Is it me or Apple isn't even listing the patch in the 11.3 changelog? https://developer.apple.com/documentation/macos-release-note...
Security patches are in a separate article: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212325
macOS gatekeeper and file quarantine bypass
71–80 of 125 posts
Re: macOS gatekeeper and file quarantine bypass
#72Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's also unchecked in Windows by default - I suspect that in reality the concept of extensions probably confuses some users, who end up changing the extension and then struggle to work out how to open their saved files. ( I always prefer to see the extensions too though :) )
Windows gives you a big warning when you change the extension, which seems to me both sufficient and better than hiding the extension altogether (which, like URL hiding, is a fairly dangerous and largely unnecessary convenience)
The warning is a massive inconvenience. It reverts the file name if you cancel, so if you spent any effort on the new name, it will be wasted. Moreover, people often expect to change the file type by changing the name, and they get confused when it doesn't work (or it works for them in some case and they expect it will work here too). Lastly, users often don't read error messages, let alone understand them ("file extension" is hardly an easy concept...), so it's not necessarily helpful to them. Really, the number of cases where you'd need to change a file extension are so small compared to when you don't that I completely understand why they made this choice. It's imperfect, but I don't know of a better solution.
Re: macOS gatekeeper and file quarantine bypass
#73Re: macOS gatekeeper and file quarantine bypass
#74Earlier quoted context omitted.
Genuine question, does MacOS actually care about file extensions? I would guess not, though there are probably some compatibility features that will do things if they are there.
Yes it cares. If you rename a folder to folder.app then it will change to look and "behave" like an app. Or if you change the extension of a video file to mp3 you'll loose the icon preview. Finder does try to help with renaming and when you try to rename a file only the filename is selected and not the extension.
What you're describing is just Finder caring. Linux doesn't care at all about your file extensions but Nautilus sure does.
In GNOME for example gio handles opening files in the "correct" application by way of the MIME database in /usr/share/application/mimeapps.list and ~/.local/share/applications/mimeapps.list.
Re: macOS gatekeeper and file quarantine bypass
#75Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've been having issues with non-cask Homebrew packages getting blocked by some Gatekeeper/SIP related watchdog on my new M1 system. Stuff would just get insta-killed at load. Anyway, it seems to have been sorted now, and through identifying which packages were having the issue in Console and reinstalling them, I've resolved the issues.
Slightly educated guess: did you install the x64 emulator between when you had the problems and when they went away? I can see brew trying to run x64 code while the emulator isn’t there blocking code from running in weird ways. Alternatively, it might be that package updates fixed the packages that behaved incorrectly. Again, just a slightly educated guess.
I had Rosetta well before I ran into these issues, I think Homebrew still required it when I got the computer.
Before I figured out the way to identify the offending dependencies I sorted the issue through signing the executable with codesign, in a way that required me to disable part of SIP. So the code was working, it was just not being allowed to run.
Re: macOS gatekeeper and file quarantine bypass
#76Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm using homebrew all day long, and I don't remember ever having this issue.
Homebrew cask.
I use Homebrew Cask and don't run into any unusual problems with Gatekeeper. The flow is always the same as if I manually downloaded it (meaning I sometimes get a prompt on first run, but that's expected).
Re: macOS gatekeeper and file quarantine bypass
#77Did Apple finally fix the bug where every Big Sur update nukes Xcode tools like Git?
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Re: macOS gatekeeper and file quarantine bypass
#78Fascinating article. Short version: there was a bug in the part of Apple’s Gatekeeper code that checked whether a file was an application bundle. Bundles that only contained a script, and not a plist file, were considered “not a bundle,” and this bypasses the Gatekeeper checks. The issue is fixed in the latest version of Big Sur. Be sure to upgrade. It’s being exploited in the wild.
> Be sure to upgrade. This is a technical crowd, so some of us don't need to rush to download things like this. I'll upgrade when it's convenient, thank you very much.
Why is the technical crowd less in need of an upgrade? My proverbial “grandmother” only accesses her gmail and one news page. Arguably she’s at less risk than someone testing new software.
Re: macOS gatekeeper and file quarantine bypass
#79Gatekeeper is one of the most frustrating things I have to fight whenever I try using MacOS. It feels like DRM for my applications, which in turn makes everything feel clunkier, and less integrated. I would genuinely pay Apple extra for a version of MacOS that just trusts me and lets me install what I want without the some esoteric mechanism stopping me at every step of the way...
Then turn it off. Open the Terminal and run: sudo spctl --master-disable That's it, it will never bother you again, unless you turn it back on or reinstall the OS from scratch. If macOS is still too limiting, you can also turn off System Integrity Protection, at which point you can do just about whatever the heck you want. I personally kept both Gatekeeper and SIP turned off, back when I used modern macOS. But if the…
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Re: macOS gatekeeper and file quarantine bypass
#80Earlier quoted context omitted.
You need to disable gatekeeper like shown in another of the comments. It’ll permanently create a new option in your settings to allow installations from “anywhere” too.
Nitpick, I don't actually think the option in System Preferences is permanent? Is it still there if you change it back and restart System Preferences?
Not sure, I leave it on permanently on 'anywhere'. It still gives a prompt to confirm execution but it becomes a click through rather than anything actually trying to stop you doing stuff.