audit-apple-signing-and-containment

Audit Apple Signing And Containment

Overview

Inspect the original signature and declared capabilities before any transformation. Treat signing, notarization, sandboxing, SIP, and runtime access as related but distinct evidence.

Read references/apple-signing-and-containment.md when interpreting signature layers, provisioning, mandatory access controls, or current Apple security documentation.

Workflow

1. Fix artifact identity.

   • Record hash, UUID, bundle identifier and build, architecture, acquisition source, and whether the artifact is original, extracted, patched, or re-signed.

2. Inspect the signature without changing it.

   • Record code-directory versions and hashes, CDHash, signing authorities, Team ID, identifier, designated requirement, flags, and nested-code verification results.
   • Record unsigned or ad hoc state precisely instead of collapsing it into invalid.

3. Inspect provisioning when present.

   • Record application identifier, Team ID, platform, expiration, device scope, and profile entitlements.
   • Compare profile entitlements with the executable's signed entitlements rather than treating either set alone as the effective runtime state.

4. Inventory declared entitlements.

   • Preserve entitlement keys and values exactly.
   • Classify public capability, private or undocumented key, debugger/development capability, sandbox declaration, and environment-specific value only when supported by current sources.

5. Inspect containment context.

   • Record hardened runtime, library validation, App Sandbox, platform-binary clues, notarization evidence, SIP or system security state, and relevant Data Vault or mandatory access-control boundaries.
   • Distinguish host policy, process signature state, user consent, and service-mediated authorization.

6. Compare with observed access.

   • State declares entitlement X separately from operation Y succeeded in environment Z.
   • Record OS build, hardware, process path, signing state, and reproduction steps for runtime observations.

7. Compare transformed copies.

   • Create a transformation record for every re-sign, entitlement edit, binary patch, or bundle change.
   • Treat the transformed copy as a new behavioral artifact and never attribute its result to the original signature.

8. Route ordinary app signing, provisioning, notarization, or distribution work to apple-dev-skills after the artifact audit is complete.

   • Route private entitlement enforcement, TCC/sandbox attribution, Gatekeeper/XProtect internals, or other exact-build control questions to research-macos-security-control with this signature record.

Guardrails

• Do not re-sign merely to make inspection convenient.
• Do not claim root access bypasses SIP, sandbox profiles, Data Vaults, TCC, or other mandatory controls.
• Do not treat successful signature verification as proof of trust, safety, notarization, or runtime authorization.
• Live-check entitlement availability and enforcement claims for the exact OS build when they affect a conclusion.

Output

Return artifact identity, signature report, provisioning and entitlement comparison, containment context, observed-versus-declared access, transformations, and unresolved policy questions.