the Apple documentation stating that you can only use the SE with the Data Protection Keychain in the user context is outdated (or wrong)?
does the above work, but is not an approach sanctioned by Apple?
Any feedback on this would be greatly appreciated.
Prioritize user privacy and data security in your app. Discuss best practices for data handling, user consent, and security measures to protect user information.
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We are facing an issue with Keychain sharing across our apps after our Team ID was updated. Below are the steps we have already tried and the current observations:
Steps we have performed so far:
After our Team ID changed, we opened and re-saved all the provisioning profiles.
We created a Keychain Access Group: xxxx.net.soti.mobicontrol (net.soti.mobicontrol is one bundle id of one of the app) and added it to the entitlements of all related apps.
We are saving and reading certificates using this access group only. Below is a sample code snippet we are using for the query:
[genericPasswordQuery setObject:(id)kSecClassGenericPassword forKey:(id)kSecClass];
[genericPasswordQuery setObject:identifier forKey:(id)kSecAttrGeneric];
[genericPasswordQuery setObject:accessGroup forKey:(id)kSecAttrAccessGroup];
[genericPasswordQuery setObject:(id)kSecMatchLimitOne forKey:(id)kSecMatchLimit];
[genericPasswordQuery setObject:(id)kCFBooleanTrue forKey:(id)kSecReturnAttributes];
Issues we are facing:
Keychain items are not being shared consistently across apps.
We receive different errors at different times:
Sometimes errSecDuplicateItem (-25299), even when there is no item in the Keychain.
Sometimes it works in a debug build but fails in Ad Hoc / TestFlight builds.
The behavior is inconsistent and unpredictable.
Expectation / Clarification Needed from Apple:
Are we missing any additional configuration steps after the Team ID update?
Is there a known issue with Keychain Access Groups not working correctly in certain build types (Debug vs AdHoc/TestFlight)?
Guidance on why we are intermittently getting -25299 and how to properly reset/re-add items in the Keychain.
Any additional entitlement / provisioning profile configuration that we should double-check.
Request you to please raise a support ticket with Apple Developer Technical Support including the above details, so that we can get guidance on the correct setup and resolve this issue.
Hello,
I'm developing an iOS app that includes a Sign In with Apple feature.
I’ve completed the following setup steps:
Enabled Sign In with Apple for the app’s Bundle ID in the Apple Developer Console.
Added Sign In with Apple capability in Xcode under Signing & Capabilities.
Tested the feature on a real device, not a simulator.
Registered the real device ID in the Developer Console just in case any hidden permission issues exist.
Despite following all the necessary steps (and even using the official Apple sample code) the Sign In bottom sheet displays a "Sign Up Not Completed" message. Unfortunately, I don’t receive any further error details to help diagnose the issue.
After searching through StackOverflow and this forum, I came across posts suggesting that the feature might take up to 48 hours to become active after setup. Is this still the case in 2025? Or is there something I might be missing?
For additional context: other features such as APNs (Push Notifications) are working as expected.
Thank you in advance for any help or insight!
Topic:
Privacy & Security
SubTopic:
Sign in with Apple
Since Sun 15th Jun 04:30 (UTC+7) we received lots of following error that causes our device test failure. Could Apple please investigate further?
#############################
Operations could not be completed. (com.apple.devicecheck.error error 4.) (serverUnavailable)
In some crashlog files, there are additional pieces of information related to codesigning.
I can understand what most of themcorresponds to (ID, TeamID, Flags, Validation Category). But there is one I have some doubt about: Trust Level.
As far as I can tell (or at least what Google and other search engines say), this is an unsigned 32 bit integer that defines the trust level with -1 being untrusted, 0, being basically an Apple executable and other potential bigger values corresponding to App Store binaries, Developer ID signature, etc.
Yet, I'm not able to find a corresponding detailed documentation about this on Apple's developer website.
I also had a look at the LightweightCodeRequirements "include" file and there does not seem to be such a field available.
[Q] Is there any official documentation listing the different values for this trust level value and providing a clear description of what it corresponds to?
Problem Description:
In our App, When we launch the web login part using ASWebAuthentication + Universal Links with callback scheme as "https", we are not receiving callback.
Note:
We are using "SwiftUIWebAuthentication" Swift Package Manager to display page in ASWebAuth.
But when we use custom url scheme instead of Universal link, app able to receive call back every time.
We use ".onOpenURL" to receive universal link callback scheme.
Hi, my app is receiving all keyboard events through Input Monitoring preference. It completely stopped to work on macOS 15 Sequoia and I have no idea why. Where can I read what has been changed in Input Monitoring? Thanks!
Topic:
Privacy & Security
SubTopic:
General
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.
Hi, we were recently approved for the com.apple.developer.web-browser.public-key-credential entitlement and have added it to our app. It initially worked as expected for a couple of days, but then it stopped working. We're now seeing the same error as before adding the entitlement:
Told not to present authorization sheet: Error Domain=com.apple.AuthenticationServicesCore.AuthorizationError Code=1 "(null)"
ASAuthorizationController credential request failed with error: Error Domain=com.apple.AuthenticationServices.AuthorizationError Code=1004 "(null)"
Do you have any insights into what might be causing this issue?
Thank you!
Is there any way for an iOS app to get a log of all Airdrop transfers originating in all apps on the iOS device e.g. from the last week?
Topic:
Privacy & Security
SubTopic:
General
Hi everyone,
I’m encountering an unexpected Keychain behavior in a production environment and would like to confirm whether this is expected or if I’m missing something.
In my app, I store a deviceId in the Keychain based on the classic KeychainItemWrapper implementation. I extended it by explicitly setting:
kSecAttrAccessible = kSecAttrAccessibleAfterFirstUnlock
My understanding is that kSecAttrAccessibleAfterFirstUnlock should allow Keychain access while the app is running in the background, as long as the device has been unlocked at least once after reboot.
However, after the app went live, I observed that when the app performs background execution (e.g., triggered by background tasks / silent push), Keychain read attempts intermittently fail with:
errSecInteractionNotAllowed (-25308)
This seems inconsistent with the documented behavior of kSecAttrAccessibleAfterFirstUnlock.
Additional context:
The issue never occurs in foreground.
The issue does not appear on development devices.
User devices are not freshly rebooted when this happens.
The Keychain item is created successfully; only background reads fail.
Setting the accessibility to kSecAttrAccessibleAfterFirstUnlockThisDeviceOnly produces the same result.
Questions:
Under what circumstances can kSecAttrAccessibleAfterFirstUnlock still cause a -25308 error?
Is there any known restriction when accessing Keychain while the app is running in background execution contexts?
Could certain system states (Low Power Mode, Background App Refresh conditions, device lock state, etc.) cause Keychain reads to be blocked unexpectedly?
Any insights or similar experiences would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
Hi,
I'm working on developing my own CryptoTokenKit (CTK) extension to enable codesign with HSM-backed keys. Here's what I’ve done so far:
The container app sets up the tokenConfiguration with TKTokenKeychainCertificate and TKTokenKeychainKey.
The extension registers successfully and is visible via pluginkit when launching the container app.
The virtual smartcard appears when running security list-smartcards.
The certificate, key, and identity are all visible using security export-smartcard -i [card].
However, nothing appears in the Keychain.
After adding logging and reviewing output in the Console, I’ve observed the following behavior when running codesign:
My TKTokenSession is instantiated correctly, using my custom TKToken implementation — so far, so good.
However, none of the following TKTokenSession methods are ever called:
func tokenSession(_ session: TKTokenSession, beginAuthFor operation: TKTokenOperation, constraint: Any) throws -> TKTokenAuthOperation
func tokenSession(_ session: TKTokenSession, supports operation: TKTokenOperation, keyObjectID: TKToken.ObjectID, algorithm: TKTokenKeyAlgorithm) -> Bool
func tokenSession(_ session: TKTokenSession, sign dataToSign: Data, keyObjectID: Any, algorithm: TKTokenKeyAlgorithm) throws -> Data
func tokenSession(_ session: TKTokenSession, decrypt ciphertext: Data, keyObjectID: Any, algorithm: TKTokenKeyAlgorithm) throws -> Data
func tokenSession(_ session: TKTokenSession, performKeyExchange otherPartyPublicKeyData: Data, keyObjectID objectID: Any, algorithm: TKTokenKeyAlgorithm, parameters: TKTokenKeyExchangeParameters) throws -> Data
The only relevant Console log is:
default 11:31:15.453969+0200 PersistentToken [0x154d04850] invalidated because the client process (pid 4899) either cancelled the connection or exited
There’s no crash report related to the extension, so my assumption is that ctkd is closing the connection for some unknown reason.
Is there any way to debug this further?
Thank you for your help.
Having trouble decrypting a string using an encryption key and an IV.
var key: String
var iv: String
func decryptData(_ encryptedText: String) -> String?
{
if let textData = Data(base64Encoded: iv + encryptedText) {
do {
let sealedBox = try AES.GCM.SealedBox(combined: textData)
let key = SymmetricKey(data: key.data(using: .utf8)!)
let decryptedData = try AES.GCM.open(sealedBox, using: key)
return String(data: decryptedData, encoding: .utf8)
} catch {
print("Decryption failed: \(error)")
return nil
}
}
return nil
}
Proper coding choices aside (I'm just trying anything at this point,) the main problem is opening the SealedBox. If I go to an online decryption site, I can paste in my encrypted text, the encryption key, and the IV as plain text and I can encrypt and decrypt just fine.
But I can't seem to get the right combo in my Swift code. I don't have a "tag" even though I'm using the combined option. How can I make this work when all I will be receiving is the encrypted text, the encryption key, and the IV. (the encryption key is 256 bits)
Try an AES site with a key of 32 digits and an IV of 16 digits and text of your choice. Use the encrypted version of the text and then the key and IV in my code and you'll see the problem. I can make the SealedBox but I can't open it to get the decrypted data. So I'm not combining the right things the right way. Anyone notice the problem?
Topic:
Privacy & Security
SubTopic:
General
Our background monitoring application uses a Unix executable that requests Screen Recording permission via CGRequestScreenCaptureAccess(). This worked correctly in macOS Tahoe 26.0.1, but broke in 26.1.
Issue:
After calling CGRequestScreenCaptureAccess() in macOS Tahoe 26.1:
System dialog appears and opens System Settings
Our executable does NOT appear in the Screen Recording list
Manually adding via "+" button grants permission internally, but the executable still doesn't show in the UI
Users cannot verify or revoke permissions
Background:
Unix executable runs as a background process (not from Terminal)
Uses Accessibility APIs to retrieve window titles
Same issue occurs with Full Disk Access permissions
Environment:
macOS Tahoe 26.1 (worked in 26.0.1)
Background process (not launched from Terminal)
Questions:
Is this a bug or intentional design change in 26.1?
What's the recommended approach for background executables to properly register with TCC?
Are there specific requirements (Info.plist, etc.) needed?
This significantly impacts user experience as they cannot manage permissions through the UI.
Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thank you
I'm writing an app on macOS that stores passwords in the Keychain and later retrieves them using SecItemCopyMatching(). This works fine 90% of the time. However, occasionally, the call to SecItemCopyMatching() fails with errSecAuthFailed (-25293). When this occurs, simply restarting the app resolves the issue; otherwise, it will consistently fail with errSecAuthFailed.
What I suspect is that the Keychain access permission has a time limitation for a process. This issue always seems to arise when I keep my app running for an extended period.
Trying to validate external reference identifiers with SecTrustEvaluateWithError Method by setting reference Ids to SecPolicyCreateSSL() & SecPolicyCreateWithProperties()
But two concerns are -
Validates for correct reference IDs but gives error for combination of wrong & correct reference Ids
398 days validity works mandatorily before reference Ids check.
Is there any other to validate external reference Ids?, which give flexibility
To pass multiple combinations of reference IDs string (wrong, correct, IP, DNS)
To validate reference ID without days validity of 398.
Please suggest. Any help here is highly appreciated.
Has anyone here encountered this? It's driving me crazy.
It appears on launch.
App Sandbox is enabled.
The proper entitlement is selected (com.apple.security.files.user-selected.read-write)
I believe this is causing an issue with app functionality for users on different machines.
There is zero documentation across the internet on this problem.
I am on macOS 26 beta. This error appears in both Xcode and Xcode-beta.
Please help!
Thank you,
Logan
I have something with a new individual on my team I've never seen before. They checked out our code repository from git and now anytime they try to open a .json file that is legitimately just a text file, GateKeeper tells them it cannot verify the integrity of this file and offers to have them throw this file away. I've seen this with binaries, and that makes sense. I removed the com.apple.quarantine extended attribute from all executable files in our source tree, but I've never seen GateKeeper prompt on text files. I could remove the extended attribute from all files in our source tree, but I fear the next time he pulls from git he'll get new ones flagged. Is there someway around this? I've never personally seen GateKeeper blocking text files.
WebAuthn Level 3 § 6.3.2 Step 2 states the authenticator must :
Check if at least one of the specified combinations of PublicKeyCredentialType and cryptographic parameters in credTypesAndPubKeyAlgs is supported. If not, return an error code equivalent to "NotSupportedError" and terminate the operation.
On my iPhone 15 Pro Max running iOS 18.5, Safari + Passwords does not exhibit this behavior; instead an error is not reported and an ES256 credential is created when an RP passes a non-empty sequence that does not contain {"type":"public-key","alg":-7} (e.g., [{"type":"public-key","alg":-8}]).
When I use Chromium 138.0.7204.92 on my laptop running Arch Linux in conjunction with the Passwords app (connected via the "hybrid" protocol), a credential is not created and instead an error is reported per the spec.
In iOS 18, i use CNContactPickerViewController to access to Contacts (i know it is one-time access).
After first pick up one contact, the Setting > Apps > my app > Contacts shows Private Access without any option to close it.
Is there any way to close it and undisplay it ?
I tried to uninstall and reinstall my app, but it didn't work.