I keep getting a privacy notification on my Mac saying allow <unknown> to find devices on local networks and I don’t know where it’s coming from. I recently reset my Mac because it had the same popup and I just downloaded the basic extra apps for streaming (OBS, TiktokLiveStudio, Chrome, discord, VLC) and I’m wondering if it’s from one of these just not labeled right ?
[Edited by Moderator]
Go to > System Settings > Privacy & Security > Local Networks. If you see an unnamed process there , or one that is turned off, you may be able to Control-Click that process where you will see a Show in Finder option that will take you to the app.
It is usually the case though, that you won't see the process in Local Networks until after you have allowed access. You could compare before allowing and then see what appears there after you allow it, where you will then have the option to turn it off, or at least find out what app it is attributed to.
I deleted all of them (Epson installer, Chrome, Spotify) and restarted. I still get the "Allow <unknown>..." pop-up window. And now Spotify and Teams show in the Local Networks list, both gave me a pop-up window with name (Spotify and Teams) and I declined both. Really annoying, I would have assumed that Apple wouldn't allow anything to identify as "unknown". Oh-well...
etresoft – thank you for giving me a hand here, much appreciated!!
I have my everyday user (standard privileges) and my admin separated.
~/Library/LaunchAgents for my standard user shows:
.../LaunchAgents> ls
com.amazon.music.plist
com.amazon.music.startup.plist
com.epson.epsvcp.plist
com.microsoft.EdgeUpdater.update-internal.109.0.1518.89.plist
com.microsoft.EdgeUpdater.update.plist
com.microsoft.EdgeUpdater.wake.109.0.1518.89.plist
as my admin I get:
.../LaunchDaemons % ls
com.adobe.ARMDC.Communicator.plist
com.adobe.ARMDC.SMJobBlessHelper.plist
com.epson.RemotePrintIODaemon.plist
com.google.GoogleUpdater.wake.system.plist
com.google.keystone.daemon.plist
com.microsoft.EdgeUpdater.update.system.plist
com.microsoft.EdgeUpdater.wake.system.plist
com.microsoft.OneDriveStandaloneUpdaterDaemon.plist
com.microsoft.OneDriveUpdaterDaemon.plist
com.microsoft.autoupdate.helper.plist
com.microsoft.office.licensingV2.helper.plist
com.microsoft.teams.TeamsUpdaterDaemon.plist
com.skype.skypeinstaller.plist
org.macosforge.xquartz.privileged_startx.plist
us.zoom.ZoomDaemon.plist
.../LaunchAgents % ls
com.adobe.ARMDCHelper.cc24aef4a1b90ed56a725c38014c95072f92651fb65e1bf9c8e43c37a23d420d.plist
com.epson.Epson_Low_Ink_Reminder.launcher.plist
com.epson.RemotePrintIOHelper.plist
com.epson.esua.launcher.plist
com.epson.eventmanager.agent.plist
com.epson.scannermonitor.plist
com.google.keystone.agent.plist
com.google.keystone.xpcservice.plist
com.microsoft.OneDriveStandaloneUpdater.plist
com.microsoft.SyncReporter.plist
com.microsoft.update.agent.plist
org.macosforge.xquartz.startx.plist
us.zoom.updater.login.check.plist
us.zoom.updater.plist
~/Library/LaunchAgents % ls
com.adobe.ARM.202f4087f2bbde52e3ac2df389f53a4f123223c9cc56a8fd83a6f7ae.plist
obviously should do some cleaning (clean install?) given that I haven't used Skype and xquartz for many years...
Again, your help and advice is greatly appreciated.
Etresoft; thanks again.
I did go to the absolute paths, I just edited the front part to ".../" to not show computername and username here.
I removed macosforge/xquartz from both /Library/LaunchAgents and /Library/LaunchDaemons and Skype as well from /Library/LaunchDaemons (using sudo rm -rf) and they no longer show when I do an ls, and did a restart after that, but it didn't help.
I should clarify, I have 2 standard user accounts (and one admin) and I get the pop-up when I log out of one of the accounts and am at the login screen.
I just wanted to make sure my Mac wasn’t being hacked :( stuff like this is so annoying and anxiety ridden
Mac privacy notification for unknown app requesting local network access
