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kOSKextReturnAuthentication
Authentication is separate from user approval
kOSKextReturnAuthentication identifies a failure while the kext loader establishes whether the target or a required dependency is authentic. Apple’s kext loading tools perform authenticity checks for the requested extension and its dependencies before a load is attempted. This differs from a system-policy block: a bundle can be authentic yet still require approval or be rejected by the security policy for the current Mac.
Because dependencies are part of the loader’s trust decision, re-signing or replacing only the top-level bundle may not address the failure. The diagnostic record needs to identify every resolved bundle version, its origin, and the step at which authentication stopped.
Useful diagnostic boundaries
- Preserve the full loader output and identify whether the target or a dependency failed first.
- Verify that deployment did not mix binaries and metadata from different releases of the same bundle identifier.
- Separate authentication evidence from local approval and management policy; they are different control points.
- Avoid weakening platform protections as a workaround. Repair the bundle or deployment chain that the loader actually evaluated.
References
- XNU: OSKextLib.h
- Apple kext_tools: kextload_main.c
- Apple Technical Note TN2206: macOS Code Signing In Depth
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