Troubleshooting Permission Issues

 

In some cases, a system bug affecting macOS versions that precede Big Sur (mainly 10.13 and 10.14) will prevent enabling the permissions necessary for the proper functioning of Small Business Solutions or Small Office Protection (see Installing Unmanaged Antivirus on macOS or Installing Managed Antivirus for more information on required permissions).

Due to this malfunction, the Avast protection shields will be turned off and the Antivirus UI's home screen will display a warning message.

The Core Shields screen will show the shields as disabled, and a message notifying the user that the Avast extensions weren't loaded will be displayed under each one. Turning the shields back on will not be possible.

Also, Avast Business will not be listed in the Full Disk Access section of the device's Security & Privacy settings.

Troubleshooting Options

The simplest way to try and fix this issue is to either reinstall your macOS or update it (we recommend the latter).

If you are an advanced macOS user, you can also follow the below guidelines to try and resolve the problem via the Terminal app.

Troubleshooting via Terminal (Advanced Users)

IMPORTANT: The following instructions require executing a command in recovery mode at one point and are therefore intended for advanced users only. Missing a step or performing it incorrectly can change a system setup in a way that could prevent your Mac from starting properly or even cause data loss. Therefore, these instructions are to be used with caution and at one's own risk.

The below steps were reported in a White Hat Mac article, where you can learn more about the issue and proposed solution.

Identifying Affected Directory

1. Click Go > Utilities in the Apple menu bar, then double-click Terminal

2. In the Terminal window, run the ls -alO /Library/StagedExtensions command

3. In the output, check for the drwxr-xr-x@ 4 root wheel restricted entry
   • If you see the entry but the restricted flag is missing, then the Staged Extensions directory is affected and you can try to fix the access rights for this directory (see section below)
   • If you see no such entry, continue with the steps below to check the Kernel Extension Management directory

4. In the Terminal window, run the ls -alO /private/var/db/KernelExtensionManagement/ command

5. In the output, check for the drwxr-xr-x@ 4 root wheel restricted entry
   • If the restricted flag is missing from the entry, then your Kernel Extension Management directory is affected and you can try to fix the access rights for this directory (see section below)

Fixing Access Rights

1. Switch to recovery mode by rebooting your device, then holding the Command (⌘) and R keys simultaneously at startup until the Apple logo appears
2. Once the macOS Utilities window opens, go to Utilities > Terminal from the Apple menu bar

3. Depending on which directory was missing the restricted flag, run one of the two following commands:
   • Staged Extensions: chflags restricted /V*/*/private/var/db/StagedExtensions
   • Kernel Extension Management: chflags restricted /V*/*/private/var/db/KernelExtensionManagement
4. Restart the device

After performing the above steps, you should be able to allow all needed protection permissions on your macOS. If, however, the issue persists, contact our Avast Business Support team for further assistance.