Unix Files

Camo1974 wrote:

Hello everyone I have a hidden folder called usr on my Apple Mac. Then the sub folder structure is bin, lib, libexec, local, sbin, share, standalone, x11, x11R6.

In some of these are lots on Unix executable files.

Is this normal or is it malware??

looking for guidance on what to do next?

Those are normal folders. They are part of macOS and are hidden for good reason ... on purpose.

You should not be doing anything with them.

Normal. MacOS is a UNIX operating system beneath the Finder. That /usr folder tree is ordinarily hidden from the Finder but not from a Finder Go To Folder, or the macOS Terminal.

The /usr folder? It's normal for there to be one of those, and for there to be a lot of executable files in some of the subdirectories. Mac OS X / macOS traces its heritage back to Unix. Although Macs have their own GUI instead of the ones commonly found on other Unix and Linux systems, there still is a Unix base underneath.

I suppose that if you installed something, there could malware hiding in one of the directories, alongside all of the normal stuff. It seems unlikely, especially since in recent years, Apple has hardened macOS beyond the normal level of security that Unix and Linux already had. If I am reading this correctly, the only area of /usr in which you can install anything on a Mac running Big Sur or later is /usr/local. The rest of /usr lives on a signed, sealed system volume to harden it against malware attack.

The Eclectic Light Company – Big Sur boot volume layout