Apple's New macOS Big Sur Update Removes Feature That Let Its Apps Bypass Third-Party Security Tools

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posted on 3 years ago — updated on 1 second ago

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Apple had previously claimed that its apps failed to work with VPNs and other third-party security tools due to a series of bugs. The company is yet to share details over the release date of the stable macOS 11.2 update.

Apple’s is rolling out a new update with the macOS Big Sur 11.2 beta 2 that eliminates a feature that allowed Apple apps to bypass third-party firewalls, security tools, and VPN apps. The feature namely the ‘ContentFilterExclusionList’ included roughly 50 in-house apps that allegedly posed a risk at users’ IP address and location data. This controversial list was discovered by security researchers and app makers last October who found that their security tools were not able to filter some of Apple’s applications. Some had suggested that the list included as many as 56 applications including iCloud, Maps, App Store, and more.

The ‘ContentFilterExclusionList’ also meant that malware could latch on to legitimate Apple apps included on the list and then bypass firewalls and security software. However, according to a tweet by security researcher Patrick Wardle, Apple has now removed the list with the macOS 11.2 beta 2 beta update that was rolled out earlier this week. The researcher adds that Apple apps for Macs such as iCloud, Maps, and more can now work properly with third-party firewalls like LuLu and Little Snitch.

There are currently 56 Apple processes that have their traffic hidden from 3rd party apps using NEs. There’s an undocumented “ExclusionList”. System updates, FaceTime, App Store, Music Library, Messages… Please report this to Apple and mention FB8808172https://t.co/MxSO7Scgz5— David Dudok de Wit (@david_ddw) October 20, 2020

Notably, Apple had told ZDNet last year that this list was temporary and its apps failed to work with VPN and other third-party security tools due to a series of bugs. The company had further explained that bugs were “related to Apple deprecating network kernel extensions (NKEs) in Big Sur.” Following the introduction of a new system called Network Extension Framework with the latest macOS version, Apple adds that its engineers did not enough time to iron out all the bugs before its release.

The network extension framework essentially lets developers customise and extend the core networking features of iOS and macOS such as change the system’s Wi-Fi configuration, hotspot network subsystem integration with apps, and more. Apple is yet to reveal the release of the stable macOS Big Sur 11.2 update.

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