Apple Responds to Developers Regarding Expired Mac App Store Security Certificates

Last week some users and developers experienced an issue that displayed a "damaged" error when attempting to open select apps from the Mac App Store, including popular apps like 1Password, Tweetbot and Byword. Today, Apple has sent an email to developers explaining what happened and how to fix their apps.

CUDcjswUsAAiKe-
In the email, which developer Donald Southard Jr. shared on Twitter, Apple explains that the company issued a new security certificate for the Mac App Store in September in anticipation of the expiration of the old certificate. The new certificate used a stronger SHA-2 hashing algorithm instead of the old SHA-1 algorithm. Hashing algorithms are used by certificate authorities to sign security certificates.

However, two issues caused users to experience errors when starting up apps. The first issue, according to Apple, is that there was a caching issue with the Mac App Store that required users to restart their computers and re-authenticate with the Mac App Store to clear out the old cache. Apple says it's working on a fix for this in an upcoming OS X update. The other issue is that some apps were running an older version of OpenSSL that didn't support SHA-2. Apple says it replaced the SHA-2 certificate with a new SHA-1 certificate last Thursday night.

Finally, Apple says that "most of the issues are now resolved", but that some apps might still experience problems if the apps make "incorrect assumptions" about the Mac App Store's security certificates. Apple asks developers to make sure their code adheres to the Receipt Validation Programming Guide and to resubmit apps for expedited review if necessary. The AppleCare support team has also been briefed with the latest troubleshooting information for users.

Popular Stories

iPhone 16 Battery Life Feature

iOS 26's New Battery Life Mode Available Only on These iPhone Models

Saturday June 21, 2025 9:02 am PDT by
Last week, we reported that iOS 26 introduces an opt-in Adaptive Power Mode on the iPhone, alongside the existing Low Power Mode. Apple says that Adaptive Power Mode can make "small performance adjustments" when necessary to extend an iPhone's battery life, including slightly lowering the display brightness or allowing some activities to "take a little longer." The full description of...
apple wallet drivers license feature iPhone 15 pro

iPhone Driver's Licenses: These 17 U.S. States Offer Them or Will Later

Thursday June 19, 2025 11:28 am PDT by
In select U.S. states, residents can add their driver's license or state ID to the Wallet app on the iPhone and Apple Watch, providing a convenient and contactless way to display proof of identity or age at select airports and businesses, and in select apps. Unfortunately, this feature continues to roll out very slowly since it was announced in 2021, with only nine U.S. states and Puerto...
ios 26 call holding

iOS 26 Beta is Hiding a New Ringtone — Here's What It Sounds Like

Thursday June 19, 2025 7:25 pm PDT by
Apple is hiding a new ringtone within iOS 26. The new ringtone is an alternative version of the existing Reflection ringtone, which has been the default ringtone since the iPhone X was released in 2017. It was discovered within the code for the first developer beta of iOS 26, but it remains hidden, so you will not find it in the list of ringtones available in the Settings app for now. It...
iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching in Three Months With These 12 New Features

Saturday June 14, 2025 5:45 pm PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of June 2025:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X through iPhone 14 Pro have a...
apple watch ultra 2 new black

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Finally Coming After Two-Year Hiatus

Monday June 16, 2025 8:45 am PDT by
Apple will finally deliver the Apple Watch Ultra 3 sometime this year, according to analyst Jeff Pu of GF Securities Hong Kong (via @jukanlosreve). The analyst expects both the Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch Ultra 3 to arrive this year (likely alongside the new iPhone 17 lineup, if previous launches are anything to go by), according to his latest product roadmap shared with...
Wi Fi WiFi General Feature

iOS 26 Adding Two New Wi-Fi Features, Allows AirDrop and AirPlay Alternatives

Saturday June 21, 2025 7:02 am PDT by
iOS 26 is gaining two new Wi-Fi features, including Captive Assist and Wi-Fi Aware. MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris discovered a reference to Captive Assist within the code for the first iOS 26 developer beta, but Apple has yet to enable the feature. It should be available by the time the software update is released later this year. In his Power On newsletter last month, Bloomberg's...
iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro's Alleged Vapor Chamber Cooling System Partly Revealed

Sunday June 22, 2025 6:37 am PDT by
Apple's upcoming iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max models are rumored to be equipped with a vapor chamber cooling system, and a leaker known as Majin Bu today shared a photo of an alleged copper thermal plate for the system. Many high-end Android smartphones like Samsung's Galaxy S25 Ultra are equipped with a vapor chamber cooling system, which can manage heat dissipation inside the...
airpods 4 blue

Apple Offering Free AirPods — Here's How to Get Them

Tuesday June 17, 2025 6:33 am PDT by
Apple is running a new promotion that offers free AirPods to qualifying customers. Now through September 30, college and university students in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Singapore can receive free AirPods 4 when they purchase an eligible new Mac or iPad from Apple. AirPods Pro 2 are also available at a discount. If you do not want AirPods, the promotion also offers various other...
General Spotify Feature

Spotify Preparing to Launch Long-Awaited Lossless Audio Tier on iPhone

Thursday June 19, 2025 1:46 pm PDT by
Spotify appears to be gearing up to launch its long-awaited lossless music tier. Chris Messina (via TechCrunch) and Spicetify (via The Verge) spotted new lossless references within the code for Spotify's desktop app and web player. With assistance from Aaron Perris, MacRumors has confirmed that the latest beta of the Spotify app for the iPhone also contains new lossless-related code....

Top Rated Comments

Bubba Satori Avatar
125 months ago
With all the ills in the world, you have time to be this bothered about this. Consider that for a moment.
This is not illsintheworldRumors.
Consider that for a moment.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Ankou_Sabat Avatar
125 months ago
Actually this response does nothing about a much larger issue on the App Store.

Take the Tweetbot issue which I had hit me. They had released a new version, Tweetbot 2.1.1, right before this issue happened on Oct 15. This updated version is incompatible with Mac OS Mavericks (10.09) so those running Mavericks were stuck with the previous version. This means that for all those running an OS older than 10.10, you're only able to run Tweetbot 1.6.2. If you go to the App Store and try to update it, or even re-download on such an older OS it explicitly tells you of the incompatibility and says that it will download the "old" version for compatibility.

That would be fine, except the old versions are still signed with the EXPIRED CERTIFICATE! So even if you follow the directions to "re-download the damaged app" it will refuse to run because the certificate signed is expired. So the only "fix" is to upgrade your OS to 10.10. Sure it can be argued to upgrade to the latest version, but there are quite a few instances where this is impossible to do and as such, Apple has just put an expiration date on older software preventing you from running it by linking it to this certificate and not providing developers a way to re-sign those submissions with an updated cert. Neither does the App Store itself provide such a facility.

So if by the current expiration date which I believe now is 2 years from now, if your computer is unable to be upgraded to current OS and the current version is unsupported on your system, then you are completely out of luck and stuck with no app that you paid for. This makes the "download old version" feature in the App Store completely flawed if they provide no way to back sign older provided version on the store front.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sw1tcher Avatar
125 months ago
Software is like that. It's always just about to fall down around our ears, except usually someone is there trying to stop that from happening. Sometimes there are screw ups.
Software purchased through the MAS is like that. From what I read, people who purchased the same software directly from the developer or through other means didn't have to deal with this nonsense.

In the good ol' days, prior to the existence of the MAS, online activation, and subscription services, I'd install a program and it would just work™ until it got replaced or the computer died.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
gijoeinla Avatar
125 months ago
Did someone at Apple win a prize for drafting a note with the most use of "issues" in the first paragraph? How did this letter get by Apple PR?

If Apple normally does one thing well, it's strong apologies once they've completed an investigation into a problem. This letter is not that.

Yes let's tear apart the letter for next 30 posts shall we. Let's question Apples integrity over it.

Oh my god. Get over it!
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
applerocks Avatar
125 months ago
Did someone at Apple win a prize for drafting a note with the most use of "issues" in the first paragraph? How did this letter get by Apple PR?

If Apple normally does one thing well, it's strong apologies once they've completed an investigation into a problem. This letter is not that.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
alphaod Avatar
125 months ago
Maybe it'll get some developers to finally update their apps.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)