We can find that there is an authorization right for System Preferences’ Accessibility list, which says:Ĭomment = 'Checked when making changes to the Accessibility Preferences.' The list of authorization “rights” used by the system to manage this “policy based system” is held in /var/db/auth.db database, and a backup or default copy is retained in /System/Library/Security/ist.ĭefaults read /System/Library/Security/ist The Security Server-a Core Services daemon in OS X that deals with authorization and authentication-determines whether no one, everyone, or only certain users may perform a privileged operation. The agent is the user interface- operating on behalf of the Security Server-used to obtain the user’s password or other form of identification, which also ensures consistency between applications.
Authorization is performed through an agent so the user doesn’t have to trust the application with a password.
In a policy-based system, a user requests authorization-the act of granting a right or privilege-to perform a privileged operation. Update: Dropbox hack blocked by Apple in Sierraįollowing my post revealing Dropbox’s Dirty Little Security Hack a few weeks ago, I thought I’d look deeper into how Dropbox was getting around Apple’s security.Īfter a little digging around in Apple’s vast documentation, it occurred to me to check the authorization database and see if that had been tampered with.
