General: Forums subtopic: App & System Services > Networking DevForums tag: Network Extension Network Extension framework documentation Routing your VPN network traffic article Filtering traffic by URL sample code Filtering Network Traffic sample code TN3120 Expected use cases for Network Extension packet tunnel providers technote TN3134 Network Extension provider deployment technote TN3165 Packet Filter is not API technote Network Extension and VPN Glossary forums post Debugging a Network Extension Provider forums post Exporting a Developer ID Network Extension forums post Network Extension vs ad hoc techniques on macOS forums post Extra-ordinary Networking forums post Wi-Fi management: Wi-Fi Fundamentals forums post TN3111 iOS Wi-Fi API overview technote How to modernize your captive network developer news post iOS Network Signal Strength forums post See also Networking Resources. Share and Enjoy — Quinn “The Eskimo!” @ Developer Technical Support @ Apple let myEmail = "eskimo" + "1" + "@" + "apple.com"

For a past few days, I have been exploring control Filter and data filter. I am unable to understand how control moves from various functions of data filter to control Filter. One thing that I am unable to figure out is that when I pass verdict as .allow in dataFilter's handleNewFlow and mark .shouldReport as true, I get inBytes and outbytes in the flow report of handle() in controlFilter. But when I pass verdict as needRules and wait till the handle is called in controlFilter when the report.event == .flowClosed, I don't get inBytes and outBytes. I am unable to understand this complete flow of network extension from the apple documentation. Can someone provide me with some flow chart or some pictorial representation or detailed explanation of network extension for iOS? Also is there some way to imitate the ..statisticsReportFrequency for iOS as it is not available for iOS?

I haven’t come across any official documentation regarding the limit on the number of Network Extensions macOS can run. However, I did see some discussions suggesting that Apple might restrict this to 5 extensions in macOS Tahoe. Is there any official confirmation on this?

Hi everyone, I'm currently experimenting with building a simple DNS filter using Apple's Packet Tunnel framework. Here's the flow I'm trying to implement: Create a TUN interface Set up a UDP socket Read packets via packetFlow.readPackets Parse the raw IP packet Forward the UDP payload through the socket Receive the response from the server Reconstruct the IP packet with the response Write it back to the TUN interface using packetFlow.writePackets Here’s an example of an intercepted IP packet (DNS request): 45 00 00 3c 15 c4 00 00 40 11 93 d1 c0 a8 00 64 08 08 08 08 ed 6e 00 35 00 28 e5 c9 7f da 01 00 00 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 04 74 69 6d 65 05 61 70 70 6c 65 03 63 6f 6d 00 00 01 00 01 And here’s the IP packet I tried writing back into the TUN interface (DNS response): 45 00 00 89 5e 37 40 00 40 11 0b 11 08 08 08 08 c0 a8 00 64 00 35 ed 6e 00 75 91 e8 7f da 81 80 00 01 00 04 00 00 00 00 04 74 69 6d 65 05 61 70 70 6c 65 03 63 6f 6d 00 00 01 00 01 c0 0c 00 05 00 01 00 00 0c fb 00 11 04 74 69 6d 65 01 67 07 61 61 70 6c 69 6d 67 c0 17 c0 2c 00 01 00 01 00 00 03 04 00 04 11 fd 74 fd c0 2c 00 01 00 01 00 00 03 04 00 04 11 fd 74 7d c0 2c 00 01 00 01 00 00 03 04 00 04 11 fd 54 fb Unfortunately, it seems the packet is not being written back correctly to the TUN interface. I'm not seeing any expected DNS response behavior on the device. Also, I noticed that after creating the TUN, the interface address shows up as 0.0.0.0:0 in Xcode. The system log includes this message when connecting the VPN: NWPath does not have valid interface: satisfied (Path is satisfied), interface: utun20[endc_sub6], ipv4, dns, expensive, uses cellular Does anyone know how to properly initialize the TUN so that the system recognizes it with a valid IP configuration? Or why my written-back packet might be getting ignored? Any help would be appreciated!

Hi everyone, I’m currently experimenting with building a simple DNS filter using Apple’s Packet Tunnel framework. Here’s the flow I’m trying to implement: Create a TUN interface Set up a UDP socket Read packets via packetFlow.readPackets Parse the raw IP packet Forward the UDP payload through the socket Receive the response from the server Reconstruct the IP packet with the response Write it back to the TUN interface using packetFlow.writePackets Here’s an example of an intercepted IP packet (DNS request): 45 00 00 3c 15 c4 00 00 40 11 93 d1 c0 a8 00 64 08 08 08 08 ed 6e 00 35 00 28 e5 c9 7f da 01 00 00 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 04 74 69 6d 65 05 61 70 70 6c 65 03 63 6f 6d 00 00 01 00 01 And here’s the IP packet I tried writing back into the TUN interface (DNS response): 45 00 00 89 5e 37 40 00 40 11 0b 11 08 08 08 08 c0 a8 00 64 00 35 ed 6e 00 75 91 e8 7f da 81 80 00 01 00 04 00 00 00 00 04 74 69 6d 65 05 61 70 70 6c 65 03 63 6f 6d 00 00 01 00 01 c0 0c 00 05 00 01 00 00 0c fb 00 11 04 74 69 6d 65 01 67 07 61 61 70 6c 69 6d 67 c0 17 c0 2c 00 01 00 01 00 00 03 04 00 04 11 fd 74 fd c0 2c 00 01 00 01 00 00 03 04 00 04 11 fd 74 7d c0 2c 00 01 00 01 00 00 03 04 00 04 11 fd 54 fb Unfortunately, it seems the packet is not being written back correctly to the TUN interface. I’m not seeing any expected DNS response behavior on the device. Also, I noticed that after creating the TUN, the interface address shows up as 0.0.0.0:0 in Xcode. The system log includes this message when connecting the VPN: NWPath does not have valid interface: satisfied (Path is satisfied), interface: utun20[endc_sub6], ipv4, dns, expensive, uses cellular Does anyone know how to properly initialize the TUN so that the system recognizes it with a valid IP configuration? Or why my written-back packet might be getting ignored? Any help would be appreciated!

Hi, Our project is a MacOS SwiftUI GUI application that bundles a (Sandboxed) System Network Extension, signed with a Developer ID certificate for distribution outside of the app store. The system network extension is used to write a packet tunnel provider (NEPacketTunnelProvider), as our project requires the creation of a TUN device. In order for our System VPN to function, it must reach out to a (self-hosted) server (i.e. to discover a list of peers). Being self-hosted, this server is typically not accessible via the public web, and may only be accessible from within a VPN (such as those also implemented using NEPacketTunnelProvider, e.g. Tailscale, Cloudflare WARP). What we've discovered is that the networking code of the System Network Extension process does not attempt to use the other VPN network interfaces (utunX) on the system. In practice, this means requests to IPs and hostnames that should be routed to those interfaces time out. Identical requests made outside of the Network System Extension process use those interfaces and succeed. The simplest example is where we create a URLSession.downloadTask for a resource on the server. A more complicated example is where we execute a Go .dylib that continues to communicate with that server. Both types of requests time out. Two noteworthy logs appear when packets fail to send, both from the kernel 'process': cfil_hash_entry_log:6088 <CFIL: Error: sosend_reinject() failed>: [30685 com.coder.Coder-Desktop.VPN] <UDP(17) out so b795d11aca7c26bf 57728068503033955 57728068503033955 age 0> lport 3001 fport 3001 laddr 100.108.7.40 faddr 100.112.177.88 hash 58B15863 cfil_service_inject_queue:4472 CFIL: sosend() failed 49 I also wrote some test code that probes using a UDP NWConnection and NWPath availableInterfaces. When run from the GUI App, multiple interfaces are returned, including the one that routes the address, utun5. When ran from within the sysex, only en0 is returned. I understand routing a VPN through another is unconventional, but we unfortunately do need this functionality one way or another. Is there any way to modify which interfaces are exposed to the sysex? Additionally, are these limitations of networking within a Network System Extension documented anywhere? Do you have any ideas why this specific limitation might exist?

Do we have clear document around multiple content filter applications running on single device.? While the documentation says 8 content filters and Only one filter available for system-wide use, there is no clear mention about below scenarios - Which content filter will get precedence? System-wide or App managed? Can there be mulitple Content filters configured for same managed application? Will all control provider running on the device get notified about network traffic ? I searched the forums to get a clear answer but seems older threads where nothing was conclusive. Thanks in advance for the help !!

Hello, I am planning to build content filter application for iOS platform and based on the documentation I have read, it's not clear if I can just inspect/monitor network traffic and not filter or block URLs in the NEFilterDataProvider. Is this a valid use case ? With this approach, will the App get rejected during the App review.?

I have a typical content filter implemented using NEFilterDataProvider and I'm observing that sometimes handleNewFlow will not obey the returned verdict. More specifically, drop verdict is sometimes ignored and an error message is logged. The impact on my app is that my content filter may not drop flows when it was supposed to. I narrowed the issue down to being triggered by using my content filter alongside a VPN (Tailscale VPN, haven't tested others). To reproduce the issue: Open reddit.com on Google Chrome Activate the content filter set to drop traffic (in my case configured for reddit) Run a VPN Refresh the reddit browser tab Observe reddit being loaded just fine, despite traffic being dropped Below you may find a sample log that may be related to when the issue is triggered. Near the end of the log below, I found this particular line interesting: "No current verdict available, cannot report flow closed". I wonder if it means that something else raced in front of my extension and gave an allow verdict. My extension only takes 621us to make a decision. com.apple.networkextension debug 17:19:41.714581-0300 Handling new flow: identifier = D89B5B5D-793C-4940-777A-6BB703E80900 sourceAppIdentifier = EQHXZ8M8AV.com.google.Chrome.helper sourceAppVersion = 138.0.7204.50 sourceAppUniqueIdentifier = {length = 20, bytes = 0x57df24110a3dd3fbd954082915f8f19f6d365053} procPID = 15492 eprocPID = 15492 rprocPID = 15481 direction = outbound inBytes = 0 outBytes = 0 signature = {length = 32, bytes = 0x2e387b1f a214703d 62f17624 4aec86f4 ... 91d91bbd d97b6c90 } socketID = 9e803b76b7a77 localEndpoint = 0.0.0.0:0 remoteEndpoint = 52.6.64.124:443 remoteHostname = gql-realtime.reddit.com protocol = 6 family = 2 type = 1 procUUID = 4C4C44ED-5555-3144-A13B-2281E1056F00 eprocUUID = 4C4C44ED-5555-3144-A13B-2281E1056F00 rprocUUID = 4C4C4485-5555-3144-A122-165F9195A675 myContentFilter.ContentFilterNetworkExtension debug 17:19:41.714638-0300 Flow D89B5B5D-793C-4940-777A-6BB703E80900: handling new flow myContentFilter.ContentFilterNetworkExtension debug 17:19:41.715446-0300 Flow D89B5B5D-793C-4940-777A-6BB703E80900: drop (1 gql-realtime.reddit.com) ( 621.0803985595703 µs) com.apple.networkextension debug 17:19:41.715606-0300 New flow verdict for D89B5B5D-793C-4940-777A-6BB703E80900: drop = YES remediate = NO needRules = NO shouldReport = NO pause = NO urlAppendString = NO filterInbound = NO peekInboundBytes = 0 filterOutbound = NO peekOutboundBytes = 0 statisticsReportFrequency = none com.apple.networkextension debug 17:19:41.715775-0300 Dropping new flow 9e803b76b7a77 com.apple.networkextension error 17:19:41.715883-0300 No current verdict available, cannot report flow closed com.apple.networkextension debug 17:19:41.715976-0300 Outbound disconnect message rejected, no flow found for sockid 2788377450216055 com.apple.networkextension debug 17:19:41.716727-0300 Inbound disconnect message rejected, no flow found for sockid 2788377450216055 Also good to note that this can only be reliably reproduced if there was a browser tab recently opened and kept open in that website. Here I'm also guessing that the browser is caching connections. I was able to reproduce on macOS 15.6 Beta (24G5065c), Google Chrome 138 (apparently doesn't happen on Firefox), and the user has seen the issue on macOS 15.5. My alternative theory is that this log doesn't have anything to do with the behavior and instead it's just Chrome caching the connection, and further traffic in that connection simply flows through because it was previously allowed. Could that be the case? Thanks!

{"bug_type":"210","timestamp":"2025-07-04 14:19:35.00 +0800","os_version":"macOS 15.5 (24F74)","roots_installed":0,"incident_id":"5457889A-1002-4389-BAE6-A447733EFD78"} { "build" : "macOS 15.5 (24F74)", "product" : "MacBookPro18,4", "socId" : "6001", "socRevision" : "11", "incident" : "5457889A-1002-4389-BAE6-A447733EFD78", "crashReporterKey" : "4ABE0CA2-C60B-8B0E-557A-C0BDEB1E9144", "kernel" : "Darwin Kernel Version 24.5.0: Tue Apr 22 19:54:49 PDT 2025; root:xnu-11417.121.62/RELEASE_ARM64_T6000", "date" : "2025-07-04 14:19:35.95 +0800", "panicString" : "panic(cpu 1 caller 0xfffffe00215f28e8): Kernel data abort. at pc 0xfffffe0021310d9c, lr 0x37a67e002116f050 (saved state: 0xfffffe60706d3240)\n\t x0: 0xfffffe2eaac676f8 x1: 0x0000000000000000 x2: 0xfffffe002116f050 x3: 0x0000000000000002\n\t x4: 0x0000000000002021 x5: 0xffffffffffffffff x6: 0x0000000000000000 x7: 0x0000006ddf79e068\n\t x8: 0xf9555cb919b50093 x9: 0x0000000000000000 x10: 0x0000000000000054 x11: 0x0000000000000000\n\t x12: 0xfffffe002477dfc8 x13: 0x0000000000000001 x14: 0x0000000000000052 x15: 0x0000000000000000\n\t x16: 0x0000020061052ad4 x17: 0x0000000000000001 x18: 0x0000000000000000 x19: 0xfffffe2eaa38d000\n\t x20: 0x0000000000000000 x21: 0xfffffe2eaac676f8 x22: 0x0000000000000020 x23: 0xfffffe2eab90f000\n\t x24: 0x000000001e22b50a x25: 0x0000000000000000 x26: 0x0000000000000000 x27: 0xfffffe2eab90efb4\n\t x28: 0x0000000000003500 fp: 0xfffffe60706d35b0 lr: 0x37a67e002116f050 sp: 0xfffffe60706d3590\n\t pc: 0xfffffe0021310d9c cpsr: 0x60401208 esr: 0xfffffe6096000006 far: 0x0000000000000068\n\nDebugger message: panic\nMemory ID: 0x6\nOS release type: User\nOS version: 24F74\nKernel version: Darwin Kernel Version 24.5.0: Tue Apr 22 19:54:49 PDT 2025; root:xnu-11417.121.62/RELEASE_ARM64_T6000\nFileset Kernelcache UUID: AF6531DB60D1EB2338126CF77682B8DE\nKernel UUID: CBC2F718-53E4-3C8D-BEC7-FB6DDC3318E1\nBoot session UUID: 5457889A-1002-4389-BAE6-A447733EFD78\niBoot version: iBoot-11881.121.1\niBoot Stage 2 version: iBoot-11881.121.1\nsecure boot?: YES\nroots installed: 0\nPaniclog version: 14\nKernelCache slide: 0x0000000018540000\nKernelCache base: 0xfffffe001f544000\nKernel slide: 0x0000000018548000\nKernel text base: 0xfffffe001f54c000\nKernel text exec slide: 0x0000000019ce0000\nKernel text exec base: 0xfffffe0020ce4000\nmach_absolute_time: 0x6ddf85c206\nEpoch Time: sec usec\n Boot : 0x686680ed 0x000c5ab2\n Sleep : 0x68676ff9 0x0005fdc0\n Wake : 0x68677007 0x000d2cfa\n Calendar: 0x68677252 0x00021537\n\nZone info:\n Zone map: 0xfffffe1016000000 - 0xfffffe3616000000\n . VM : 0xfffffe1016000000 - 0xfffffe15e2000000\n . RO : 0xfffffe15e2000000 - 0xfffffe187c000000\n . GEN0 : 0xfffffe187c000000 - 0xfffffe1e48000000\n . GEN1 : 0xfffffe1e48000000 - 0xfffffe2414000000\n . GEN2 : 0xfffffe2414000000 - 0xfffffe29e0000000\n . GEN3 : 0xfffffe29e0000000 - 0xfffffe2fac000000\n . DATA : 0xfffffe2fac000000 - 0xfffffe3616000000\n Metadata: 0xfffffe5e3a010000 - 0xfffffe5e43810000\n Bitmaps : 0xfffffe5e43810000 - 0xfffffe5e4f500000\n Extra : 0 - 0\n\nTPIDRx_ELy = {1: 0xfffffe28ded6aff0 0: 0x0000000000000001 0ro: 0x000000016fd330e0 }\nCORE 0 PVH locks held: None\nCORE 1 PVH locks held: None\nCORE 2 PVH locks held: None\nCORE 3 PVH locks held: None\nCORE 4 PVH locks held: None\nCORE 5 PVH locks held: None\nCORE 6 PVH locks held: None\nCORE 7 PVH locks held: None\nCORE 8 PVH locks held: None\nCORE 9 PVH locks held: None\nCORE 0: PC=0xfffffe0020f2d330, LR=0xfffffe0020f2d368, FP=0xfffffe60717cb460\nCORE 1 is the one that panicked. Check the full backtrace for details.\nCORE 2: PC=0xfffffe0020d81094, LR=0xfffffe0020d81094, FP=0xfffffe607167bed0\nCORE 3: PC=0xfffffe0020d81094, LR=0xfffffe0020d81094, FP=0xfffffe60725d3ed0\nCORE 4: PC=0xfffffe0020d81094, LR=0xfffffe0020d81094, FP=0xfffffe6072bafed0\nCORE 5: PC=0xfffffe0020d81094, LR=0xfffffe0020d81094, FP=0xfffffe6072197ed0\nCORE 6: PC=0xfffffe0020d81094, LR=0xfffffe0020d81094, FP=0xfffffe60727abed0\nCORE 7: PC=0xfffffe0020d81094, LR=0xfffffe0020d81094, FP=0xfffffe6071897ed0\nCORE 8: PC=0xfffffe0020d81094, LR=0xfffffe0020d81094, FP=0xfffffe607149bed0\nCORE 9: PC=0xfffffe0020d81094, LR=0xfffffe0020d81094, FP=0xfffffe607214bed0\nCompressor Info: 0% of compressed pages limit (OK) and 0% of segments limit (OK) with 0 swapfiles and OK swap space\nPanicked task 0xfffffe1d4729c7a0: 1925 pages, 14 threads: pid 36674: com.TE.TEDataCloak.ne\nPanicked thread: 0xfffffe28ded6aff0, backtrace: 0xfffffe60706d28f0, tid: 743602\n\t\t lr: 0xfffffe0020d432b4 fp: 0xfffffe60706d2980\n\t\t lr: 0xfffffe0020ea52f8 fp: 0xfffffe60706d29f0\n\t\t lr: 0xfffffe0020ea3554 fp: 0xfffffe60706d2ab0\n\t\t lr: 0xfffffe0020cebb98 fp: 0xfffffe60706d2ac0\n\t\t lr: 0xfffffe0020d42b98 fp: 0xfffffe60706d2e90\n\t\t lr: 0xfffffe00215e7388 fp: 0xfffffe60706d2eb0\n\t\t lr: 0xfffffe00215f28e8 fp: 0xfffffe60706d30c0\n\t\t lr: 0xfffffe0020ea5154 fp: 0xfffffe60706d3160\n\t\t lr: 0xfffffe0020ea36c8 fp: 0xfffffe60706d3220\n\t\t lr: 0xfffffe0020cebb98 fp: 0xfffffe60706d3230\n\t\t lr: 0xfffffe002116f050 fp: 0xfffffe60706d35b0\n\t\t lr: 0xfffffe002116f050 fp: 0xfffffe60706d3730\n\t\t lr: 0xfffffe002116de88 fp: 0xfffffe60706d3780\n\t\t lr: 0xfffffe0021180174 fp: 0xfffffe60706d3810\n\t\t lr: 0xfffffe002117ea94 fp: 0xfffffe60706d38d0\n\t\t lr: 0xfffffe002117d69c fp: 0xfffffe60706d3a30\n\t\t lr: 0xfffffe0021281400 fp: 0xfffffe60706d3a80\n\t\t lr: 0xfffffe00213146dc fp: 0xfffffe60706d3c10\n\t\t lr: 0xfffffe0021324ff8 fp: 0xfffffe60706d3d00\n\t\t lr: 0xfffffe0021325580 fp: 0xfffffe60706d3de0\n\t\t lr: 0xfffffe00213edc24 fp: 0xfffffe60706d3e50\n\t\t lr: 0xfffffe0020ea35dc fp: 0xfffffe60706d3f10\n\t\t lr: 0xfffffe0020cebb98 fp: 0xfffffe60706d3f20\n\t\t lr: 0xfffffe0020cebb60 fp: 0x0000000000000000\n\nlast started kext at 3810289154: com.apple.filesystems.smbfs\t6.0 (addr 0xfffffe00200f68e0, size 111737)\nloaded kexts:\ncom.paragon-

Hi, I'm developing a security-focused iOS application and would like to detect potentially suspicious rogue access points. Specifically, I need to access the BSSID of the currently connected Wi-Fi network to analyze and identify inconsistencies (e.g. multiple APs using the same SSID). I understand that access to certain network information is restricted on iOS. Is it possible to use the Network Extension framework (or any approved API) to retrieve the BSSID? If so, are there any specific entitlements or usage descriptions required to ensure App Store approval? My goal is to implement this functionality in full compliance with App Store Review Guidelines and user privacy policies.

I haven’t been able to get this to work at any level! I’m running into multiple issues, any light shed on any of these would be nice: I can’t implement a bloom filter that produces the same output as can be found in the SimpleURLFilter sample project, after following the textual description of it that’s available in the documentation. No clue what my implementation is doing wrong, and because of the nature of hashing, there is no way to know. Specifically: The web is full of implementations of FNV-1a and MurmurHash3, and they all produce different hashes for the same input. Can we get the proper hashes for some sample strings, so we know which is the “correct” one? Similarly, different implementations use different encodings for the strings to hash. Which should we use here? The formulas for numberOfBits and numberOfHashes give Doubles and assign them to Ints. It seems we should do this conversing by rounding them, is this correct? Can we get a sample correct value for the combined hash, so we can verify our implementations against it? Or ignoring all of the above, can we have the actual code instead of a textual description of it? 😓 I managed to get Settings to register my first attempt at this extension in beta 1. Now, in beta 2, any other project (including the sample code) will redirect to Settings, show the Allow/Deny message box, I tap Allow, and then nothing happens. This must be a bug, right? Whenever I try to enable the only extension that Settings accepted (by setting its isEnabled to true), its status goes to .stopped and the error is, of course, .unknown. How do I debug this? While the extension is .stopped, ALL URL LOADS are blocked on the device. Is this to be expected? (shouldFailClosed is set to false) Is there any way to manually reload the bloom filter? My app ships blocklist updates with background push, so it would be wasteful to fetch the filter at a fixed interval. If so, can we opt out of the periodic fetch altogether? I initially believed the API to be near useless because I didn’t know of its “fuzzy matching” capabilities, which I’ve discovered by accident in a forum post. It’d be nice if those were documented somewhere! Thanks!!

Hi everyone, I’m working on an iOS project where an iPhone needs to connect to external scanners (dedicated hardware devices) over Wi-Fi. The goal is to: Discover available Wi-Fi networks from the scanner devices (broadcasting their own networks). Allow the user to seamlessly connect to the chosen scanner network. Network Discovery: Is there a way to programmatically list available Wi-Fi networks (SSIDs) on iOS without private APIs? If not, are there workarounds (e.g., Bonjour/mDNS)? Seamless Connection: As I see, we can use NEHotspotConfigurationManager to connect to and disconnect from specified networks and there will always be a system alert asking about do we really want to join this network Hardware/Firmware/Software Alternatives: If iOS restrictions prevent this, what alternatives exist? For example: Hardware: Scanners supporting Bluetooth LE for initial pairing, then Wi-Fi provisioning. Firmware: Scanners acting as clients on the same network as the iPhone (e.g., via user’s home/office Wi-Fi). Software: A companion app for the scanner that shares network credentials via QR code/NFC, or a local web server on the scanner for setup. Context: Target: iOS 16+ No jailbreaking; App Store compliance is a must. Scanners can be configured to act as APs or clients.

[Q] How many instances of the same NEFilterDataProvider subclass can there be in a single running Network Extension at any given time? I would expect that there can be only 1 instance but I'm looking at a memgraph where 2 instances are listed. As it's the Network Extension framework that is responsible for creating, starting and stopping these instances, this is rather strange.

Hello, I am seeking guidance regarding the com.apple.managed.vpn.shared keychain access group entitlement for our iOS app, which is required to support managed VPN configurations distributed via MDM profiles. Background: Our app uses the Network Extension framework and requires access to VPN credentials stored in configuration profiles, which—according to Apple documentation and forum posts—necessitates the com.apple.managed.vpn.shared entitlement We have already enabled the standard Network Extension entitlements via the Apple Developer portal What I Have Tried: I referenced the advice from a past Apple DTS engineer in this forum post: https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/67613 I have submitted multiple requests to Apple Developer Technical Support (DTS) over the past two months, clearly explaining our use case and referencing the official documentation as well as the above forum thread Unfortunately, I have either received no response or responses that do not address my request for the special entitlement Questions: Has anyone successfully received the com.apple.managed.vpn.shared entitlement recently? If so, what was the process and how long did it take? Is there a specific format or information I should include in my DTS request to expedite the process or avoid misunderstandings? Are there any alternative contacts or escalation paths within Apple Developer Support for cases where standard DTS requests are ignored or misunderstood? Thank you in advance for your help

We can see from App Store Connect under TestFlight tab on the overview that our build got X number of crashes. Problem is that these crashes are not found in Crash feedback tab or not from Xcode Organizer. This problem has been ongoing for us in multiple different app builds now. Is there any suggestions what might cause this problem and how to start solving this? I'm pretty confident that these crashes happen in our network extension (NEPacketTunnelProvider). Note - We have a lot of TestFlight users and to start asking them all separately manual logs from phone might not help us here. (Settings > Privacy > Analytics & Improvements > Analytics Data). Also these crashes have not been reported to us by the users. I suspect that the reason is that the extension kicks automatically back up since we are running VPN there with on demand rules. Meaning that the users might not be able to notice the service crash or shut down because of the automatic restart. Thanks

Hey, We also opened a feedback assistant request, and also opened a ticket with Apple Developer Technical Support a while ago that notice the unmount problem also but it was before we pin point the problem to the Network Extension. After a further investigation, we've found out that the root cause of this problem is cause by having a network filter from the NetworkExtension provider on (Specifically we have tested with the NEFilterDataProvider) while having a Xsan volume. The NEFilterDataProvider causing problems for the Xsan, and is stalling the shutdown until we get a panic from watchdog timeout, and only then the mac is fully shutdown. The problem from what we investigated and also talked with you, is that the Xsan process can't unmount the volume and stuck. We have also noticed that if we install a network extension and allow the popup of the network filters, i.e enabled the NEFilterDataProvider the computer is stuck, and the finder is in a non responsive state until a reboot (Also probably due to the fact the Xsan is now in a problematic state). This tests was done on latest versions of MacOs 13 & 14. We have taken a sysdiagnose from the computer while we have tested. Do you familiar with the problem (We got no answer on the feedback assistant)? Thank you, Idan

We need your assistance as we are currently facing an issue without a workaround for users on macOS 15.4 and 15.5. FeedbackID: FB17547675 The problem has been observed on macOS versions 15.4 and 15.5. Apple has acknowledged this issue and confirmed that it is fixed in the macOS 15.6 beta. Although we tried to reproduce the issue in our environment, it did not occur, even on macOS 15.5. Therefore, we cannot verify if the fix in macOS 15.6 beta resolves the problem. We are actively working to identify an appropriate workaround for users on macOS 15.5. Some users have reported a failure to obtain an IP address over Wi-Fi, possibly due to a DHCP failure. As a temporary solution, we added logic to restart Wi-Fi programmatically when either an APIPA address (169.254.x.x) or no IPv4 address is detected on the active interface. However, restarting Wi-Fi does not always resolve the issue, and the device may still fail to obtain an IP address over Wi-Fi or Ethernet. Could you advise if there is a reliable method to detect DHCP failure and recover the device from this state? Also, any idea, how we can reproduce this scenario in our machine? Below is the failure. default 2025-06-27 10:07:57.055003 -0700 configd DHCP en0: ARP router: No leases to query for default 2025-06-27 10:07:57.055269 -0700 configd DHCP en0: status = 'no server' default 2025-06-27 10:08:23.336215 -0700 airportd WiFiUsageBssSession:: ChannelAfterRoam=0; ChannelAtJoin=36; FaultReasonApsdTimedOut=0; FaultReasonArpFailureCount=0; FaultReasonBrokenBackhaulLinkFailed=0; FaultReasonDhcpFailure=0; default 2025-06-27 10:08:23.367852 -0700 configd DHCP en0: status = 'media inactive' default 2025-06-27 10:08:23.367909 -0700 configd DHCP en0: INACTIVE default 2025-06-27 10:08:23.988565 -0700 configd DHCP en0: status = 'media inactive' default 2025-06-27 10:08:23.988703 -0700 configd DHCP en0: INACTIVE info 2025-06-27 10:08:23.988852 -0700 configd DHCPv6 en0: Inactive default 2025-06-27 10:08:35.656415 -0700 configd DHCP en0: status = 'network changed' default 2025-06-27 10:08:35.656817 -0700 configd DHCP en0: INIT default 2025-06-27 10:08:35.656821 -0700 configd DHCP en0: supplying device type 'Mac' info 2025-06-27 10:08:35.656934 -0700 configd DHCP en0: busy default 2025-06-27 10:08:35.657351 -0700 configd DHCP en0: INIT waiting at 0 for 1.358613 info 2025-06-27 10:08:35.657404 -0700 configd DHCPv6 en0: Inactive default 2025-06-27 10:08:37.019229 -0700 configd DHCP en0: INIT waiting at 1.36206 for 2.113913 default 2025-06-27 10:08:39.136955 -0700 configd DHCP en0: INIT waiting at 3.47937 for 4.462224 default 2025-06-27 10:08:43.602229 -0700 configd DHCP en0: ARP router: No leases to query for default 2025-06-27 10:08:43.603143 -0700 configd DHCP en0: INIT waiting at 7.94533 for 8.128784 default 2025-06-27 10:08:51.735532 -0700 configd DHCP en0: ARP router: No leases to query for default 2025-06-27 10:08:51.735846 -0700 configd DHCP en0: INIT waiting at 16.0786 for 8.749985 default 2025-06-27 10:09:00.488315 -0700 configd DHCP en0: ARP router: No leases to query for default 2025-06-27 10:09:00.488550 -0700 configd DHCP en0: INIT waiting at 24.8313 for 8.496864 default 2025-06-27 10:09:08.988284 -0700 configd DHCP en0: ARP router: No leases to query for default 2025-06-27 10:09:08.988310 -0700 configd DHCP en0: reported address acquisition failure symptom default 2025-06-27 10:09:08.988579 -0700 configd DHCP en0: INIT waiting at 33.3312 for 8.300735 default 2025-06-27 10:09:17.294478 -0700 configd DHCP en0: ARP router: No leases to query for info 2025-06-27 10:09:17.294485 -0700 configd DHCP en0: symptom failure already reported default 2025-06-27 10:09:17.295454 -0700 configd DHCP en0: INIT waiting at 41.6373 for 8.798768 default 2025-06-27 10:09:26.096673 -0700 configd DHCP en0: ARP router: No leases to query for info 2025-06-27 10:09:26.096688 -0700 configd DHCP en0: symptom failure already reported default 2025-06-27 10:09:26.097553 -0700 configd DHCP en0: INIT waiting at 50.4394 for 8.807943 default 2025-06-27 10:09:34.909050 -0700 configd DHCP en0: ARP router: No leases to query for info 2025-06-27 10:09:34.909054 -0700 configd DHCP en0: symptom failure already reported default 2025-06-27 10:09:34.909375 -0700 configd DHCP en0: INIT waiting at 59.2517 for 8.877971 default 2025-06-27 10:09:43.792458 -0700 configd DHCP en0: ARP router: No leases to query for info 2025-06-27 10:09:43.792464 -0700 configd DHCP en0: symptom failure already reported default 2025-06-27 10:09:43.793641 -0700 configd DHCP en0: status = 'no server' info 2025-06-27 10:09:43.794145 -0700 configd DHCP en0: not busy DNS failure resolver #1 flags : reach : 0x00000000 (Not Reachable) resolver #2 domain : local options : mdns timeout : 5 flags : reach : 0x00000000 (Not Reachable) order : 300000 resolver #3 domain : 254.169.in-addr.arpa options : mdns timeout : 5 flags : reach : 0x00000000 (Not Reachable) order : 300200 resolver #4 domain : 8.e.f.ip6.arpa options : mdns timeout : 5 flags : reach : 0x00000000 (Not Reachable) order : 300400 resolver #5 domain : 9.e.f.ip6.arpa options : mdns timeout : 5 flags : reach : 0x00000000 (Not Reachable) order : 300600 resolver #6 domain : a.e.f.ip6.arpa options : mdns timeout : 5 flags : reach : 0x00000000 (Not Reachable) order : 300800 resolver #7 domain : b.e.f.ip6.arpa options : mdns timeout : 5 flags : reach : 0x00000000 (Not Reachable) order : 301000 Route table Destination Gateway Flags Netif Expire 127 127.0.0.1 UCS lo0 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 UH lo0 169.254 link#14 UCS en0 ! 169.254.160.160/32 link#14 UCS en0 ! 224.0.0/4 link#14 UmCS en0 ! 224.0.0.251 1:0:5e:0:0:fb UHmLWI en0 239.255.255.250 1:0:5e:7f:ff:fa UHmLWI en0 255.255.255.255/32 link#14 UCS en0 !

If the includeAllNetworks flag to true, we cannot update our app via Xcode, TestFlight or the AppStore. In the AppStore and TestFlight cases, it seems that the packet tunnel process is stopped before the new app is downloaded - once the packet tunnel process is stopped, it can’t be started again via Settings/VPN profiles, nor can it be started via the app.

1.Provisioning profile "xxx" doesn't include signing certificate "Developer ID Application: xxxxx". 2.Provisioning profile "xxx" doesn't match the entitlements file's value for the com.apple.developer.networking.networkextension entitlement. I decoded the profile, <dict> <key>com.apple.developer.system-extension.install</key> <true/> <key>com.apple.developer.networking.networkextension</key> <array> <string>packet-tunnel-provider-systemextension</string> <string>app-proxy-provider-systemextension</string> <string>content-filter-provider-systemextension</string> <string>dns-proxy-systemextension</string> <string>dns-settings</string> <string>relay</string> <string>url-filter-provider</string> <string>hotspot-provider</string> </array> <key>com.apple.security.application-groups</key> <array> <string>xxxxx</string> <string>xxxxx</string> </array> <key>com.apple.developer.networking.vpn.api</key> <array> <string>allow-vpn</string> </array> <key>com.apple.application-identifier</key> <string>xxxxx</string> <key>keychain-access-groups</key> <array> <string>xxxxx</string> </array> <key>com.apple.developer.team-identifier</key> <string>xxxxx</string> </dict> Kindly help me to resolve this.

This is a continuation of my own old post that became inactive to regain traction. I am trying to resolve issues that arise when distributing a macOS app with a SysExt Network Extension (Packet Tunnel) outside the App Store using a Developer ID Certificate. To directly distribute the app, I start with exporting the .app via Archive in Xcode. After that, I create a new Developer ID provisioning profile for both the app and sysext and replace the embedded ones in the .app package. After I have replaced the provisioning profiles and the have the entitlements files ready, I start signing the frameworks, sysext and parent app. codesign --force --options runtime --timestamp --sign "Developer ID Application: <name>"<app>.app/Contents/Library/SystemExtensions/<sysext>.systemextension/Contents/Frameworks/<fw>.framework/Versions/A/<fw> codesign --force --options runtime --timestamp --sign "Developer ID Application: <name>" <app>.app/Contents/Frameworks/<fw>.framework/ codesign --force --options runtime --entitlements dist-vpn.entitlements --timestamp --sign "Developer ID Application: <name>" <app>.app/Contents/Library/SystemExtensions/<sysext>.systemextension/Contents/MacOS/<sysext> codesign --force --options runtime --entitlements dist.entitlements --timestamp --sign "Developer ID Application: <name>" <app>.app After validation is successful with codesign --verify --deep --strict --verbose=4 <app>.app I zip the package, notarize and staple it ditto -c -k --keepParent "<app>.app" "<app>..zip" xcrun notarytool submit <app>.zip --keychain-profile “”<credents> --wait xcrun stapler staple <app>.app After that I finish creating signed and notarized .dmg/.pkg. hdiutil create -volname “<app>” -srcfolder “<app>.app/" -ov -format UDZO ./<app>.dmg codesign --force --sign "Developer ID Application: <name>" <app>.dmg xcrun notarytool submit <app>.dmg --keychain-profile "<credentials>" --wait xcrun stapler staple <app>.dmg Then when I move the .dmg to a clean system, open the .dmg, move the .app to the Applications folder, the attempt to run it fails with “The application “” can’t be opened.”. When I look into the console, the gatekeeper disallows the launch job with the message:
 86127 debug ProvisioningProfiles taskgated-helper ConfigurationProfiles entitlements: { "com.apple.developer.networking.networkextension" = ( "packet-tunnel-provider-systemextension" ); "com.apple.developer.system-extension.install" = 1; "com.apple.developer.team-identifier" = <teamid>; "keychain-access-groups" = ( “<teamid>.<app>.AppGroup" ); } com.apple.ManagedClient
<app>: Unsatisfied entitlements: com.apple.developer.networking.networkextension, keychain-access-groups, com.apple.developer.system-extension.install, com.apple.developer.team-identifier LAUNCH: Runningboard launch of <app> <private> returned RBSRequestErrorFailed, error Error Domain=RBSRequestErrorDomain Code=5 "Launch failed." UserInfo={NSLocalizedFailureReason=Launch failed., NSUnderlyingError=0x600001a25830 {Error Domain=NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=153 "Unknown error: 153" UserInfo={NSLocalizedDescription=Launchd job spawn failed}}}, so returning -10810

 I went through all possible formats (macOS-Style and iOS-Style App Group IDs) and combinations of appgroups according to the post “App Groups: macOS vs iOS: Working Towards Harmony”. But none of those work for me. The weird part is that when I try the same steps on different developer account, I am able to get the app running. What can be wrong?