Ever since I've upgraded to Sonoma on my 2019 Intel MacBook Pro, any incoming notification, slack, text, calendar, will unlock the sleeping computer without requesting a password. This is problematic because I can't trust that my computer is secured when leaving my desk. This seems like an extreme security risk, but I can't find any reports of this behavior elsewhere.
MacBook Pro 16″, macOS 14.3
itsadanshane wrote:
HWTech wrote:
Have you verified the computer is actually asleep? Just because you close the lid or select sleep from the menu, it does not necessarily mean the laptop actually got far enough to lock the laptop.
Yeah, as I said above this will happen hours after selecting sleep from the menu.
That does not mean the laptop has been asleep. Yes it should be asleep, but it may never have reached the sleep stage.
If you put the laptop to sleep & wait a few minutes. What happens if you wake the laptop, does it give you a login screen? If you have TouchID enabled, after the laptop is asleep for several minutes, just lightly touch the TouchID.....do not press on it....does the laptop wake & unlock? If it is really asleep, the laptop should not wake or unlock.
I'm trying to find a way to check the sleep wake history, but on my laptop the events are confusing & not very clear, but I'm also on an Apple Silicon Mac at the moment, perhaps an Intel Mac would be different. I'll try to remember to check next week.
Are you running any anti-virus apps, cleaning/optimizer apps, or third party security software? If so, then they may be causing a problem since they interfere with the normal operation of macOS.
You can try booting into Safe Mode to see if the same thing happens. I don't know if Safe Mode will prevent those notifications from activating, but if you get notifications & the computer remains locked, then you have an answer that some third party software is most likely the problem.
Try creating a new macOS user account. Log out of the main user account & log into the new macOS user account. You will need to configure it so you can trigger a notification to confirm if it has the same issue or if it works as expected. If this works as expected, then something within your main user account is causing it.....either a login item, or a misconfigured setting, or corrupt .plist preference file.
itsadanshane wrote:
HWTech wrote:
Have you verified the computer is actually asleep? Just because you close the lid or select sleep from the menu, it does not necessarily mean the laptop actually got far enough to lock the laptop.
Yeah, as I said above this will happen hours after selecting sleep from the menu.
That does not mean the laptop has been asleep. Yes it should be asleep, but it may never have reached the sleep stage.
If you put the laptop to sleep & wait a few minutes. What happens if you wake the laptop, does it give you a login screen? If you have TouchID enabled, after the laptop is asleep for several minutes, just lightly touch the TouchID.....do not press on it....does the laptop wake & unlock? If it is really asleep, the laptop should not wake or unlock.
I'm trying to find a way to check the sleep wake history, but on my laptop the events are confusing & not very clear, but I'm also on an Apple Silicon Mac at the moment, perhaps an Intel Mac would be different. I'll try to remember to check next week.
Are you running any anti-virus apps, cleaning/optimizer apps, or third party security software? If so, then they may be causing a problem since they interfere with the normal operation of macOS.
You can try booting into Safe Mode to see if the same thing happens. I don't know if Safe Mode will prevent those notifications from activating, but if you get notifications & the computer remains locked, then you have an answer that some third party software is most likely the problem.
Try creating a new macOS user account. Log out of the main user account & log into the new macOS user account. You will need to configure it so you can trigger a notification to confirm if it has the same issue or if it works as expected. If this works as expected, then something within your main user account is causing it.....either a login item, or a misconfigured setting, or corrupt .plist preference file.
Here is the link to report a security concern:
Report a security or privacy vulnerability - Apple Support
Without any other user reporting this behavior, I do not believe it is a flaw with the OS or computer. If it was, then it would be affecting a large number of users. It definitely is a problem to have your computer unlock with a Notification. I do not use hot corners to put my computer to sleep, but will test that as well to see if I can duplicate this issue.
I would further investigate to see if a third party app is able to override the login. It would seem to be a security concern if an app was allowed to do this, but an app that adds a System Extension can override many protections that are designed to keep the system safe. To verify the extensions installed and the processes that are running on startup, I would suggest posting the free EtreCheck report here using the Additional Text option.
HWTech wrote:
itsadanshane wrote:
HWTech wrote:
Have you verified the computer is actually asleep? Just because you close the lid or select sleep from the menu, it does not necessarily mean the laptop actually got far enough to lock the laptop.
Yeah, as I said above this will happen hours after selecting sleep from the menu.
That does not mean the laptop has been asleep. Yes it should be asleep, but it may never have reached the sleep stage.
If you put the laptop to sleep & wait a few minutes. What happens if you wake the laptop, does it give you a login screen? If you have TouchID enabled, after the laptop is asleep for several minutes, just lightly touch the TouchID.....do not press on it....does the laptop wake & unlock? If it is really asleep, the laptop should not wake or unlock.
I'm trying to find a way to check the sleep wake history, but on my laptop the events are confusing & not very clear, but I'm also on an Apple Silicon Mac at the moment, perhaps an Intel Mac would be different. I'll try to remember to check next week.
Are you running any anti-virus apps, cleaning/optimizer apps, or third party security software? If so, then they may be causing a problem since they interfere with the normal operation of macOS.
You can try booting into Safe Mode to see if the same thing happens. I don't know if Safe Mode will prevent those notifications from activating, but if you get notifications & the computer remains locked, then you have an answer that some third party software is most likely the problem.
Try creating a new macOS user account. Log out of the main user account & log into the new macOS user account. You will need to configure it so you can trigger a notification to confirm if it has the same issue or if it works as expected. If this works as expected, then something within your main user account is causing it.....either a login item, or a misconfigured setting, or corrupt .plist preference file.
Yes, my computer requires a log-in or fingerprint upon waking. The only non-normal setup I have is an external monitor plugged in and file vault turned on (which makes this more concerning). I'm not running any anti-virus and nothing has permission to control log-ins. Disabling the notifications while sleeping did circumvent the issue, but I really don't trust the security of this machine anymore.
I also have a 2019 MacBook Pro, but it does not unlock the computer when a Notification comes in. I can help verify Settings to see if yours are different than mine.
itsadanshane wrote:
Yes, my computer requires a log-in or fingerprint upon waking.
Did you verify the computer is asleep using the methods I described previously? Unfortunately I had some personal emergencies so did not have any time to look for other ways to observe what the laptop is doing. The system logs don't provide much useful information....many times they have too much junk in them to be able to parse any relevant details from them.
You need to confirm the computer is actually going to sleep after you initiate sleep on it. You cannot assume it has really gone to sleep just because you selected "Sleep" from the menu or closed the lid on a laptop.
The only non-normal setup I have is an external monitor plugged in
Maybe try disconnecting the external display as a test.
and file vault turned on (which makes this more concerning).
Filevault for 2018+ Macs with the security enclave chip is different than it was before. The password requirement when using Filevault on 2018+ Macs only shows up when you try to boot the Mac using external media or attempt to put the Mac into Target Disk Mode.....then & only then will you be prompted for the password to unlock the internal SSD. Booting into macOS normally on the internal SSD behaves no different to the end user whether Filevault is on or off on the 2018+ Macs since you must already enter a password or fingerprint.
Disabling the notifications while sleeping did circumvent the issue, but I really don't trust the security of this machine anymore.
Without seeing an EtreCheck report as requested by @Mac Jim ID, there is not much else we can do except to suggest opening a support case with Apple since no one else has claimed to be able to reproduce the issue. That usually implies something with your system is different than the average system....usually third party software is the cause when this happens, but of course it could be a corrupt .plist preference file.
You can also provide Apple with product feedback here (Apple won't respond):
Does the user have and use an iWatch that can perform this action of UnLocking the computer from Sleep Mode
Unlock your Mac with Apple Watch
Go to Activity Monitor in your Utilities folder and after running choose the Energy tab on that window. Do you have any apps that show they are "Preventing Sleep"?
Mac Jim ID wrote:
Go to Activity Monitor in your Utilities folder and after running choose the Energy tab on that window. Do you have any apps that show they are "Preventing Sleep"?
No, none of my apps are preventing sleep.
Have you verified the computer is actually asleep? Just because you close the lid or select sleep from the menu, it does not necessarily mean the laptop actually got far enough to lock the laptop.
Yeah, my setting are identical to yours. I either put my computer to sleep via the " > Sleep" menu or using a hot corner, but other than that I have the same setup as you above. I'll disable the second and third above, but fundamentally, my computer unlocking without a password seems like a major security flaw. Is there a different forum to report security issues / exploits?
This morning I saw my computer unlock itself after being asleep all night when I received a Slack message. Hours after being locked and asleep it simply unlocked on its own. I never had this issue prior to upgrading to Sonoma, so I do believe there is a serious security flaw.
PRP_53 wrote:
Same here in M2 Machine using Sonoma 14.3.1 and using the same setting as yours
Just tried from Lock Screen
Are you confirming that you are seeing your computer unlock with a Notification or that your settings are the same and not experiencing this issue?
HWTech wrote:
Have you verified the computer is actually asleep? Just because you close the lid or select sleep from the menu, it does not necessarily mean the laptop actually got far enough to lock the laptop.
Yeah, as I said above this will happen hours after selecting sleep from the menu.
No, there is no associated watch.
Same here in M2 Machine using Sonoma 14.3.1 and using the same setting as yours
Just tried from Lock Screen
MacOS Sonoma unlocks computer when it receives a notification
