How to delete com.kaspersky.kav.sysext.systemextension on macOS Monterey?

I am trying to completely remove Kaspersky Anti-Virus. I am down to one file that I can't delete - com.kaspersky.kav.sysext.systemextension. How can I get rid of it?


It shows up as a system extension under Privacy -> Full Disk Access. I try to remove it and it keeps coming back. It also shows up in the Activity Monitor Process List and reappears no matter how many times I quit the process.


I have also spent about an hour trying to delete the underlying file including:

  • Finder Delete
  • Finder Command-Delete

I always get the error - The operation can’t be completed because you don’t have permission to access some of the items.


I then tried to delete from Terminal using:

sudo rm -rf Contents

and it get ...

rm: Contents/CodeResources: Operation not permitted


rm: Contents/_CodeSignature/CodeResources: Operation not permitted


rm: Contents/_CodeSignature: Operation not permitted


rm: Contents/MacOS/com.kaspersky.kav.sysext: Operation not permitted


rm: Contents/MacOS: Operation not permitted


rm: Contents/embedded.provisionprofile: Operation not permitted


rm: Contents/Info.plist: Operation not permitted


rm: Contents: Operation not permitted

Mac mini, macOS 12.3

Posted on Mar 26, 2022 1:07 PM

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16 replies

Apr 7, 2022 7:26 AM in response to diesel_dad

diesel_dad wrote:

So, never install their Kaspersky malware ...

To be honest, this particular problem is common to many Mac security products. My standard advice to only use official uninstallers or uninstallation instructions provided directly by the developer is becoming more and more useless as those official uninstallers often don't work.


These are security apps. They are supposed to protect us from the most dangerous, state-sponsored, zero-day hacking and ransomware attacks. Yet they can't even figure out how to properly uninstall their own software.

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How to delete com.kaspersky.kav.sysext.systemextension on macOS Monterey?

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