macOS Sequoia Reportedly Causing Issues With Third-Party Browsers and Security Tools
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Apple’s new macOS Sequoia operating system, released earlier this week, is reportedly causing issues for users of third-party web browsers and security products. The issues are believed to be connected to firewall-related issues with the new Mac operating system.
While macOS Sequoia offers many enhancements and features, including the much-anticipated iPhone Mirroring, the update is causing issues with specific browsers and security apps.
According to a report from TechCrunch, macOS Sequoia has affected the functionality of multiple security tools, developed by CrowdStrike and SentinelOne, as well as others.
The report cites social media posts from various security researchers, as well as Reddit posts by affected users. Messages from software support accounts in a Slack chatroom for Mac Admins also warn users of issues with macOS Sequoia.
“As a developer of macOS security tools, it’s incredibly frustrating to time and time again have to deal with (understandably) upset users (understandably) blaming your tools for breaking their Macs, when in reality it was Apple’s fault all along,” said Patrick Wardle, the founder of Mac and iOS security startup DoubleYou, and a longtime expert on macOS security.
“I get it, that writing bug-free software is challenging, but maybe if Apple spent less time and money on marketing, and more time on actually testing their software, we’d all be better off!” Wardle told TechCrunch.
Security Software Issues
While the report says that the cause of the issue hasn’t been narrowed down, it appears to be connected to network or firewall-related issues. A message from a CrowdStrike sales engineer posted in a Slack chatroom for Mac Admins said that there was “quite a lot going on with changes in the network stack.” The message also warned that CrowdStrike support for macOS Sequoia would face delays due to the changes within macOS.
The CrowdStrike rep also noted that his company is “tracking similar issues with other vendors” and that they “have feedback and a case in to Apple.” CrowdStrike is holding off on support for Sequoia until Apple fixes the issue in a future macOS Sequoia update.
A SentinelOne support account in the same Slack channel also warned of issues with macOS Sequoia and urged users not to update their operating systems. ESET has also warned its users of a network-related issue with macOS Sequoia. The company told its users to update their ESET software to the latest available version, which is compatible with macOS Sequoia.
In case you upgraded your operating system to macOS Sequoia (15) before upgrading your ESET product for macOS to a supported version, you might experience a network connection loss.
Currently, macOS Sequoia (15) supports ESET Endpoint Security version 8.1.6.0 and later and ESET Cyber Security version 7.5.74.0 and later.
Firewall Issue Affecting DNS and Web Browsing
Security researchers Will Dormann and Waclaw Jacek have also experienced similar problems, and say it is related to firewall and DNS issues with macOS Sequoia.
Dormann posted on Mastodon that he was experiencing DNS and firewall issues on Sequoia. The researcher says that when blocking incoming connections in the macOS Sequoia firewall replies to DNS requests were also blocked, causing issues. “Depending on your firewall config, silly things like DNS may stop working for some apps,” the researcher wrote.
Dormann also noted that a seemingly related issue affects Chrome and Chromium-based browsers on macOS Sequoia, as blocking incoming connections for Chrome in the macOS firewall will cause large downloads to not complete.
Reddit users have also reported issues with Firefox installations on macOS Sequoia. One Reddit said making changes to Firewall settings in macOS Sequoia to allow incoming connections to Firefox caused issues.
The firewall-related issues do have workarounds, which Will Dormann, in a Mastodon post, said is essentially “poking holes in your firewall, which clearly isn’t as safe as having a working firewall, but we’re at the mercy of Apple here.”
Security researcher Waclaw Jacek said in a blog post that the macOS Sequoia firewall can sometimes start blocking access to web browsing. I can personally attest to this, as earlier today I experienced an issue like this, although I had put it down to a momentary internet connection issue.
While we can expect bugs in any new operating system, even one like macOS Sequoia, which has been tested by both developers and public beta testers for several months, Apple would do well to put a fix for these issues on the front burner.
It is also a good idea for users of the above software to hold off on updating to macOS Sequoia until Apple comes up with a fix. Users that have already upgraded to Sequoia are advised to update their software to the latest versions if possible.
