Demystify code signing and its importance in app development. Get help troubleshooting code signing issues and ensure your app is properly signed for distribution.

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I got my app notarized but I am still getting the malware warning message
Hello, I recently had my Electron app notarized by Apple and then performed the following steps: Stapling the Notarization Ticket: xcrun stapler staple "appPath/Aiparalegal.app" Zipping the App for Distribution: ditto -c -k --keepParent "appPath/Aiparalegal.app" theAIParalegal.zip However, after unzipping and attempting to launch the app, macOS displays the following message: Apple could not verify "theAIParalegal" is free of malware that may harm your Mac or compromise your privacy. Yet, when I run validation using: xcrun stapler validate "theAIParalegal.app" I receive confirmation: The validate action worked! I then tried restarting my computer but the problem persist Could you help me understand why the notarization validation appears successful, yet macOS still displays this security warning? Any advice on how to resolve this would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
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141
Apr ’25
Apple Certification Expired
Hello everyone. I have a simple doubt, I receive an email informing that the Apple Distribution certificate will expire. I create one new in the Developer portal with one year duration. My doubt is, I need to do something more like open again the app in Xcode, insert new certificate and build it again, send to apple and everything? Or just creating this certification is enough? Is possible to increase this certification time or auto renew? Thank you!!!
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99
Jun ’25
Copy of notarized & exported app will not run
In XCode I create and export a notarized app for "direct distribution". I then create a tar file of the exported .app to distribute to my users. Until today this worked fine. Now when the users try to run the app it pops up a dialog saying "app is damaged and can't be opened. You should move it to the Trash." It is possible to ctrl-click on the app and force it to run but, I think, whether this works or not will depend on system settings and not all users have root access to modify settings. Even simply copying the .app folder from the command line will cause this error.
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86
Jun ’25
Error "The staple and validate action failed! Error 65 "
Hello everyone, I’m currently developing an Electron application, and I’m trying to properly sign and notarize it for macOS. The notarization process itself seems to complete successfully—the file is accepted without issues. However, when I attempt to staple the notarization ticket to the executable, I consistently get Error 65 with TheStableAndValidateActionFailed. The issue is puzzling because the executable does not change at any point during the process. After facing this issue multiple times in my own project, I decided to test it on a more controlled setup. I followed the steps from this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYBLfjT57hU and the instructions from this macos-code-signing-example which have previously worked for others. Yet, even with this setup, I still get the same Error 65. Below, I have attached the verbose logs for reference. I’m trying to understand what could be causing this issue—whether it’s related to certificates, the signing process, or something else entirely. Has anyone encountered a similar problem, and if so, how did you resolve it? Any insights would be greatly appreciated!
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678
Mar ’25
MacOS PKG Notarization status is Rejected with status code 7000
I developed a macOS application and have already signed the pkg package. However, when I submitted it for notarization using the following command: xcrun notarytool submit --signed.pkg --apple-id "**@gmail.com" --team-id "2*******M" --password "this is password" --wait I received a "Rejected" status. The log provided the following details: "logFormatVersion": 1, "jobId": "f5f3751d-b449-4a2f-b905-32d38ab5963b", "status": "Rejected", "statusSummary": "Team is not yet configured for notarization. Please contact Developer Programs Support at developer.apple.com under the topic Development and Technical / Other Development or Technical Questions.", "statusCode": 7000, "archiveFilename": "*********.pkg", "uploadDate": "2025-03-20T03:16:43.651Z", "sha256": "3ca39700c531a66571721424a6c00668748011174b4ae20bbbec5c2d3a8a41f9", "ticketContents": null, "issues": null``` Can you help me, thank you.
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93
Mar ’25
Keychain Data Recovery After App ID Prefix Update
We had an issue with IDrive Online Backup which has started discussing on the Developer forum at https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/756904 and as suggested raised a technical support ticket Case-ID: 7747625. At last the old legacy bundle ID prefix changed to to the new Team ID prefix. As a result  one-time loss of keychain data occurs, however we requested and were granted an additional keychain capability that allowed access to keychain data stored under the old legacy prefix, even after transitioning to the new Team ID prefix. We are currently facing a similar challenge with our other application, IBackup. As with the earlier case, we had a mismatch between the App ID prefix and the Team ID, which we resolved by updating the prefix to match the Team ID. Again now encountered a blocker with Keychain data recovery. We have already requested the additional Keychain capability that would allow access to keychain data stored under the old legacy prefix, even after transitioning to the new Team ID prefix. Unfortunately, the team responsible for this has some uncertainty about the process. Please review the details under case 102398017929 and extend this capability to our application to ensure a seamless user experience.
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85
Apr ’25
How to Share Provisioning Profiles with Customers for macOS App Distribution
I am distributing a macOS application outside the App Store using Developer ID and need to provide provisioning profiles to customers for installation during the package installation process. I have two questions: How can I package and provide the provisioning profile(s) so that the customer can install them easily during the application installation process? Are there any best practices or tools that could simplify this step? In my case, there are multiple provisioning profiles. Should I instruct the customer to install each profile one by one, or is there a way to combine them and have them installed all at once? Any insights, resources, or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
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63
Jun ’25
AppStore submission for Ruby/Glimmer app on MacOS without Xcode
Background I've repeatedly run into codesigning (and missing provisioning profile) issues for my Ruby/Glimmer app and am looking for ways to troubleshoot this outside of Xcode. The app structure is as follows: PATHmanager.app └── Contents ├── Info.plist ├── MacOS │   └── PATHmanager ├── PkgInfo ├── Resources │   └── AppIcon.icns ├── _CodeSignature │   └── CodeResources └── embedded.provisionprofile Architecture I have a Mac mini Apple M2 Pro with macOS Ventura 13.4. Xcode is not used directly, but the underlying command line tools (e.g., codesign, productbuild, pkgutil, xcrun) are run from a custom Ruby script. xcodebuild -version Xcode 14.3.1 Build version 14E300c Questions Is the .app directory and file structure/naming sufficient? If not, can you point me in the direction of a minimal example that does not use Xcode? Info.plist is an XML text document (not binary), which I believe is in an acceptable format, but how do I lint this file and determine if it contains all of the necessary key/value pairs? <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd"> <plist version="1.0"> <dict> <key>CFBundleDevelopmentRegion</key> <string>en</string> <key>CFBundleDisplayName</key> <string>PATH manager</string> <key>CFBundleExecutable</key> <string>PATHmanager</string> <key>CFBundleIconFile</key> <string>AppIcon.icns</string> <key>CFBundleIdentifier</key> <string>com.chipcastle.pathmanager</string> <key>CFBundleInfoDictionaryVersion</key> <string>6.0</string> <key>CFBundleName</key> <string>PATHmanager</string> <key>CFBundlePackageType</key> <string>APPL</string> <key>CFBundleShortVersionString</key> <string>1.15</string> <key>CFBundleSupportedPlatforms</key> <array> <string>MacOSX</string> </array> <key>CFBundleVersion</key> <string>1.15</string> <key>ITSAppUsesNonExemptEncryption</key> <false/> <key>LSApplicationCategoryType</key> <string>public.app-category.developer-tools</string> <key>LSMinimumSystemVersion</key> <string>12.0</string> <key>LSUIElement</key> <false/> <key>NSAppTransportSecurity</key> <dict> <key>NSAllowsArbitraryLoads</key> <true/> </dict> <key>NSHumanReadableCopyright</key> <string>© 2025 Chip Castle Dot Com, Inc.</string> <key>NSMainNibFile</key> <string>MainMenu</string> <key>NSPrincipalClass</key> <string>NSApplication</string> </dict> </plist> PATHmanager is a Mach-O 64-bit executable arm64 file created by using Tebako. Does this executable need to be codesigned, or is codesigning the .app folder sufficient? Does the .app directory need an entitlements file? Here's how I codesign it: codesign --deep --force --verify --verbose=4 --options runtime --timestamp --sign 'Apple Distribution: Chip Castle Dot Com, Inc. (BXN9N7MNU3)' '/Users/chip/Desktop/distribution/PATHmanager.app' Does the PATHmanager binary need an entitlements file? Here's how I codesign it: codesign --deep --force --verify --verbose=4 --options runtime --timestamp --entitlements '/Users/chip/Desktop/PATHmanager.entitlements' --sign 'Apple Distribution: Chip Castle Dot Com, Inc. (BXN9N7MNU3)' '/Users/chip/Desktop/distribution/PATHmanager.app/Contents/MacOS/PATHmanager' How can I verify what entitlements, if any, are required for codesigning the binary? The PATHmanager.entitlements file is an XML text file containing only the following: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd"> <plist version="1.0"> <dict> <key>com.apple.security.app-sandbox</key> <true/> </dict> </plist> Is the embedded.provisionprofile necessary, and if so, how do I know determine if it matches the certificate or entitlements that I'm using? Additionally, is it named and located properly? I submitted this to the AppStore several weeks ago and the reviewer reported that the executable would not load on their machine (even though it worked on mine.) Is it better for me to release via TestFlight for testing, and if so, do I need to following a separate process for codesigning (i.e., using different entitlements, profiles, certs, etc) when doing so? I've been playing whack-a-mole with this for too long to mention and am hoping to nail down a better deployment flow, so any suggestions for improvement will be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.
Topic: Code Signing SubTopic: General
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1.1k
Apr ’25
macos app won't run
I created a distribution certificate for my app release build and have manually loaded this cert (link to xcode image at the bottom of this paragraph). All things look good until I build the app and I get the following error. I'm first pasting the image of my project and then the error information. [https://madshot.net/10c6e510875e.png) Could not launch “Madshot360” Domain: IDELaunchErrorDomain Code: 20 Recovery Suggestion: Runningboard has returned error 5. Please check the system logs for the underlying cause of the error. User Info: { DVTErrorCreationDateKey = "2025-06-10 19:58:02 +0000"; DVTRadarComponentKey = 968756; IDERunOperationFailingWorker = IDELaunchServicesLauncher; } The operation couldn’t be completed. Launch failed. Domain: RBSRequestErrorDomain Code: 5 Failure Reason: Launch failed. Launchd job spawn failed Domain: NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code: 153 Event Metadata: com.apple.dt.IDERunOperationWorkerFinished : { "device_identifier" = "00008112-0004052C22D8A01E"; "device_model" = "Mac14,15"; "device_osBuild" = "15.5 (24F74)"; "device_platform" = "com.apple.platform.macosx"; "device_thinningType" = "Mac14,15"; "dvt_coredevice_version" = "443.19"; "dvt_coresimulator_version" = "1010.10"; "dvt_mobiledevice_version" = "1784.120.3"; "launchSession_schemeCommand" = Run; "launchSession_state" = 1; "launchSession_targetArch" = arm64; "operation_duration_ms" = 235; "operation_errorCode" = 20; "operation_errorDomain" = IDELaunchErrorDomain; "operation_errorWorker" = IDELaunchServicesLauncher; "operation_name" = IDERunOperationWorkerGroup; "param_debugger_attachToExtensions" = 0; "param_debugger_attachToXPC" = 1; "param_debugger_type" = 3; "param_destination_isProxy" = 0; "param_destination_platform" = "com.apple.platform.macosx"; "param_diag_113575882_enable" = 0; "param_diag_MainThreadChecker_stopOnIssue" = 0; "param_diag_MallocStackLogging_enableDuringAttach" = 0; "param_diag_MallocStackLogging_enableForXPC" = 1; "param_diag_allowLocationSimulation" = 1; "param_diag_checker_tpc_enable" = 1; "param_diag_gpu_frameCapture_enable" = 0; "param_diag_gpu_shaderValidation_enable" = 0; "param_diag_gpu_validation_enable" = 0; "param_diag_guardMalloc_enable" = 0; "param_diag_memoryGraphOnResourceException" = 0; "param_diag_mtc_enable" = 1; "param_diag_queueDebugging_enable" = 1; "param_diag_runtimeProfile_generate" = 0; "param_diag_sanitizer_asan_enable" = 0; "param_diag_sanitizer_tsan_enable" = 0; "param_diag_sanitizer_tsan_stopOnIssue" = 0; "param_diag_sanitizer_ubsan_enable" = 0; "param_diag_sanitizer_ubsan_stopOnIssue" = 0; "param_diag_showNonLocalizedStrings" = 0; "param_diag_viewDebugging_enabled" = 1; "param_diag_viewDebugging_insertDylibOnLaunch" = 1; "param_install_style" = 2; "param_launcher_UID" = 2; "param_launcher_allowDeviceSensorReplayData" = 0; "param_launcher_kind" = 0; "param_launcher_style" = 99; "param_launcher_substyle" = 0; "param_runnable_appExtensionHostRunMode" = 0; "param_runnable_productType" = "com.apple.product-type.application"; "param_structuredConsoleMode" = 1; "param_testing_launchedForTesting" = 0; "param_testing_suppressSimulatorApp" = 0; "param_testing_usingCLI" = 0; "sdk_canonicalName" = "macosx15.4"; "sdk_osVersion" = "15.4"; "sdk_variant" = macos; } System Information macOS Version 15.5 (Build 24F74) Xcode 16.3 (23785) (Build 16E140) Timestamp: 2025-06-10T12:58:02-07:00
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80
Jun ’25
Inquiry about CarPlay Entitlements Application - Black Box Integration for Device Settings & Communication - No Response After 7 Days
Hi everyone, I applied for CarPlay Entitlements on [Date 04. 26, 2024] using CarPlay is Case ID "13045151". I haven't received any updates or responses regarding my application yet. It's been 7 days since the application. My service requires CarPlay integration with a Black Box device. The primary purpose of this integration is to allow users to configure device settings through CarPlay. Furthermore, we plan to utilize the "Communication" category of Entitlements to notify users of parking incidents detected by the Black Box device while parked. This functionality is crucial for alerting drivers to potential issues affecting their vehicles. Could anyone share their experience with the typical turnaround time for CarPlay Entitlements, especially for applications involving device integration and the "Communication" category? Is this delay normal? Is there any way to check the application status or contact the appropriate team to inquire about its progress? Thank you for any insights or advice you can provide! Sincerely,
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139
Apr ’25
Trying to distribute app to Apple Store
I created an MadOS app with xcode 16.5 with a developer id certificate. I've been trying to install a distribution certificate for over a week with several co-workers. I can add a distribution certificate to my key chain, and created a provisioning profile. I've tried every combination but none work. I put xcode in automatic signing but can only see my developer id, if I put it in manual with and without a provisioning profile but if I give the app binary, other users can't run the app because the certificate isn't working. I need support to work with me to look the developer portal and my system to figure this out.
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162
Jun ’25
Flutter build fails on iOS physical device in Android Studio, works in Xcode
Hello, I'm encountering an issue when trying to build and launch a Flutter app on a physical iOS device using Android Studio. Here is the full log: `Launching lib/main.dart on (iPhone Name) in debug mode... Automatically signing iOS for device deployment using specified development team in Xcode project: (Project ID) Running Xcode build... Xcode build done. 19.7s Failed to build iOS app Could not build the precompiled application for the device. Error (Xcode): Target debug_unpack_ios failed: Exception: Failed to codesign (Project Names)/build/ios/Debug-iphoneos/Flutter.framework/Flutter with identity (identity ID). Error launching application on (iPhone Name).` This only happens when using Android Studio. When I build the same project using Xcode, it runs fine on the same device. Background: I accidentally deleted all Apple accounts from Xcode recently. In Keychain Access, I had three identical certificates; I deleted the older two and kept the newest one. I suspect this may be related to provisioning or code signing, but I’m not sure how to resolve it within Android Studio. Any advice or steps to fix this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
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148
Jun ’25
notarization - not a valid developer certificate
I have a binary which I have signed with a valid developer certificate. Here is how I verify the signature was correctly applied: % codesign -dvv ./test_program.exe Executable=/Users/REDACTED/code_signing/test_program.exe Identifier=com.REDACTED.hello_world Format=Mach-O thin (arm64) CodeDirectory v=20500 size=489 flags=0x10000(runtime) hashes=9+2 location=embedded Signature size=9071 Authority=Mac Developer: REDACTED NAME (REDACTED_ID) Authority=Apple Worldwide Developer Relations Certification Authority Authority=Apple Root CA Timestamp=Apr 16, 2025 at 11:26:43 AM Info.plist=not bound TeamIdentifier=REDACTED Runtime Version=14.2.0 Sealed Resources=none Internal requirements count=1 size=192 ============================== Additionally, I have confirmed in keychain access that my certificate is valid. Here is the output from the GUI: Issued by: Apple Worldwide Developer Relations Certification Authority Expires: Wednesday, April 15, 2026 at 3:50:14 PM Eastern Daylight Time This certificate is valid ============================== When I zip then send the executable for notarization, I get an "Invalid" response. Here is the log from that response: % xcrun notarytool submit ./test_program.zip --keychain-profile REDACTED --wait Conducting pre-submission checks for test_program.zip and initiating connection to the Apple notary service... Submission ID received id: 0d64c285-eb59-4b34-b911-0e6cbb1dbc16 Upload progress: 100.00% (6.39 KB of 6.39 KB) Successfully uploaded file id: 0d64c285-eb59-4b34-b911-0e6cbb1dbc16 path: /Users/REDACTED/code_signing/test_program.zip Waiting for processing to complete. Current status: Invalid......... Processing complete id: 0d64c285-eb59-4b34-b911-0e6cbb1dbc16 status: Invalid =============================== And here is the log indicating the reason for the notarization failure: xcrun notarytool log "0d64c285-eb59-4b34-b911-0e6cbb1dbc16" --keychain-profile REDACTED "./log_file.txt" { "logFormatVersion": 1, "jobId": "0d64c285-eb59-4b34-b911-0e6cbb1dbc16", "status": "Invalid", "statusSummary": "Archive contains critical validation errors", "statusCode": 4000, "archiveFilename": "test_program.zip", "uploadDate": "2025-04-16T16:23:38.993Z", "sha256": "9e3bd03301f4930a0e4015873b435c8d64c291e7c63d0552f17652dc7ce16195", "ticketContents": null, "issues": [ { "severity": "error", "code": null, "path": "test_program.zip/test_program.exe", "message": "The binary is not signed with a valid Developer ID certificate.", "docUrl": "https://developer.apple.com/documentation/security/notarizing_macos_software_before_distribution/resolving_common_notarization_issues#3087721", "architecture": "arm64" } ] } ============================== The notarization server saying that it's not signed by a valid developer certificate, but to the best of my ability I have confirmed that a valid developer certificate is being used.
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130
Apr ’25
Signing issue with Notification Filtering entitlement
Two months ago we got approval for using the Notification Filtering entitlement. We rushed out to implement it in our app, only to find out that the permission was set for the wrong bundle identifier. We expected to get the permission for the notification extension's bundle identifier, yet it is added for the main app's bundle identifier. Per the official docs, the entitlement permission should be in the notification service extension target: After you receive permission to use the entitlement, add com.apple.developer.usernotifications.filtering to the entitlements file in the Notification Service Extension target. However, this fails to get signed when compiling for non-simulator targets because of the bundle mismatch issue. Simulator perfectly filters notifications. Adding the entitlement to the main app does compile, but filtering does not work (as expected). We reached out to Apple twice (Case-ID: 14330583) but we have yet to receive any response. Could there be something else wrong instead of the identifier mismatch?
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905
Jul ’25
Notarization accepted, but the staple and validate action failed! Error 65.
Hi guys, I am new to publishing apps on Apple Store. I used python, pyside6, torch, pyinstaller to build an app for Apple Store. For codesigning, I used the correct "Developer ID Application" to sign the code. When I validate the .app file (codesign -vv --strict ), I got the following my_app.app: valid on disk my_app.app: satisfies its Designated Requirement Next, I used ditto to "ditto -c -k --sequesterRsrc --keepParent my_app.app my_app.zip" to zip it. Then, I submitted this my_app.zip file for notarization with "xcrun notarytool submit ..." and got the following "accepted" message. Received new status: Accepted Current status: Accepted............... [20:08:54.530Z] Info [API] Submission in terminal status: Accepted Processing complete After that, I want to staple it with "xcrun stapler staple my_app.app", but I got the following Could not validate ticket for my_app.app The staple and validate action failed! Error 65. To further investigate it, I ran "spctl -a -vvv my_app.app" and got my_app.app: rejected source=Unnotarized Developer ID origin=Developer ID Application... I don't know why this would happen after notarization accepted. Could someone help me understand this issue? Thanks!
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359
Jul ’25
Provisioning Profile Missing In-App Purchase Entitlement (Despite Capability Enabled)
I'm facing a persistent issue with provisioning profiles not including the com.apple.developer.in-app-purchase entitlement, even though the In-App Purchase capability is clearly enabled in the Developer Portal for my app. What I’ve already done: Confirmed that the In-App Purchase capability is enabled in the App ID configuration Deleted all provisioning profiles locally (~/Library/MobileDevice/Provisioning Profiles) Regenerated both Development and App Store provisioning profiles from scratch Tried Xcode's automatic signing (after properly registering the device) Verified the provisioning profiles via Terminal (security cms -D -i ...) — the IAP entitlement is missing every time Recreated valid distribution and development certificates Cleaned the Xcode project and settings The result: Every attempt to build or archive the app in Xcode returns: Missing entitlement: com.apple.developer.in-app-purchase I've also opened a support case with Apple, but so far I’ve only been redirected to general documentation. Has anyone encountered this recently? Is there a known delay or sync issue on Apple’s side when enabling capabilities? Can the provisioning profile or entitlement data be manually refreshed by Apple? Is there any workaround that worked for you in this situation?
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185
Jun ’25
security find-identity -v -p codesigning 0 valid identities found
I am trying to resign a package using a script from Docebo. But I got an error when running the script error: The specified item could not be found in the keychain. So I ran security find-identity and I got a 0 Valid identity message. But I can see these certificates installed in my keychain and downloaded a brand new mobile provissioning profile. No dice... any ideas?
8
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531
Mar ’25
Persistent “com.apple.security.get-task-allow” entitlement after signing¬arizing
After signing and notarizing our application, the entitlement “com.apple.security.get-task-allow” is removed. However, we want this entitlement to remain and we want to be able to create a corefile when needed. Is it possible to make the “com.apple.security.get-task-allow” entitlement persistent after signing and notarizing, so that our application can create a corefile?
3
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199
Mar ’25
codesign fails with no explanation
When I first tried to sign my local unit test with the identity generated by Xcode, it failed because the intermediate certificate was missing. In that case, the error message explained that the trust chain could not be completed. But after installing the correct intermediate, codesign still fails, but no longer gives any explanation: codesign -f -s '0EFE7E591A4E690842094B8EC5AFDFE059637D3C' build/Darwin-Xcode-arm64_obf/bin/Release/UNITTEST build/Darwin-Xcode-arm64_obf/bin/Release/UNITTEST: replacing existing signature build/Darwin-Xcode-arm64_obf/bin/Release/UNITTEST: errSecInternalComponent It's the same error line "errSecInternalComponent". Is there a log somewhere that might explain what exactly is the error?
Topic: Code Signing SubTopic: General
2
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92
Apr ’25