A Bug in Apple MacOS Ventura Breaks Third-Party Security Tools

The release of Apple's new macOS 13 Ventura operating system on October 24 brought a host of new features to Mac users, but it's also causing problems for those who rely on third-party security programs like malware scanners and monitoring tools.

In the process of patching a vulnerability in the 11th Ventura developer beta, released on October 11, Apple accidentally introduced a flaw that cuts off third-party security products from the access they need to do their scans. And while there is a workaround to grant the permission, those who upgrade their Macs to Ventura may not realize that anything is amiss or have the information needed to fix the problem.

Apple told WIRED that it will resolve the issue in the next macOS software update but declined to say when that would be. In the meantime, users could be unaware that their Mac security tools aren't functioning as expected. The confusion has left third-party security vendors scrambling to understand the scope of the problem. “Of course, all of this coincided with us releasing a beta that was supposed to be compatible with Ventura,” says Thomas Reed, director of Mac and mobile platforms at the antivirus maker Malwarebytes. “So we were getting bug reports from customers that something was wrong, and we were like, ‘crap, we just released a flawed beta.’ We even pulled our beta out of circulation temporarily. But then we started seeing reports about other products, too, after people upgraded to Ventura, so we were like, ‘uh oh, this is bad.’”