Apple Responds to Developers Regarding Expired Mac App Store Security Certificates
Last week some users and developers experienced an issue that displayed a "damaged" error when attempting to open select apps from the Mac App Store, including popular apps like 1Password, Tweetbot and Byword. Today, Apple has sent an email to developers explaining what happened and how to fix their apps.
In the email, which developer Donald Southard Jr. shared on Twitter, Apple explains that the company issued a new security certificate for the Mac App Store in September in anticipation of the expiration of the old certificate. The new certificate used a stronger SHA-2 hashing algorithm instead of the old SHA-1 algorithm. Hashing algorithms are used by certificate authorities to sign security certificates.
However, two issues caused users to experience errors when starting up apps. The first issue, according to Apple, is that there was a caching issue with the Mac App Store that required users to restart their computers and re-authenticate with the Mac App Store to clear out the old cache. Apple says it's working on a fix for this in an upcoming OS X update. The other issue is that some apps were running an older version of OpenSSL that didn't support SHA-2. Apple says it replaced the SHA-2 certificate with a new SHA-1 certificate last Thursday night.
Finally, Apple says that "most of the issues are now resolved", but that some apps might still experience problems if the apps make "incorrect assumptions" about the Mac App Store's security certificates. Apple asks developers to make sure their code adheres to the Receipt Validation Programming Guide and to resubmit apps for expedited review if necessary. The AppleCare support team has also been briefed with the latest troubleshooting information for users.
Popular Stories
After announcing new Mac and HomePod models last week, Apple adjusted its trade-in values for select devices in the United States.
iPhone trade-in values decreased by up to $80, and most Android smartphones also went down. Mac trade-in values remained unchanged or increased by up to $40 depending on the model, while some Apple Watch models increased in value and others decreased. Trade-in...
Multiple rumors have suggested that the next-generation iPhone 15 models will adopt the Wi-Fi 6E standard that Apple has already introduced in the iPad Pro and MacBook Pro, and now a leaked document appears to confirm Apple's plans.
Sourced from researcher and Apple leaker Unknownz21 (@URedditor), the document features diagrams of the iPhone 15's antenna architecture. D8x refers to the...
The iPhone 15 will support Wi-Fi 6E, according to a research note shared this week by Barclays analysts Blayne Curtis and Tom O'Malley. The analysts did not specify whether the feature will be available on all models or limited to the Pro models.
Apple has added Wi-Fi 6E support to a handful of devices so far, including the latest 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro, 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook...
New 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with the latest M2 Pro and M2 Max chips are available in Apple retail stores and are already in the hands of customers, and we picked up one of the new M2 Max machines to answer all of the questions MacRumors readers considering a purchase might have.
Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Yesterday, we asked MacRumors fans on...
The new Mac Pro coming later this year is expected to feature the same spacious modular design as the 2019 model, but with fresh concerns over its lack of upgradeability surfacing, some users are beginning to wonder what the transition away from Intel architecture actually means for Apple's most powerful Mac.
The current Intel Mac Pro that Apple sells is popular with creative professionals...
In a recent press release, Apple confirmed that iOS 16.3 will be released to the public next week. The software update will be available for the iPhone 8 and newer and includes a handful of new features, changes, and bug fixes.
Below, we've recapped bigger features in iOS 16.3, including support for physical security keys as a two-factor authentication option for Apple ID accounts, worldwide ...
Apple's next-generation iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max are expected to be announced in September as usual. Already, rumors suggest the devices will have at least eight exclusive features not available on the standard iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus.
An overview of the eight features rumored to be exclusive to iPhone 15 Pro models:A17 chip: iPhone 15 Pro models will be equipped with an A17...
Top Rated Comments
Consider that for a moment.
Take the Tweetbot issue which I had hit me. They had released a new version, Tweetbot 2.1.1, right before this issue happened on Oct 15. This updated version is incompatible with Mac OS Mavericks (10.09) so those running Mavericks were stuck with the previous version. This means that for all those running an OS older than 10.10, you're only able to run Tweetbot 1.6.2. If you go to the App Store and try to update it, or even re-download on such an older OS it explicitly tells you of the incompatibility and says that it will download the "old" version for compatibility.
That would be fine, except the old versions are still signed with the EXPIRED CERTIFICATE! So even if you follow the directions to "re-download the damaged app" it will refuse to run because the certificate signed is expired. So the only "fix" is to upgrade your OS to 10.10. Sure it can be argued to upgrade to the latest version, but there are quite a few instances where this is impossible to do and as such, Apple has just put an expiration date on older software preventing you from running it by linking it to this certificate and not providing developers a way to re-sign those submissions with an updated cert. Neither does the App Store itself provide such a facility.
So if by the current expiration date which I believe now is 2 years from now, if your computer is unable to be upgraded to current OS and the current version is unsupported on your system, then you are completely out of luck and stuck with no app that you paid for. This makes the "download old version" feature in the App Store completely flawed if they provide no way to back sign older provided version on the store front.
In the good ol' days, prior to the existence of the MAS, online activation, and subscription services, I'd install a program and it would just work™ until it got replaced or the computer died.
Yes let's tear apart the letter for next 30 posts shall we. Let's question Apples integrity over it.
Oh my god. Get over it!
If Apple normally does one thing well, it's strong apologies once they've completed an investigation into a problem. This letter is not that.