I've noticed recently that on certain websites when using safari I get the "acdn.adnxs" certificate error pop up. Having read other forum posts relating to this issue and deleting relevant files etc. I am still getting the same pop up. Has anybody actually managed to resolve this problem?
MacBook Air (13-inch, Early 2014), OS X El Capitan (10.11.4)
That's a problem with the certificate on a particular advertising provider's site. Since you say this only happens with certain sites, it's probably an issue with those particular sites.
I don't see anything that looks malicious in your EtreCheck report, so this doesn't look like it could be caused by malware or adware on your Mac.
Another possibility, if this is definitely not normal for the sites you're seeing this behavior on, is that your network hardware has been compromised somehow. This is, unfortunately, not uncommon... if you have vulnerable network hardware exposed to the internet, it's only a matter of time before it gets hacked. If you believe this may be the case, you should contact your internet service provider for help, as it may very well be their equipment that is compromised.
EtreCheck version: 3.3 (383)
Report generated 2017-05-16 08:38:29
Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com
Runtime: 1:58
Performance: Excellent
Click the [Lookup] links for more information from Apple Support Communities.
Click the [Details] links for more information about that line.
Problem: Other problem
Description:
Safari certificate
Hardware Information: ⓘ
MacBook Air (13-inch, Early 2014)
[Technical Specifications] - [User Guide] - [Warranty & Service]
MacBook Air - model: MacBookAir6,2
1 1.4 GHz Intel Core i5 (i5-4260U) CPU: 2-core
4 GB RAM Not upgradeable
BANK 0/DIMM0
2 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok
BANK 1/DIMM0
2 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok
Bluetooth: Good - Handoff/Airdrop2 supported
Wireless: en0: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
Battery: Health = Normal - Cycle count = 625
Video Information: ⓘ
Intel HD Graphics 5000 - VRAM: 1536 MB
Color LCD 1440 x 900
System Software: ⓘ
macOS Sierra 10.12.4 (16E195) - Time since boot: less than an hour
Disk Information: ⓘ
APPLE SSD SD0256F disk0 : (251 GB) (Solid State - TRIM: Yes)
[Show SMART report]
EFI (disk0s1 - MS-DOS FAT32) <not mounted> : 210 MB
Recovery HD (disk0s3 - Journaled HFS+) <not mounted> [Recovery]: 650 MB
Macintosh HD (disk1 - Journaled HFS+) / [Startup]: 249.77 GB (158.00 GB free)
Core Storage: disk0s2 250.14 GB Online
USB Information: ⓘ
Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub
Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller
Thunderbolt Information: ⓘ
Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus
Gatekeeper: ⓘ
Mac App Store and identified developers
System Launch Agents: ⓘ
[not loaded] 7 Apple tasks
[loaded] 179 Apple tasks
[running] 96 Apple tasks
System Launch Daemons: ⓘ
[not loaded] 43 Apple tasks
[loaded] 178 Apple tasks
[running] 98 Apple tasks
Launch Agents: ⓘ
[failed] com.adobe.ARMDCHelper.cc24aef4a1b90ed56a725c38014c95072f92651fb65e1bf9c8e43c37a2 3d420d.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2017-01-12) [Lookup]
Launch Daemons: ⓘ
[loaded] com.adobe.ARMDC.Communicator.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2017-04-12) [Lookup]
[loaded] com.adobe.ARMDC.SMJobBlessHelper.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2017-04-12) [Lookup]
[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist (Unknown - installed 2017-04-27) [Lookup]
[loaded] com.ea.origin.ESHelper.plist (Electronic Arts Inc. - installed 2017-05-02) [Lookup]
[loaded] com.malwarebytes.HelperTool.plist (Malwarebytes Corporation - installed 2017-03-24) [Lookup]
[loaded] com.microsoft.autoupdate.helper.plist (Microsoft Corporation - installed 2017-05-04) [Lookup]
User Launch Agents: ⓘ
[loaded] com.ea.origin.WebHelper.plist (Electronic Arts Inc. - installed 2017-05-12) [Lookup]
[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist (Google, Inc. - installed 2017-03-29) [Lookup]
User Login Items: ⓘ
iTunesHelper Application (installed 2017-03-24)
(/Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/MacOS/iTunesHelper.app)
Internet Plug-ins: ⓘ
FlashPlayer-10.6: 25.0.0.171 (installed 2017-05-09) [Lookup]
QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (installed 2017-04-06)
AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: 17.009.20044 (installed 2017-04-12) [Lookup]
AdobePDFViewer: 17.009.20044 (installed 2017-04-12) [Lookup]
Flash Player: 25.0.0.171 (installed 2017-05-09) [Lookup]
SharePointBrowserPlugin: 14.7.2 (installed 2017-03-17) [Lookup]
Unity Web Player: UnityPlayer version 5.3.2f1 (installed 2016-02-06) [Lookup]
Silverlight: 5.1.40728.0 (installed 2015-10-13) [Lookup]
3rd Party Preference Panes: ⓘ
Flash Player (installed 2017-04-27) [Lookup]
Time Machine: ⓘ
Time Machine not configured!
Top Processes by CPU: ⓘ
26% mdworker(7)
12% WindowServer
6% com.apple.WebKit.WebContent(5)
6% com.apple.WebKit.Networking(2)
4% Safari
Top Processes by Memory: ⓘ
623 MB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent(5)
560 MB kernel_task
131 MB WindowServer
98 MB Mail
82 MB Safari
Top Processes by Network Use: ⓘ
Input Output Process name
664 KB 52 KB com.apple.WebKi
47 KB 38 KB apsd
61 KB 8 KB mDNSResponder
6 KB 1 KB com.apple.Safar
0 B 2 KB com.apple.WebKi
Top Processes by Energy Use: ⓘ
0.16 symptomsd
0.16 com.apple.WebKit
0.04 Safari
0.04 hidd
0.02 mds
Virtual Memory Information: ⓘ
1015 MB Available RAM
20 MB Free RAM
3.01 GB Used RAM
995 MB Cached files
0 B Swap Used
Diagnostics Information: ⓘ
2017-05-16 07:55:00 Self test - passed
2017-05-14 18:28:17 ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Mail_2017-05-14-182817_[redacted].crash
com.apple.mail - /Applications/Mail.app/Contents/MacOS/Mail
Application Specific Information:
*** Terminating app due to uncaught exception 'NSInternalInconsistencyException', reason: 'Got EXPUNGE but EXISTS is already 0'
abort() called
terminating with uncaught exception of type NSException
Hope this helps I understand very little of it.
1. Use Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for Mac to remove adware/malware.
https://www.malwarebytes.org/antimalware/mac/
Download, install , open, and run it by clicking “Scan” button to remove adware.
Once done, quit Malwarebytes Anti-Malware.
2. Disable Extensions if any and test.
Close all tabs.
Safari > Preferences > Extensions
Select and disable all extensions and test.
Enable Extensions one by one and test.
To uninstall any extension, select it and click the “Uninstall” button.
3. Safari > Preferences > Search > Search engine:
Select your preferred search engine.
4. Visit the site you want it to be the Home page
Safari > Preferences > General > Homepage
Click the button “Set to Current Page” button.
5. Restart your Mac.
Please run EtreCheck and post the report here.
Click “Download EtreCheck” button, open Downloads folder, click on it to open, and then select ”Open”.
Click on the bouncing EtreCheck icon in the Dock.
“Choose a problem” from the popup menu box, and then “Start EtreCheck” in the dialog.
Click “Share Report” button in the toolbar, select “Copy to Clipboard” .
Paste it into the reply.
I don't think this is normal as I've never noticed the pop ups when I've used chrome as a work-around. Does this make any difference to your suggestion about the network hardware, as I've only ever noticed the certificate errors with Safari?
x17011995 wrote:
I don't think this is normal as I've never noticed the pop ups when I've used chrome as a work-around. Does this make any difference to your suggestion about the network hardware, as I've only ever noticed the certificate errors with Safari?
That's not necessarily an indication of anything, as Safari and Chrome handle these kinds of errors differently. If I recall correctly, Chrome is not nearly as in-your-face about it as Safari.
x17011995 wrote:
No quick fix then basically :( Thanks for your help!
Unless you can identify that this is a problem with one or two specific sites and avoid them, no.
Solving problems with hacked network hardware can involve a restart of the device (either cable/DSL modem or wireless router), a reset to factory defaults, a firmware update or even replacing the device completely. Depends on the device.
Thank you, but this didn't work!
Unfortunately still getting the same message 😟
Have you tried deleting/looking for a cookie related to that website by going to Safari/Preferences/Privacy/Manage Website Data?
Eric,
That link recommends using MacKeeper, which should actually be avoided like the plague.
Reference the link I posted above, DO NOT complete Step 3. Do not install MacKeeper. As Thomas posted above, avoid it like the plague.
No quick fix then basically :( Thanks for your help!
acdn.adnxs safari?
