Multiple reports are coming in from users who are starting to have major problems after installing the latest Mojave 2020-005 Security Update.
UPDATE #8 – 10/01 10:00PM – Apple has just released a fix and I’ve just finished an article going over all the details. I tried to test and figure out every scenario that you might be in, so you know exactly what will happen.
mrmacintosh.com/10-14-6-supplemental-update-safari-14-released-to-fix-previous-issues/
UPDATE #7 – 9/30 1:30PM – Apple just pulled both problematic updates!
- Pulled from the update catalog
- 1. Safari 14.0 – Released 9/16 – 001-50026
- 2. Mojave 2020-005 Security Update – Released 9/24 – 001-50026
- Added to the update catalog
- 1. Safari 13.1.2 – Released Today – 061-98246
This is Apple’s acknowledgment of the issue.
Anyone who has not installed the updates will now be safe. This also means that we should be getting an official fix!!!
Stay tuned!
9/29
UPDATE #6 – 9/29 2:00PM – I’ve expanded the softwareupate --ignore
section.
UPDATE #5 – 9/28 7:30PM – I have added 3 new sections below. The first one shows you how to ignore the Mojave 2020-005 Security Update. The second will show you a very quick way to find out if your Mac is affected by this issue. In the 3rd, I will show you 4 different install scenarios. We now know the issue only happens if you install Safari 14.0 first, then install the 2020-005 update after. An example of a Mac that would unaffected by this issue would be if you installed the 2020-005 Security Update first, then the Safari 14.0 update after.
UPDATE #4 – 9/28 12:30PM – I have reproduced the install problem flow Please read section #5 below for more info. You can install the Mojave 2020-005 Security update WITHOUT Safari 14.0 and not have any issues. You can even Install Safari 14.0 after and not have any issues. It’s only when you install Safari 14.0 first then install 2020-005 after when the problems start! I will continue to test this and post updates.
UPDATE #3 – 9/28 11:30AM – After running some more tests, Safari 14.0 could be one of the problems. The next test performed was to build a fresh 10.14.6 Mac and install only the 2020-005 Security Update = No problems. I then installed Safari 14.0 = No problems. Then I reinstalled 2020-005 again = All Problems are back!!! I am going to check the order, maybe if Safari 14.0 is being installed first with softwareupdate this could be part of the problem. I am going to continue to test to find out more.
9/27
UPDATE #2 – 9/27 5:00PM – I am keeping an eye on Apple’s Software Update Server to see if they pull the update. I will update if they do.
UPDATE #1 – 9/27 3:30PM – A few users have asked if they can install the 2020-004 update over the 2020-005 update. They mentioned being able to do this in the past. Usually you can’t go backwards using Apple’s .pkg installers. I tested this out and sure enough, the installer says that a newer version of this update is installed. Apple didn’t design the installers to undo newer security updates. This is unlike the full .app installer which can replace all OS level files.
This article will include will be continually updated with the latest information on this issue.
I have some workarounds and fixes that could help you if you already installed the Mojave 2020-005 Security Update.
Past macOS Security Update Issues
This is not the first time that I’ve reported on update issues. Below you can read a few of the major issues that I’ve written about.
- 1. Security Update 2020-002 for Mojave & High Sierra causes Hardware accelerated video freezing = mrmacintosh.com/2020-002-update-causes-some-macs-to-freeze-when-using-hw-accelerated-video/
- 2. Security Update 2019-004 pulled after causing kernel panics = mrmacintosh.com/apple-pulls-2019-004-high-sierra-and-sierra-security-updates-after-kernel-panics/
- 3. Security Update 2019-001 update causing data loss on some T2 Macs = mrmacintosh.com/mojave-2019-001-security-update-causing-data-loss-if-interrupted/
Table of Contents
- 1. Mojave 2020-005 Security Update Problems
- 2. Affected macOS Build Versions
- 2. Affected Mac Hardware & Intel GPU Versions
- 3. How can I tell if my mac is affected by this issue?
- 4. How can I ignore this update in software update?
- 5. How to Reproduce – Install Order
- 5. User Reports
- 6. This time around the issue can be reproduced
- 7. Fix! Rolling back with Automatic Update Snapshots. (within 24 hours of install)
- 8. Workarounds
- 9. If you are seeing this issue, please let Apple know.
- 10. Mojave 2020-005 Security Update Issue Links
- 11. Hat Tip/Credits
1. Mojave 2020-005 Security Update Problems
What are the reported problems with this update?
- 1. Memory issues – Reports of large increases of memory usage = no free memory and a large amount of compressed memory.
- 2. Slow boot & High fan speed
- 3. System slowness / stalling in finder
- 4. New local user can not be created through Users & Groups.
- 5. Migration assistant crashes to login window when started.
- 6. Large amounts of system.log entries –
Class asn1SetToken is implemented in both /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/StoreServices.framework/Versions/A/StoreServices
- 7. Errors when using
tmutil localsnapshot /
- 8. Error when running
softwareupdate -l
(not sure if it causes any issues with the softwareupdate binary) - 9. System locks up in Desktop & Screen Saver > Screen Saver when trying to select a picture type screen saver.
- 10. WindowServer Process using 4 times amount of memory. Should be anywhere between 40-125MB after the update it jumps to 400MB
- 11. cDock 4 – Dock customization app becomes unusable.
- 12. Menu bar sometimes does not change after switching from applications back to the finder.
1. Affected Safari & macOS Build Versions
This issue affects the following Safari & macOS Build Versions.
- Safari 14.0 – September 16th, 2020
- Mojave 10.14.6 Security Update 2020-005 (18G6032) – September 24th, 2020
- No reports so far of this happening on macOS High Sierra 10.13.
2. Affected Mac Hardware
Past problems would only happen with certain hardware models. Not this time, if you installed the Mojave 2020-005 Security Update on a compatible Mac you might have problems.
3. How can I tell if my Mac is affected by this issue?
Very simple, just open up the terminal.app and run softwareupdate -l
If you get this error your Mac is affected.
Class AMSupportURLConnectionDelegate is implemented in both /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/EmbeddedOSInstall.framework/Versions/A/EmbeddedOSInstall (0x1130cec58) and /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/OSPersonalization.framework/Versions/A/OSPersonalization (0x112f31358). One of the two will be used. Which one is undefined.
4. How can I ignore this update in software update?
All you need to do is use the softwareupdate ignore option.
sudo softwareupdate --ignore "Security Update 2020-005"
After running this command you should see this
Ignored updates:
(
"Security Update 2020-005"
)
Now run softwareupdate -l
to confirm that you don’t see the update.
You can reset ignored updates by running this command
sudo softwareupdate --reset-ignored
Good thing we still can use this command. If you would like to read more about how Apple is taking this option away read the link below.
mrmacintosh.com/10-15-5-2020-003-updates-changes-to-softwareupdate-ignore/
5. How to Reproduce – Install Order
I discovered last night that on my Mojave test Mac that I couldn’t reproduce the issue even though I could on my 2nd test Mac. I realized that I only installed the 2020-005 Security update and NOT the Safari 14.0 update. This is when I restored back to the previous snapshot and tried again. For the next test, I let software update install both updates. Safari 14.0 was first then 2020-005, after the reboot I had the problem. Let’s go over a few of the install scenarios below.
- Scenario #1 How to install both Updates and be affected by the issue.
- 1. 10.14.6 (18G103) Base Install
- 2. Use software update to install both Safari 14.0 and 2020-005 Updates
- 3. After the restart = You will have the problem.
- Scenario #2 You installed Safari 14.0 as soon as it came out on 9/16
- 1. 10.14.6 (18G103) Base Install
- 2. Install Security Update 2020-005 + Reboot = You will have the problem
- Scenario #3 How you can install both updates with NO PROBLEMS
- 1. 10.14.6 (18G103) Base Install
- 2. Install Security Update 2020-005 ONLY + Reboot = No Problem
- 3. Now Install Safari 14.0 = No Problem
- Scenario #4 How you can install both updates with in the correct order and still have the problem
- 1. 10.14.6 (18G103) Base Install
- 2. Install Security Update 2020-005 ONLY + Reboot = No Problem
- 3. Now Install Safari 14.0 = No Problem
- 4. Install Security Update 2020-005 AGAIN + Reboot = You will have the problem (NOTE: the same problem happens if you use the 2020-004 installer in this step)
3. User Reports.
The first report came in on Thursday, just 4 hours after Apple released the Mojave 2020-005 Security Update.
Is anyone getting really low free RAM after applying this update? Activity Monitor says I have 12GB of RAM used right after I launch it after logging in.
MacRumors User Earl Urley
More reports started to roll in on the Apple Discussion Forums.
On September 24th Sep, after performing the security update (2020-005), I immediately noticed ram problems. Has anyone had the same problem?
Apple Discussions Forum User DoctorAudioLinks
I applied the 2020-005 Security Update today to my MacBook Pro running Mojave (10.14.6) and after it restarted, I started experiencing problems. The first and most obvious is the Dock crashes repeatedly. I have also noticed that when running applications, the menu bar does not display the app’s menus, but stays showing Finder menus. I downloaded the .dmg file with the updater on it and applied it again, thinking perhaps something went amiss the first time, but it did not resolve the issue.
Apple Discussions Forum User RestonMacGuy
After doing this job for many years, I get an sense when things are starting to become an issue. Just to be sure, I always wait for more reports and attempt to reproduce the issues myself before reporting.
Additionally, boot time is slower, logging in is slower and when doing so I’m met with a blank desktop which needs 7-8 seconds before icons finally appear. Everything feels sluggish, and applications also take more than twice as long to start up.
MacRumors Forum User Minipudding
After reading multiple reports I felt that it was time me to take a closer look. Sure enough, more users have started to report the same issues.
4. This time around the issues can be reproduced
When issues like this have come up in the past, I might not be able to reproduce them. I have to go purely on user reports, which at times can be tough. I want to make sure the reporting is very accurate. Especially when I am recommending that users not install a security update. This time around is different, I have tested the update on multiple Macs and can reproduce most of the issues. I also found a few that have not been reported on the forums or twitter.
5. A Fix! Rolling back with Automatic Update Snapshots. (within 24 hours of install)
Do you have time machine backups?
If you do, just restore and you are good to go! Now would be a good time to start. If not keep reading.
Automatic Update Snapshots was introduced as a feature in macOS High Sierra. You can read about them below. This was one of the best features that Apple has ever added to macOS. Sadly they only work for 10.13 and 10.14 Security Updates and not 10.15 Catalina Combo Updates.
mrmacintosh.com/10-15-3-combo-security-updates-are-not-creating-backup-snapshots/
Automatic Update Snapshots could save you, if you installed the Mojave 2020-005 Security Update in the last 24 hours. That’s the problem with tmutil localsnapshots
they only last 24 hours!!! So if you installed the update you might still be able to roll back to the previous Mojave Security Update 2020-004 (18G6020).
Steps to restore from an Automatic Update Snapshot.
- Reboot to recovery. Hold down
Command R
- Once in recovery select “Restore from Time Machine Backup”
- On the next screen select “Macintosh HD”. If your Mac is filevault encrypted you will be asked for your password.
- On the next screen, if you have a snapshot available it will look like this.
5. Select it and hit continue! Your Mac will now restore back to the snapshot taken just before the 2020-005 Security Update was installed.
But what if 24 hours has past since you installed the update? Keep reading below.
6. Workarounds
If you don’t have an Automatic Update Snapshot available, hopefully one of the following options will help you.
- Upgrade to Catalina. This was recommended by Apple Support. If don’t want to upgrade to Catalina yet, scroll down to option #2.
2. Reinstall (Not Erase) macOS Mojave 10.14.6 (18G103)
This workaround will reinstall macOS Mojave 10.14.6 (18G103) and you will be able to keep all your files and applications. All you need to do is download the Mojave Full installer from the App Store and reinstall. To keep your Mac protected, you can install Security Update 2020-004 and not have any issues.
You can also perform an erase and install if you have all your files backed up.
Links
Download Mojave Full Installer – mrmacintosh.com/how-to-download-macos-catalina-mojave-or-high-sierra-full-installers/
Download the Mojave 2020-004 Security Update – https://support.apple.com/kb/DL2045
7. If you are seeing this issue, please let Apple know.
The only way to let Apple know that this is a big issue is to file a FeedBack Report. AppleCare Call or an Apple Enterprise Support Ticket.
This will help Apple Prioritize the issue and get it resolved ASAP!
8. Mojave 2020-005 Security Update Issue Links
This is a list of all the reports of issues with the Mojave 2020-005 Security Update
MacRumors.com
- forums.macrumors.com/threads/security-update-2020-005.2256677/
- forums.macrumors.com/threads/problems-after-latest-security-update.2256875/
- forums.macrumors.com/threads/migration-assistant-stop-working-after-security-update-2020-005-for-mojave.2256992/
Apple Discussion Forums
- https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251849614
- https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251853119
- https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251852709
- https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251849672
- https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251852000
- https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251846167
- https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251851380
- https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251847308
- https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251851749
- https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251846939
- https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251854751
Twitter.com
9. Hat Tip/Credits
Multiple Hat tips go out to my website and twitter followers for reporting the issue to me so I could take a closer look. Special thanks to Hyram Hakkenbecker for double-checking my articles for any grammar issues that sneak past!
Hopefully this article will help you.