hoakley July 16, 2019 Macs, Technology

Apple has pushed updates to Gatekeeper and MRT

Apple has pushed updates to the data used by Gatekeeper, bringing its version number to 172, dated 16 July 2019; to MRT bringing its version to 1.46 dated 16 July 2019; and to “Compatibility Notification Data” for Mojave, bringing its version to 1.0.6.

Apple provides no details as to what changes these updates bring, but the Gatekeeper update is normally expected to include recent revocations of security certificates used in signing software.

Thanks to @ClassicII_MrMac for revealing that this version of MRT addresses issues installed by conferencing services other than Zoom’s. These include: ringcentralopener, telusmeetingsopener, btcloudphonemeetingsopener, officesuitehdmeetingopener, attvideomeetingsopener, bizconfopener, huihuiopener, umeetingopener, zhumuopener, and zoomcnopener.

You can check whether these updates have been installed by opening System Information via About This Mac, and selecting the Installations item under Software.

A full listing of security data file versions is given by SilentKnight, LockRattler and SystHist for El Capitan, Sierra, High Sierra, Mojave and Catalina, available from their product page. If your Mac has not yet installed this update, you can force an update using SilentKnight, LockRattler, or at the command line.

“Compatibility Notification Data” isn’t currently tracked by any of those apps. It appears to contain a list of widely-used apps which are still 32-bit, thus for use by Apple’s Legacy Software feature in Mojave. It doesn’t appear to affect the running of those apps, nor does it have any bearing on security. I therefore don’t intend adding it to SilentKnight or LockRattler: if you want to track its version number and contents, SystHist lists its updates, and the bundle concerned is /System/Library/CoreServices/CompatibilityNotificationData.bundle.

I have updated the reference pages here which are accessed directly from LockRattler 4.2 and later using its Check blog button.

I maintain lists of the current versions of security data files for Mojave on this page, High Sierra on this page, Sierra on this page, and El Capitan on this page.

Updated 1845 16 July 2019.

11Comments

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1

Kitsy Stratton on July 16, 2019 at 8:57 pm

Howard,
I’m getting a MacBook PRO for grad school. (Did I tell you I am going to grad school? It’s been 40 years since I graduated from college…in physics.) My Master’s program is in Writing, Rhetoric, and Media. I’ll be doing lots of audio recording and video editing as well as graphics design and image manipulation.

Anyway, do you have any specs recommendations?

Now I guess I’ll be reading your Mac articles, too.

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- 2
  
  hoakley on July 16, 2019 at 9:32 pm
  
  Kitsy,
  Congratulations on both counts – how wonderful for you!
  For your MBP, it all depends on cost. If you can, go for a 15-inch and a decent external display, as the latter will be much better for your editing and graphics. You’ll also be wise to invest in a better graphics option if you can, but Core i7 processor should be fine. Although Apple’s internal SSDs are expensive, they’re also very high performance, so try not to skimp on that, but a 1 or 2 TB external SSD should give you ample additional storage. Thunderbolt 3 is blisteringly quick, and most models now have four ports, which is good. Also worth thinking about is one of the better TB3 docks, which provides a wide range of other interfaces like old-fashioned USB.
  My priorities would be display, graphics, internal SSD, external display, dock.
  The other essential thing is to visit an Apple store and try some out.
  Howard.
  
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  - 3
    
    Kitsy Stratton on July 16, 2019 at 9:38 pm
    
    Clemson has an Apple store on campus. I like the external display. Specs on that? Does that require an upgrade to the graphics card? Define ‘better graphics option.’ I was upgrading to a 1T internal. I can add additional external later if I need, right?
    
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    - 4
      
      hoakley on July 16, 2019 at 9:47 pm
      
      There’s a good choice of external displays and 4K are a good balance between size and cost. Most important to see a display before buying. The Radeon Pro graphics options are better than the standard Intel, and as usual you get what you pay for.
      Yes, you can add external storage as you need but it won’t be as fast as internal, so an internal 1 TB is wise.
      Howard
      
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    - 5
      
      Kitsy Stratton on July 16, 2019 at 9:53 pm
      
      Radeon Pro is what is offered. Is “4K” a brand? The jump from a 1T upgrade ($500) seemed excessive. But advise me: will I wish I had 2T internally?
      
      LikeLiked by 1 person
    - 6
      
      hoakley on July 17, 2019 at 4:43 am
      
      There are several different Radeon Pro models available as build-to-order options – you get what you pay for with them.
      4K means 4,000+ pixels across the display. 5K is the same as the iMac 27-inch display, which is significantly more expensive in an external display, whereas 4K is a good cost compromise and you may find better quality.
      If you can afford 2 TB internally, go for it – you can’t upgrade the internal SSD I don’t think. Although the price difference is very high, a high-speed external 1 TB SSD like the Samsung X5 costs around the same for 1 TB.
      Howard.
      
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7

Kitsy Stratton on July 16, 2019 at 9:54 pm

Much of my comment did not make it thru filters. The 1T upgrade was $189. The 2T upgrade was over $500.

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8

Mike on July 17, 2019 at 12:15 am

Howard, does 32-bitCheck strip application bundles during its scan? I’m assuming no but just hit this bug in Chrome and the only software I can think of that might do this is 32-bitCheck since I recently ran it. https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=165359#c17

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- 9
  
  hoakley on July 17, 2019 at 4:39 am
  
  No. Why on earth would you think that it did something as destructive as that?
  32-bitCheck does exactly what it explains in the Further information page of its Help book. It looks, it doesn’t alter any file or metadata. I don’t write malware!
  Howard.
  
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  - 10
    
    Mike on July 17, 2019 at 1:31 pm
    
    I honestly didn’t. It’s just such an odd issue since this is a brand new machine, only built in the past few weeks. This is the first Chrome update it needed. I’m trying to rule out all possibilities, no matter how remote. Still haven’t found a root cause yet. Thanks for your response and your awesome software.
    
    LikeLiked by 1 person
    - 11
      
      hoakley on July 17, 2019 at 2:54 pm
      
      No problem – I’m sorry, I don’t know what to suggest, but all my apps explain somewhere in the docs exactly what they do. And that would have been an extraordinarily destructive thing to do, even by mistake.
      Howard.
      
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