Undocumented Catalina file access change (lapcatsoftware.com)

Article summary

The article discusses an undocumented change in macOS Catalina where dragging and dropping a file into Terminal grants Terminal permanent access to the file, bypassing privacy protections. This access is granted through a special extended attribute called com.apple.macl and cannot be easily revoked, even with sudo privileges. The article suggests that this behavior is problematic and may be a bug. The change is not documented by Apple and may have implications for user privacy and security.

Main themes

• macOS Catalina
• file access permissions
• privacy protections
• System Integrity Protection
• user experience

What commenters say

• The behavior is user hostile because it allows permanent access to files without explicit user consent or easy revocation.
• The feature is not user hostile, but rather a convenient way to grant access to files, and the inability to revoke access is a minor issue.
• The implementation is a bug because it contradicts the explicit access settings shown in System Preferences and cannot be easily managed or revoked.
• The feature is a security risk because it allows apps to retain access to files even after the user has tried to revoke it.
• Disabling System Integrity Protection is a simple solution to the problem, and the inconvenience is minor compared to the benefits of the feature.
• The issue is not just about the specific feature, but about the broader trend of Apple locking down user control over their own computers.
• The behavior is not a regression, but rather a new feature that enhances existing functionality, albeit with some flaws.
• The use of an undocumented and unmanageable variant for tracking file access permissions is a poor design choice.