MacOS Big Sur 11.2 beta 2, which was released yesterday, removes a feature that has allowed Apple applications to bypass third-party firewalls, security tools and VPN applications, according to reports from ZDNet and security researcher Patrick Wardle.
/article-new/2020/08/First-Look-Big-Sur-Feature2.jpg?resize=560%2C315&ssl=1)
OSmacOS Big Sur 11 has included a ContentFilterExclusionList that allows Apple applications such as the App Store, Maps, iCloud, and more to avoid the firewall and VPN applications that users have installed. These apps could not filter or inspect traffic for some embedded Apple apps.
Security researchers believed that this feature, found in October last year, posed a major security risk, as malware could be designed to connect to a legitimate Apple application and bypass security software. Users who had VPNs installed also risked exposing their real IP address and location to Apple applications.
Omg I did it! 🤩 Thanks to community feedback (and yes, bad press) Apple has decided to remove ContentFilterExclusionList (in 11.2 beta 2) Socket filter firewalls mean (for example, LuLu) can comprehensively monitor / block all OS traffic !! Read more: https://t.co/GJXkRA31e7 https://t.co/BCPqdCjkV0 – patrick wardle (@patrickwardle) January 13, 2021
Apple said ZDNet last year that the list was temporary and the result of a series of bugs related to the depreciation of network kernel extensions in macOS Big Sur. Apple addressed these bugs and, in the second beta of MacOS Big Sur released yesterday, removed ContentFilterExclusionList from macOS code.
When macOS Big Sur 11.2 sees launch, Apple applications will be compatible with VPN applications and will no longer be able to bypass firewalls and other security tools.