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Re: macOS Technical Note: Privileged Helpers, dragging to Trash, and EtreCheck

From "David B." <"David B."@invalid.org>
Newsgroups alt.computer.workshop, uk.comp.sys.mac
Subject Re: macOS Technical Note: Privileged Helpers, dragging to Trash, and EtreCheck
Date 2026-05-28 08:48 +0100
Organization Retired
Message-ID <n7qaabFj4hqU1@mid.individual.net> (permalink)
References <n7obu5F9snuU1@mid.individual.net> <6a1754a7$0$25$882e4bbb@reader.netnews.com> <n7paa3FegdpU1@mid.individual.net> <6a178095$0$26$882e4bbb@reader.netnews.com>

Cross-posted to 2 groups.

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MID <6a178095$0$26$882e4bbb@reader.netnews.com>

On May 27, 2026, Brock McNuggets posted:-

https://shottr.cc/s/Pv0B/SCR-20260527-o33

"Nope. Not there. Another place where you simply are trusting AI and not 
checking for yourself."

=

You are looking at the basic, free App Store version or an un-activated 
bundle, Brock.

The developer explicitly splits the architecture between the basic 
user-space scanner and the advanced diagnostic features.

The privileged helper tool functionality is tied directly to the 
EtreCheckPro activation and its advanced storage benchmark tools.

If you want to actually see the mechanics in action instead of looking 
at a surface-level folder, try this exact test:

Open EtreCheckPro.Select the Storage or Performance testing sections 
that require low-level disk access.Watch for the standard macOS security 
dialogue box asking for your administrator password to allow the tool to 
measure raw drive performance.

The moment you authenticate that prompt, open your Terminal and run:ls 
-la /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/

You will see com.etresoft.EtreCheckHelper appear right there.

The mechanism isn't a hallucination; it is the standard SMJobBless API 
architecture that macOS uses to safely escalate privileges for specific 
diagnostic tools.

As we already established with your Windscribe example, the core issue 
is that once a user grants that admin permission, dragging the main app 
to the Trash leaves that privileged helper binary behind in the root 
system folder.

No amount of looking at basic, un-triggered app bundles changes how the 
underlying operating system manages authorized helper tools.

-- 
David

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macOS Technical Note: Privileged Helpers, dragging to Trash, and EtreCheck "David B." <"David B."@invalid.org> - 2026-05-27 15:03 +0100
  Re: macOS Technical Note: Privileged Helpers, dragging to Trash, and EtreCheck Brock McNuggets <brock.mcnuggets@gmail.com> - 2026-05-27 14:29 +0000
    Re: macOS Technical Note: Privileged Helpers, dragging to Trash, and EtreCheck Gremlin <nobody@haph.org> - 2026-05-27 15:15 +0000
      Re: macOS Technical Note: Privileged Helpers, dragging to Trash, and EtreCheck Brock McNuggets <brock.mcnuggets@gmail.com> - 2026-05-27 15:34 +0000
    Re: macOS Technical Note: Privileged Helpers, dragging to Trash, and EtreCheck "David B." <"David B."@invalid.org> - 2026-05-27 18:34 +0100
      Re: macOS Technical Note: Privileged Helpers, dragging to Trash, and EtreCheck Brock McNuggets <brock.mcnuggets@gmail.com> - 2026-05-27 20:00 +0000
        Re: macOS Technical Note: Privileged Helpers, dragging to Trash, and EtreCheck "David B." <"David B."@invalid.org> - 2026-05-27 23:36 +0100
          Re: macOS Technical Note: Privileged Helpers, dragging to Trash, and EtreCheck Brock McNuggets <brock.mcnuggets@gmail.com> - 2026-05-27 23:33 +0000
    Re: macOS Technical Note: Privileged Helpers, dragging to Trash, and EtreCheck "David B." <"David B."@invalid.org> - 2026-05-28 12:48 +0100
  Re: macOS Technical Note: Privileged Helpers, dragging to Trash, and EtreCheck Brock McNuggets <brock.mcnuggets@gmail.com> - 2026-05-27 20:31 +0000
    Re: macOS Technical Note: Privileged Helpers, dragging to Trash, and EtreCheck "David B." <"David B."@invalid.org> - 2026-05-27 23:42 +0100
      Re: macOS Technical Note: Privileged Helpers, dragging to Trash, and EtreCheck Brock McNuggets <brock.mcnuggets@gmail.com> - 2026-05-27 23:39 +0000
        Re: macOS Technical Note: Privileged Helpers, dragging to Trash, and EtreCheck "David B." <"David B."@invalid.org> - 2026-05-28 08:48 +0100
          Re: macOS Technical Note: Privileged Helpers, dragging to Trash, and EtreCheck Brock McNuggets <brock.mcnuggets@gmail.com> - 2026-05-28 12:26 +0000

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