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I've noticed in Activity Monitor that the "Security Agent" process is consuming 100% of a CPU core. What's more is that there are 4 "Security Agent" processes running, each at 100%!
I've noticed this problem happens every 7 days or so and I can't figure out why. The only reason I notice is that I come up to my iMac and the fans are running trying to cool the thing as it struggles with the runs away "Security Agent" processes.
Please help!
iMac 27", 10.15
I do not see such a process on my system. I found a reference in one of the Developers manuals:
Security Agent
The Security Agent is a separate process that provides the user interface for the Security Server in macOS (not iOS). Its primary purpose is to request authentication whenever an app requests additional privileges.
When the Security Server requires the user to authenticate, the Security Agent displays a dialog requesting a user name and password. The advantages of performing this action in a separate process are twofold. First, an application can obtain authorization without ever having access to the user’s credentials (username and password, for example). Second, it enables Apple to add new forms of authentication without requiring every application to understand them.
The Security Agent requires that the user be physically present in order to be authenticated. Because the graphical user interface elements can’t be used through a command-line interface such as the Terminal app or a secure shell (ssh) remote session, this restriction makes it much more difficult for a malicious user to breach an app’s security.
Perhaps this may help you track down what is causing the problem. One thing you might try:
About Safe Mode
Boot into safe mode then restart normally. This clears out a number of caches which may stop the process from eating up so much CPU time. Safe mode is much slower than a normal startup, so be patient.
Just had the same problem. Get the process ID in top and then "sudo kill -HUP pid". Fixed it for me.
Security Agent causing high cpu
