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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MacOS crash, UnityPlayer.dylib
I’ve been having problems with MacOS builds. I’m making a release Appstore build and uploading it to Testflight. However when running it instantly crashes, and report screen shows the following: Current flow: I sign all files in PlugIns/ (we have a number of .bundle), and I’ve tried combinations of signing with/without --entitlements, as well as with/without --deep. After this I sign Frameworks/GameAssembly.dylib and Frameworks/UnityPlayer.dylib. Again, I’ve tried combinations of with/without --entitlements and --deep, also not signing them at all. After signing PlugIns and frameworks, I sign the .app, also tried this with/without --deep (always with --entitlements). Finally I make a .pkg and upload to Testflight. It’s not the game, as I can make an enterprise version that runs fine. We have some restricted entitlements, such as Apple Arcade. Building from an M1 mac, and architecture is Universal (Intel + ARM). Unity documentation says to use --deep, but Apple documentation highly recommend against it. So basically, my question is, how and in what order should I sign the files? Much obliged!
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229
Mar ’25
Xcode archive DriverKit application
I am trying to build a release for an application that installs a DriverKit driver. I created a Developer ID Application Profile with a valid certificate but I'm coming across this error in Xcode 16.3 that is preventing me from archiving: Xcode 14 and later requires a DriverKit development profile enabled for iOS and macOS. Visit the developer website to create or download a DriverKit profile. I thought I needed a Dev ID Application profile to distribute the application and that a Development profile is for testing. Is there something I'm missing?
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164
Apr ’25
VM App - PCIDriverKit Entitlement for Thunderbolt
I want to help contribute a feature in a virtual-machine app in macOS that supports PCIe device passthrough over thunderbolt. I have a question about the entitlements. Since I do not represent the GPU vendors, would I be allowed to get a driver signed that matches GPU vendor IDs? Is there such a thing as wildcard entitlement for PCIDriverKit? I don't want end-users to have to disable SIP to be able to use this. Any suggestions/leads? Thank you.
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534
4w
macOS 11.x system reported an error when using endpoint security
This is my .entitlements file: Code signing: codesign --sign -vvv --timestamp --options=runtime --force --entitlements ./UES.entitlements -s "Developer ID Application: XXX. (XXXXXXX)" ./UES.app I work fine in the macOS 13.x system, but the "killed" error occurs in macOS11.x. The system log is displayed as follows: (If codesign remove the --entitlements ./UES.entitlements, it will operate normally) 2025-04-21 13:58:27.039638+0800 0xd5941 Default 0x0 149 0 amfid: /Applications/UES.app/Contents/MacOS/UES signature not valid: -67050 2025-04-21 13:58:27.039762+0800 0xd5bbf Default 0x0 0 0 kernel: mac_vnode_check_signature: /Applications/UES.app/Contents/MacOS/UES: code signature validation failed fatally: When validating /Applications/UES.app/Contents/MacOS/UES: 2025-04-21 13:58:27.039815+0800 0xd5bbf Default 0x0 0 0 kernel: proc 29354: load code signature error 4 for file "UES" 2025-04-21 13:58:27.040720+0800 0xd5bc0 Default 0x0 0 0 kernel: (AppleSystemPolicy) ASP: Security policy would not allow process: 29354, /Applications/UES.app/Contents/MacOS/UES 2025-04-21 13:58:27.045974+0800 0xd58be Error 0x0 66405 0 CoreServicesUIAgent: [com.apple.launchservices:uiagent] handle LS launch error: {\n Action = oapp;\n AppMimimumSystemVersion = "10.13";\n AppPath = "/Applications/UES.app";\n ErrorCode = "-10826";\n} 2025-04-21 13:58:39.121619+0800 0xd5941 Default 0x0 149 0 amfid: /Applications/UES.app/Contents/MacOS/UES signature not valid: -67050 2025-04-21 13:58:39.121832+0800 0xd5e0f Default 0x0 0 0 kernel: mac_vnode_check_signature: /Applications/UES.app/Contents/MacOS/UES: code signature validation failed fatally: When validating /Applications/UES.app/Contents/MacOS/UES: 2025-04-21 13:58:39.121861+0800 0xd5e0f Default 0x0 0 0 kernel: proc 29415: load code signature error 4 for file "UES" 2025-04-21 13:58:39.122571+0800 0xd5e10 Default 0x0 0 0 kernel: (AppleSystemPolicy) ASP: Security policy would not allow process: 29415, /Applications/UES.app/Contents/MacOS/UES 2025-04-21 13:58:46.297915+0800 0xd5941 Default 0x0 149 0 amfid: /Applications/UES.app/Contents/MacOS/UES signature not valid: -67050 2025-04-21 13:58:46.298031+0800 0xd5f85 Default 0x0 0 0 kernel: mac_vnode_check_signature: /Applications/UES.app/Contents/MacOS/UES: code signature validation failed fatally: When validating /Applications/UES.app/Contents/MacOS/UES: 2025-04-21 13:58:46.298072+0800 0xd5f85 Default 0x0 0 0 kernel: proc 29485: load code signature error 4 for file "UES" 2025-04-21 13:58:46.300248+0800 0xd5f86 Default 0x0 0 0 kernel: (AppleSystemPolicy) ASP: Security policy would not allow process: 29485, /Applications/UES.app/Contents/MacOS/UES What causes the pattern to be narrow?
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110
Apr ’25
After submitting the DMG signature, a prompt indicating that it comes from an unidentified developer still appears when downloading and installing.
我是一名开发人员。除了App Store,我们公司的官方网站也是软件下载的一种方式。DMG签名提交后,通过网站下载安装软件时,仍然有提示说来自身份不明的开发者。您能告诉我如何解决这个问题吗?如果你能用中文回复就最好了。
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1.1k
Aug ’25
Missing entitlement com.apple.developer.system-extension.install
Hi I am building obs studio using cmake and Xcode. I used cmake --preset macos -DOBS_CODESIGN_IDENTITY="" to generate the build folder and inside X code used Provisioning Profile with Developer ID Application certification. The build was generated successfully but when I tried to turn on the virtual camera I see missing Missing entitlement com.apple.developer.system-extension.install error. (My Provisioning profile has System Extension Capability checked on apple developer portal) If I use this flow instead: cmake --preset macos -DOBS_CODESIGN_TEAM=63B5A5WDNG Build using Xcode with Automatic manage signing with Apple Developer Certificate. Obs studio builds successfully and Virtual camera extension also works fine. My primary goal is to notarise my app which contains OBS studio and Blackhole Audio driver for distribution outside app store. If I try to sign my obs app generated in second step codesign --deep --force --timestamp --verify --verbose \ --options runtime --sign "Developer ID Application:***" "OBS.app" The obs app fails to launch due to some errors. Can anyone please guide me which step I might be doing wrong, Much Appreciated. Thanks
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393
Jul ’25
WatchOS Companion app on VPP Crashing on Launch
Hello, I sent this in as a feedback several weeks ago about watchOS 26.2 beta 2 but since the issue is still active now that watchOS 26.2 is in production I'm reposting here for the community. I would also like to submit a DTS about this issue but honestly don't know the best way to go about it and would appreciate advice about that. There seems to be an issue with VPP distribution for our app on watchOS 26.2. When our watchOS companion app is launched after being installed through VPP to a supervised iPhone, it encounters a dyld error before main() or any application code is even called. The same app launches correctly in every other circumstance we could imagine and test: – Installed through VPP on supervised devices running watchOS 26.1. – Installed from the app store (using an apple id) on a supervised iPhone and paired watch running iOS 26.2 / watchOS 26.2. – Installed through Testflight on a supervised iPhone and paired watch running iOS 26.2 / watchOS 26.2. – Installed through the app store on unsupervised devices running watchOS 26.1 and 26.2. This strongly appears to be a VPP signing issue because we even did the following experiment: Install iPhone and Watch apps through the App Store on a supervised device pair running public iOS 26.2 beta 2 / watchOS 26.2 beta 2. Verify that both apps launch successfully. Use an MDM command to install from VPP over the existing installations Verify that the watch app fails to launch (the iOS app is unaffected) My feedback included some crash logs which I won't be reposting publicly here. Any feedback or ideas appreciated.
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435
Dec ’25
Issue Regarding Notarization
I am trying to notarize a simple app I made, but keep getting stuck on "In Progress". The app is a MacOS app, and I'm using XCode. I've tried all the steps listed in the links below: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/security/notarizing-macos-software-before-distribution https://developer.apple.com/documentation/security/resolving-common-notarization-issues I've had the same issue with another app, which got rejected after multiple hours. Never got to resolve this.
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85
May ’25
KeyChain Error
I'm experiencing an issue when exporting an Enterprise distribution certificate where the certificate and private key won't export together - the private key keeps getting left out. I'm running macOS Tahoe. Has anyone encountered the same issue or know of a solution? Any help would be appreciated.
Topic: Code Signing SubTopic: General
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377
Dec ’25
CodeSign : errSecInternalComponent
I’ve been wrestling with this for nearly a week now and none of the proposed fixes have worked. I’m trying to resign an app via Jenkins and have done the following: Created a custom keychain Imported the required .p12 certificates Installed the Apple WWDR certificate in the System keychain Made the login keychain my default Added my development keychain, the login keychain and the System keychain to the user keychain list Unlocked my development keychain Confirmed my signing identity is present Granted the appropriate partition list access to the keychain "security set-key-partition-list -S apple-tool:,codesign: -k pwd /Users/ec2-user/Library/Keychains/development.keychain-db" Yet when I invoke Fastlane’s resign action, I still see: _floatsignTemp/Payload/EverMerge.app/Frameworks/AppLovinSDK.framework: replacing existing signature _floatsignTemp/Payload/EverMerge.app/Frameworks/AppLovinSDK.framework: errSecInternalComponent Encountered an error, aborting! Any guidance on what might be causing this errSecInternalComponent failure or how to get the resign step to succeed would be highly appreciated.
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149
May ’25
Developer Forums Post: PKG Signing Failure
productsign Command Appears to Succeed but Package has No Valid Signature Category: Security, macOS, Code Signing Question: productsign command, when signing a PKG created with productbuild, appears to succeed with a success message (Wrote signed product archive to ...) but spctl verification results in rejected, source=no usable signature, indicating that the signature was not actually applied. Details: Goal: To sign a distribution package created with productbuild using a Developer ID Installer certificate. Certificate Used: Developer ID Installer: [Company Name] ([Team ID]) This certificate was issued by Previous Sub-CA and is not the latest G2 Sub-CA recommended by Apple. We cannot create a new G2 Sub-CA certificate as we have reached the limit of 5. productsign Command: productsign --sign "Developer ID Installer: [Company Name] ([Team ID])" [input.pkg] [output.pkg] productsign Output: Wrote signed product archive to [output.pkg] (Appears as a success message). spctl Signature Verification: spctl -a -vv [output.pkg] Result: rejected, source=no usable signature Notarization Service Results (Behavioral difference between Macs): On Mac A, the submission status was Accepted. On Mac B, the status was Invalid, with the notarization log message being The binary is not signed.. Troubleshooting Steps Taken: We attempted to sign both component and distribution packages with productsign, and in both cases, the signature was not recognized by the system. We skipped productsign and relied on the notarization service's auto-signing, but the notarization log still reported The binary is not signed., and the notarization failed. We have confirmed that the certificate and private key are properly associated in Keychain Access. My Questions: Given that we are using an older Previous Sub-CA certificate and cannot create a new one, why does productsign appear to succeed when the signature is not being applied? What could cause the behavioral difference where notarization is Accepted on Mac A but Invalid on Mac B? Is this a known issue with Apple's tools, or is it possibly caused by the specific structure of our PKG? What is the recommended workflow or debugging method to successfully sign and notarize a PKG under these circumstances? Thank you for your assistance
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349
Aug ’25
Not able to notarize my application tried both .pkg and .dmg formats, Notarization Fails everytime
I have local LLM application, the backend is in python and frontend is in electron.js , all complied in a .pkg file or .dmg file I have created the valid certifcates for notarization But it fails everytime, I have attached the logs steps I followed Created a certificate all steps related to getting it setup, ran productsign command on pkg file ran codesign for dmg xcruntool submit command If anyone has any idea on how proceed codesigningdmg (2).txt code-singingpkg.txt
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101
Mar ’25
Mismatch of TeamID while creating development certificate
Hi Team, I have created multiple certificates for macOS application. Below are the certificates created- Apple Development Certificate DeveloperID Installer Certificate Apple Distribution Certificate others certificates Later, I have imported the all these above certificates in keychain-access. Now, I tried to compile the code through Xcode. I am getting error for code signing certificate. Warning: unable to build chain to self-signed root for signer "Apple Development: Amit (M2WMF2YERI)” .... Command CodeSign failed with a nonzero exit code When I checked the TeamID of User(Amit) I can see that his current TeamID is [P8ZW3W9R2Q]. There is mismatch of teamID in apple development certificate generation. Note- All certificates are generated with current TeamID[P8ZW3W9R2Q] of user (Amit) except Apple Development certificate which has been generated with TeamID [M2WMF2YERI] which is generated with old TeamID of user (Amit). I attempted to generate the apple development certificate multiple times but it is getting generated with old TeamID TeamID[M2WMF2YERI] of user(Amit)
 Summary- While creating a developer certificate using apple developer account and mapping it in keychain, the certificate is being generated with old apple account details (Inactive) instead of the current one. This is causing issues when using the certificate in keychain. If anyone has encountered this issue, how it was resolved?
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471
Feb ’25
Developer ID certificate not working after Apple ID password change
Hi everyone, After I recently changed my Apple ID (iCloud) password, my Developer ID certificate stopped working for signing macOS apps. Symptoms: Signing fails with the Developer ID certificate that was previously working fine. I tried re-downloading the certificate from my Apple Developer account and importing it into the Keychain, but the issue persists. It seems that the Developer ID identity is no longer trusted or properly linked to my system since the password change. Attempts: Re-downloaded and installed the certificate from the developer portal. Verified that the private key is present and linked. Checked keychain access and code-signing identity — everything appears normal, but the signed apps are rejected or the signing process fails. Blocking issue: I am unable to delete or revoke the Developer ID certificate on my account (Apple Support says it's not possible). Also, I can't create a new one due to the certificate limit. Questions: Is it expected for a Developer ID certificate to become invalid after changing the Apple ID password? Is there a recommended way to refresh or restore the certificate trust on macOS? How can I invalidate the current certificate and generate a new one if I'm stuck? Any insights or official guidance would be really appreciated. Thanks in advance!
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115
Jul ’25
Notarization Stuck for Signed .pkg Containing Screen Saver
Hey all, I’m experiencing a consistent issue with notarizing a signed .pkg file that contains a macOS screen saver (.saver) bundle. Nothing online so far except 1 thread on the form from the altool time pre-2023 so i thought it worth another update. Here is what I did: I signed the .saver bundle using my Developer ID Application certificate. I packaged it into a .pkg using pkgbuild with my Developer ID Installer certificate: I submitted the resulting .pkg via xcrun notarytool: xcrun notarytool submit saver-name.pkg --apple-id email@email.com --password [app-specific-password] --team-id xxxxxxxxx The submission appears to be accepted and uploads successfully. However, the notarization status remains stuck at “In Progress” for hours (over 12h), with no update. I also tried: Repackaging the .pkg with a new name using a zip Resubmitting it under a new submission ID All attempts are stuck in the same “In Progress” state indefinitely. Did anyone solve this yet?
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93
May ’25
How to move code signing certificates to another Mac
Hi, I recently created and installed new code signing certificates/keys on my main Mac. How to easily copy these certificates/keys to my another Mac with the same Apple ID? Earlier Quinn suggested: "The easiest way to do this is use Xcode’s import/export feature. Launch Xcode, choose Xcode > Settings, select Accounts, select the account in question, then choose Export Apple ID and Code Signing Assets from the action (…) menu." And it worked fine in 2020-2021. However import/export options are no longer available in XCode 16 anymore. Please suggest a simple solution.
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113
Mar ’25
Missing code-signing certificate
*** Error: ERROR: [ContentDelivery.Uploader] Validation failed (409) Invalid Provisioning Profile. The provisioning profile included in the com.baiyun-shuniu.scss bundle [Payload/HBuilder.app] is invalid. [Missing code-signing certificate]. A distribution provisioning profile should be used when uploading apps to App Store Connect. (ID: e21c7a63-520f-49c5-8298-9afa3aa14dd5) 2025-05-13 09:23:20.382 INFO: [ContentDelivery.Uploader]
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135
May ’25
When to notarize artifacts developed in different stages?
Dear Apple Support, for better understanding to use the Notary Service, I would like to ask when and what have to be notarized. I am absolutely aware of using the Notary Service and which packages can be submitted and how to get the status. Scenario: We have one library which is developed by a specific team and other teams develop and deliver to customer MacOS apps which packages this library for the shipment. So, the library will be produced internally and will be shipped in different products. The library will be code signed before we make available internally. When should we notarize (and staple) this library? Directly after the code is signed or when it will be packaged in each product when it will be delivered to customer? Best regards, Stefan
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102
May ’25
Flutter iOS Widget Extension – CodeSign Failed (ActivityKit entitlement missing, cannot enable in Identifiers)
Hello everyone, I am developing a Flutter iOS application that includes a Widget Extension + Live Activity (ActivityKit). The project runs successfully on the iOS simulator when launched directly from Xcode, but it cannot be signed properly via Flutter and I cannot upload the build to App Store Connect due to the following CodeSign error: Command CodeSign failed with a nonzero exit code Provisioning profile "…" doesn't include the entitlement: com.apple.developer.activitykit.allow-third-party-activity This error never goes away no matter what I try. And the main problem is that my App ID does NOT show any ActivityKit or Live Activity capability in the Apple Developer portal → Identifiers → App ID. So I cannot enable it manually. However: Xcode requires this entitlement Flutter requires this entitlement When I add the entitlement manually in the .entitlements file, Xcode says: “This entitlement must be enabled in your Developer account. It cannot be added manually.” So I am stuck in a loop where: Apple Developer portal does not show ActivityKit capability Xcode demands the ActivityKit entitlement Signing fails App Store upload fails And Live Activity is a critical feature of my app What I have already done ✔ “Automatically manage signing” is enabled ✔ Correct Team is selected for both Runner and the Widget Extension ✔ Bundle IDs are correct: com.yksbuddy.app com.yksbuddy.app.TimerWidgetExtension ✔ Deleted Derived Data completely ✔ Tried removing all ActivityKit-related entitlement keys manually ✔ Deleted Pods, reinstalled, rebuilt ✔ App Group settings match between Runner and Extension ✔ The same Live Activity code works perfectly in a clean Xcode-only project ✔ But fails only inside a Flutter project structure ✔ Xcode builds & runs on simulator, but App Store upload always fails due to missing entitlement Core Problem: In my Apple Developer “Identifiers → App ID” page, the Live Activity / ActivityKit capability does NOT appear at all, so I cannot enable: Live Activities ActivityKit Third-party activity entitlement Without being able to enable this capability, I cannot create a valid provisioning profile that includes: com.apple.developer.activitykit.allow-third-party-activity Flutter + Xcode insists this entitlement must exist, but Apple Developer portal does not give any option to enable it.
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333
Dec ’25
Some of the apps I have developed are being flagged as malware
I have a free developer account, and I have been creating applications. When I tried to open one of them, it said that this app has been flagged as malware. It is not malware, so I don't know why it has been flagged as this. Not just this app, but suddenly a whole bunch of my apps have been flagged as malware as well! The app I have been developing is basically a windows Taskbar for my macbook air, and it has been working well until the latest update i made where it hides in full screen, suddenly it started taking up significant energy, so i reverted to an older version while i was fixing it. Then, when i try to open it another time, it starts to open, and it says "Malware Blocked and Moved to Bin" “Taskbar.app” was not opened because it contains malware. This action did not harm your Mac”. All versions of the taskbar now contain this message. I try opening some of my other apps, a shared storage client and a shared storage server (where i was testing with app groups), and they couldn't open either, the same malware message appeared. ProPermission couldn't open either (changes permissions on files for me so i don't have to use the terminal or finder). I can run these apps through the Xcode environment (attached process), but when I archieve it into an app bundle, the malware flag appears. Please note that I am certain that these apps do not contain malware, apparently XProtect has incorrectly flagged my apps as malware. Because I do not have the paid developer account, I cannot notarize my apps. I am using MacOS Tahoe 26.1 with Xcode 26.0, and I have tested it with a iMac Intel 2017 with MacOS Ventura.
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258
Nov ’25