Why am I Being Asked to Install Command Line Developer Tools?

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Level 1

29 points

Why am I Being Asked to Install Command Line Developer Tools?

Since installing macOS Big Sur I've been getting pop-up windows telling me I have to install the command line developer tools because it's needed by something called c++filt. The window doesn't give me any clues, and it looks like something is trying to install malware, so I close the window. Several days later it reappears.

Does anyone know what this is about? Should I install it? If not, how do I stop the pop-up windows from appearing?

iMac 27″, macOS 11.0

Posted on Dec 10, 2020 6:20 PM

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Answer 1

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onlineguy Author

Level 1

29 points

Dec 25, 2020 1:49 PM in response to onlineguy

I started selectively uninstalling apps to see if one of them was causing the problem. When I uninstalled BOINC, which does computations for the MilkyWay@Home project, the problem went away. Since I trust BOINC, I reinstalled it along with the developer tools it needs.

Thanks for your suggestions!

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Answer 2

onlineguy Author

Level 1

29 points

Dec 13, 2020 7:18 AM in response to Wilddrums

Thanks for recommending EtreCheck. I've attached the report in case you have time to review it for any insights. I think what I need to do is uninstall some of the apps one by one to see if the problem goes away.

If you can, let me know if you see something in the report that might be significant, and I'll post back here whether I've had any success with the app removal.

EtreCheck Report 2020-12-13

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Answer 3

Barney-15E

Level 10

112,620 points

Dec 10, 2020 7:06 PM in response to onlineguy

My guess would be you have installed something that runs at login and calls that command. I have no idea what that is, though.

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Answer 4

Wilddrums

Level 5

4,268 points

Dec 10, 2020 8:01 PM in response to onlineguy

This is a well known developper utility. You're not supposed to need it and - without going into the details - it may be the sign of a vector malware attack. In a nutshell, it looks suspicious.

You can first try to run Malwarebytes.

Downloading and running Etrecheck (Free on the App Store) can be useful. Post the report back here.

The idea is to find any startup software or launchd.

Keep us posted.

WD

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Answer 5

onlineguy Author

Level 1

29 points

Dec 25, 2020 1:42 PM in response to John Galt

Yes. I install it when I need to UN-install other apps because it does a good job of finding all the little files that get strewn about the system. I then uninstall CleanMyMac because I don't really need any of the other features. Thanks for pointing this out, though.

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Answer 6

John Galt

Level 10

141,126 points

Dec 19, 2020 12:52 PM in response to onlineguy

Were you aware that "CleanMyMac" was installed on that Mac?

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Why am I Being Asked to Install Command Line Developer Tools?

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