Password field auto-fills at login...With Wrong Password

Question

Paruretic Author

Level 1

10 points

Password field auto-fills at login...With Wrong Password

SYMPTOMS:

The issue began immediately after updating to El Capitan.

It has happened approximately 20 times in the last week.

It happens when system is asleep and I'm trying to wake it.

It also happens after a reboot.

It doesn't happen every time, and I don't see a pattern or trigger so far.

Example 1 of 2: System is asleep, requires password to wake.

Click in password field.

Begin typing password (first character only)

System is sluggish to display asterix representing the character entered.

System suddenly fills entire password field.

It's entering more than can be visibly displayed.

If very patient, I can delete several lengths of displayed asterix to return field to blank.

As soon as I type a character in the password field again...it again fills entire field as if there's a stuck key.

Note: No...there isn't a stuck key on my keyboard.

I confirmed by going into the user name field and typing my entire password there.

It displayed correctly, and didn't exhibit the auto-fill behavior.

I tried switching users and logging in as another unprivileged user, and also as the Administrator user.

The symptoms were the exact same.

I shut down the Mac (held down the power button), rebooted after 30 seconds and login functioned correctly.

NOTE: The password field is responsive after cold reboot.

Example 2 of 2: After System Reboot, requires password to log in.

This just happened for the first time a few minutes ago.

The symptoms were exactly as above when I'm trying to wake it.

What I've Tried So Far:

Close all open apps (mail, Safari etc.)
Confirm with "Force Quit" that nothing is running other than Finder.
Removed everything from user "Login Items" so nothing I'm not aware of would be trying to run.
Allow system to go to sleep by timer, problem occurs on wake...but not consistently.
Put system to sleep, problem occurs on wake...but not consistently.
Restart system instead of putting it to sleep, "Reopen windows when logging back in" is NOT checked...problem happened.

Because the issue can happen even after reboot, and without any windows trying to log back in after reboot...doesn't that indicate an OS issue rather than an offending app or setting issue?

If it was settings related, I'm thinking the issue would be consistent and repeatable.

I'm stuck, can anyone offer a suggestion?

MacBook Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9.4), null

Posted on Oct 12, 2015 8:25 AM

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Answer 1

ranony

Level 1

8 points

Nov 9, 2017 10:49 AM in response to Paruretic

Runaway password field on IMAC, late 2012, Sierra 10.12.6

This problem started for me sometime ago and occurs randomly so this makes it very tough to run down.

As I recall it seemed to start with a system upgrade but it has been awhile so I’m not sure that it was El Capitan but I think that it was.

First I thought it was an original equipment keyboard that coincidently failed with the system change so I tried switching over to a Microsoft contour keyboard (this keyboard has other issues with the Mac so beware) -The problem persisted.

it seemed to go away after I deleted a mouse set up file -this was sometime ago so i can’t remember the details, sorry.

Today the login password field was jittering once again so either that setup file got corrupted again or it never really was the problem.

As it was jittering I shut off all of my bluetooth devices (as well as the wireless MS contour and the field kept on jittering for several minutes.
I conclude that these devices are not the problem…BTW i just realized that my iphone 6 has its bluetooth on so when it starts happening again I’ll shut that done off as well ( please let us know if it helps in the meanwhile)

What seems to actually be happening, as far as the system is concerned, is lots of characters (most of them unprintable?) are loading into the buffer…However

I never see garbage during .txt edits but I do see chrome helper get extremely bogged down but I never see random text filling the document.

So right now I believe that it is a system software related problem and possibly a misdirected buffer access.

It is interesting that the password jiggling indicates that a return character (or something else?) is being typed on numerous occasions and yet the system never offers a password hint (does anyone out there see a hint? )This would indicate that the system software is in a lost mode.

BTW just typing a character into the password field seems to terminate the bad behavior (does this work for everyone?)
I have to use my trackpad to actually get into the field since the mouse is unresponsive

Does anyone out there see garbage being loaded into any other applications?

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Answer 2

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,931 points

Oct 12, 2015 1:47 PM in response to Paruretic

Are you using the built-in keyboard? Is any other wired or wireless keyboard connected?

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Answer 3

Paruretic Author

Level 1

10 points

Oct 13, 2015 7:54 AM in response to Linc Davis

Linc,

I'm using an Apple wireless keyboard.

System Preferences confirms it as the only keyboard it is aware of.

There is an identical Apple wireless keyboard in my home, but it's approximately 60 feet away and has never been paired with my Mac Pro that's having this issue. I haven't updated the other Mac's OS to El Capitan yet, pending resolution of this issue.

My compliments on suggesting I look at that.

Although I don't think that's causing the issue, it was an extremely savvy suggestion.

I've also explored my security options and I don't see a vulnerability.

My home network sits behind a Cisco firewall set to deny all unrequested inbound.

My Mac Pro has the firewall enabled and is set to deny all inbound or remote access or sharing.

All of my passwords are unique, very long and very complex.

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Answer 4

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,931 points

Oct 13, 2015 11:40 AM in response to Paruretic

Please turn off Bluetooth and see whether you can reproduce the problem with the built-in keyboard.

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Answer 5

Paruretic Author

Level 1

10 points

Oct 14, 2015 8:04 AM in response to Linc Davis

Linc,

What is the "built-in" keyboard?

I have Apple bluetooth keyboard, mouse and trackpad.

Today's experiment:

Removed the batteries from all three bluetooth devices.
Confirmed they were the only three bluetooth devices my Mac Pro is aware of.
Turned off bluetooth.
Connected an Apple USB (wired) keyboard and mouse.
Now I'm going to put it to sleep and come back to it periodically during the day to see if the issue persists.

NEW DEVELOPMENT:

(This happened before I began today's experiment.)

Prior to this morning, the issue was limited to only when the Mac Pro was sleeping or after a reboot when time has passed before I attempt to enter my password for login.

Today, the symptoms did something new.

I attempted to open my Password app and as soon as I typed the first character I saw the sluggish response displaying an asterix in the password field and said "oh oh". Sure enough, the field slowly filled with asterix even though my hands weren't even on the keyboard anymore.

So the issue has now breached into apps.

As usual...the only resolution was to power down the Mac for a bit and then reboot.

Prior to rebooting, I setup "today's experiment" as noted above.

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Answer 6

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,931 points

Oct 14, 2015 8:37 AM in response to Paruretic

What is the "built-in" keyboard?

According to your profile, you have a MacBook Pro. It would have a built-in keyboard. Until now you hadn't indicated that you had a different model.

Please read this whole message before doing anything.

This procedure is a diagnostic test. It’s unlikely to solve your problem. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.

The purpose of the test is to determine whether the problem is caused by third-party software that loads automatically at startup or login, by a peripheral device, by a font conflict, or by corruption of the file system or of certain system caches.

Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed for the test, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards, if applicable. Start up in safe mode and log in to the account with the problem.

Note: If FileVault is enabled in OS X 10.9 or earlier, or if a firmware password is set, or if the startup volume is a software RAID, you can’t do this. Ask for further instructions.

Safe mode is much slower to start up and run than normal, with limited graphics performance, and some things won’t work at all, including sound output and Wi-Fi on certain models. The next normal startup may also be somewhat slow.

The login screen appears even if you usually login automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.

Test while in safe mode. Same problem?

After testing, restart as usual (not in safe mode) and verify that you still have the problem. Post the results of the test.

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Answer 7

Paruretic Author

Level 1

10 points

Oct 14, 2015 3:50 PM in response to Linc Davis

Linc Davis wrote:

According to your profile, you have a MacBook Pro. It would have a built-in keyboard. Until now you hadn't indicated that you had a different model.

Linc,

Well that's bizarre...

I didn't get prompted for my Hardware or OS when I created the thread.
I don't have a Macbook Pro, I have a Mac Pro.
Even if I've forgotten that I selected my hardware and OS, and even if I mistakenly chose Macbook Pro instead of Mac Pro...
There's simply no way I would have selected my OS as Mavericks from 2013.
I found it tagged onto my original post...can't figure out where/how to change it.

Thanks for pointing that out, I'll try to figure out why when and how that happened.

My apologies for the confusion.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, back at my issue...

I'm on a Mac Pro (Late 2013), OS X El Capitan version: 10.11.

The issue hasn't happened all day.

It could still happen, the longest I've gone without it occurring is a day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So far, I've been putting it to sleep manually and returning periodically to check if it will allow me to log in.

After posting this, I'll allow it to sit idle and enter sleep mode automatically, wait a bit and then see if it's happening.

The next time it happens, I'll try your suggestion of seeing what happens when it enters sleep mode from safe mode.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

I'm pretty lost right now and really appreciate all your suggestions.

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Answer 8

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,931 points

Oct 15, 2015 5:13 AM in response to Paruretic

https://discussions.apple.com/___sbsstatic___/apple/tutorial/products.html

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Answer 9

Paruretic Author

Level 1

10 points

Oct 15, 2015 5:12 AM in response to Linc Davis

Thanks for the link...Linc. 😁

I'm shocked at how buried and challenging it was to get into that, even with link you provided.

Support tab / People / Search for my user name /

Prior to receiving the link, I found an easier way to update "My Products".

I started a new thread, and found the option to tweak "My Products" off-screen. It isn't obvious on my monitor, but the new thread form has options including that...if you scroll down the page. I didn't even realize the form page had options hidden below the visible screen.

After making the tweaks, I aborted the new thread and it maintained the "My Products" change.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, back at my main issue...I did everything I could think of yesterday to entice my password field issue to occur, and it didn't.

I'm going to continue trying to get it to happen for at least today and tomorrow.

If it doesn't, I'll assume it was cured by eliminating bluetooth devices (keyboard, mouse, trackpad).

The seemingly obvious answer would be a stuck keyboard key.

But it never goes wild till I enter the first character of my password.

Then if I'm able to clear the password field (sometimes I can't), the cursor just sits there patiently waiting for me to type ANY key (not just the actual first character of my password. So that would seem to indicate I DON'T have a stuck key.

But as soon as I press any key...it takes off again, slowly filling the password field and leaving forced power-down as my only option.

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Answer 10

Paruretic Author

Level 1

10 points

Oct 18, 2015 7:11 AM in response to Paruretic

Issue Update:

Thursday (15th), I disabled bluetooth and removed the batteries from my 3 bluetooth input devices.

Wireless Apple Keyboard
Wireless Apple Magic Mouse
Wireless Apple Trackpad

I connected an Apple wired keyboard and mouse and now 3 days later, (Sunday the 18th)...the issue hasn't happened.

Today I'm going to replace the wired keyboard with the wireless Apple Keyboard...and wait to see if the issue returns.

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Answer 11

Paruretic Author

Level 1

10 points

Oct 20, 2015 6:15 AM in response to Paruretic

Solution:

I connected BOTH keyboards to my Mac Pro at the same time.

That allowed me to continue functioning when the issue happens...I just started using the wired keyboard to troubleshoot.

7 minutes after connecting both...the system wouldn't wake from sleep and began exhibiting the regular symptoms from the wireless keyboard.

I went to the wired keyboard and the issue DIDN'T follow...the wireless keyboard is the source of the problem.

Using the wired keyboard, I was able to login.

Then using TextEdit I was able to observe the wireless keyboards behavior and confirm it's the sole source of trouble.

Although I'd tried it previously, I again tried rifling the keys to dislodge anything that might be affecting the key responses. I also gave the keyboard another good compressed air blowout.

It's been 2 days and the problem hasn't happened again, although the keyboard is notably sluggish when I use the delete key.

Verdict: Dying keyboard.

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Answer 12

Nov 1, 2015 8:41 AM in response to Paruretic

I have the exact same problem and it's persisting. When I put the system to sleep the problem occurs. However, if it goes to sleep after a few minutes on its own, the problem doesn't occur.

21.5 iMac, late 2013 model

The problem started after upgrading from Yosemite to El Capitan.

I have to reboot to login.

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Answer 13

Paruretic Author

Level 1

10 points

Nov 3, 2015 6:48 AM in response to prokopton

prokopton,

Do you have a wired keyboard that you can use to observe what your wireless keyboard is doing or not doing?

The issue persists for me also.

Currently, whenever it happens I just connect a wired keyboard to allow me to log in.

Once I'm in, I use TextEdit to observe the wireless keyboards responses.

This also prevents me from needing to do a power-button shutdown that I'm sure isn't good for the computer...but needed unless you have another way of getting into your locked system.

In the image below, I typed the first line using my wired keyboard when the issue was active.

The second line was typed using my wireless keyboard.

Each letter looks 3 to 5 seconds to appear.

Then the selector popped up...don't know why.

I've tried rifling the keys and using compressed air for the possibility of a stuck key or one with crud under it...issue persists.

My next test will be to see if the issue follows the wireless keyboard or remains with the computer.

I'm going to swap this wireless keyboard with another one (my wife's computer has this same keyboard), that also has El Capitan, but doesn't have the issue you and I are experiencing.

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Answer 14

Nov 4, 2015 12:28 PM in response to Paruretic

I'm still have the problem, even after using compressed air on my Apple Wireless Keyboard. It doesn't happen all the time, but usually after my computer has been asleep or the screen is off.

I can stop the auto-filling password field, but powering off my keyboard, but it continues to occur. My guess is this is a software issue, not crumbs in the keyboard.

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Answer 15

Paruretic Author

Level 1

10 points

Nov 5, 2015 6:12 AM in response to scottorchard

Yeah, the issue definitely ISN'T the keyboard.

Here's some new things I've discovered.

The issue follows the Mac...NOT the keyboard.

I swapped my Apple wireless keyboard with an (almost new) identical one from another Mac.

In less than 24 hours the issue occurred again.

The Mac that now has my original keyboard has never had the issue and still doesn't as of this writing.

That one is a Mac Mini.

Last night when it happened, I didn't login and reboot using my backup wired keyboard.

I just worked with the wired keyboard and then put the Mac to sleep.

For this test I wanted to see if the issue would persist when I logged in this morning...and it didn't. I logged in no problem and I'm using the wireless keyboard to type this.

Left alone (no reboot to resolve it) and put back to sleep...the issue self-cured over night.

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