New security update warning for Mojave: Is this for real?

[jjBoye]

Just received an email on iPhone from "mr.macintosh.com" warning not to update Security Update 2020-005 for Mojave and suspect that it may be a scam. My wife and I are both running Mojave OS 10.14.6; me on an iMac and she on a Macbook Air. Also received two update notifications from Apple; one w settings icon and one with App Store icon. My instinct is to delete the suspect email and watch the forums for any news on the same warning but would appreciate any advice. I'm a 'good for my age' late adopter so apologize if this is a newbie concern. Thanks in advance

 

[IWT]

A warm welcome to Mac-Forums.

Beyond all reasonable doubt, your email from mr.macintosh.com is a hoax, a scam. The only people who would alert you to something of that sort would be Apple and their email address and the way they addressed you by name would confirm their authenticity.

As regards the security update for macOS Mojave, that is genuine and you should update now.

You can take it that any update that appears via System Preferences > Software Update or the App Store is genuine.

Ian

 

[Randy B. Singer]

I don't doubt that the e-mail that he got was not legitimate, but I can tell you that I'm running Mojave on the iMac that I'm sitting at right now, and was alerted to a new security update by Software Update about three days ago. I used Software Update to download it, so I know that it is legitimate. I REALLY regret having installed it.

It took about half an hour to install...which seems like a long time just for a security update. I let it come to rest on its own, after it restarted my Mac on its own twice.

Once installed, my Mac kept on freezing. Then when I tried to restart into recovery mode, it wouldn't start up at all. Finally it was willing to start up by holding down the power button for a while. It wouldn't start up in Safe Mode, or in Verbose mode (to run FSCK), or in Recovery mode. So I ran Disk Utility/First Aid several times. It reported no problems each time.

Now my Mac is running again, but it's a bit flaky and a bit slow. There are rotating beachballs randomly. I'm at a loss as to what else I can do to fix it. The hard drive is formatted (unwillingly) as APFS, so Disk Warrior can't be used. I wish to goodness that I hadn't installed that Security Update, my Mac was running so nicely beforehand.

 

[Randy B. Singer]

It looks to me as if the warning that "jjboye" got was legitimate (I wish that I had received it):

Safari 14.0 + Mojave 2020-005 Security Update Causing Major Problems!

Reports coming in from users who are starting to have major problems after installing the Mojave 2020-005 Security Update. Workarounds Inside

mrmacintosh.com

 

[IWT]

@Randy,

Very interesting. We have two Macintoshs running macOS Mojave in our home. No warnings like the OP's; also no trouble at all with the downloads. Fairly quick and straightforward. And no trouble on either machine since.

I'm also interested in how you and the OP got these, now supposedly, legitimate emails. Why you two? I'm not suggesting that you were the only two; but how were you selected? Are you both subscribers to that website?

You and the OP live in the US. Relevant? I have not heard of anybody getting the warning (for what that's worth ); nor I have I come across reports overhere in the UK about problems with the OS after the update - and so far, only you have posted on our Forums about the post-update chaos.

Your thoughts would be much appreciated.

Ian

PS One of my iMacs runs on macOS High Sierra. It had a security update. Absolutely no problems.

 

[Randy B. Singer]

I'm also interested in how you and the OP got these, now supposedly, legitimate emails. Why you two?

I DID NOT also receive an e-mail. I went to the Mr. Macintosh Web site, found it to be legitimate, and posted the link here. You should have a look at it yourself. I now see that other Web sites are also reporting the same thing. e.g.:

What went wrong with Mojave Security Update 2020-005, and Catalina 10.15.7?

One was just a bit wonky, the other has made a mess of many who installed the update. So what went wrong?

eclecticlight.co

I imagine that the original poster agreed to be informed of updates from that Web site upon one of his visits. That happens all the time these days. Folks click "yes" without even necessarily knowing what they are agreeing to. Or, even if they do know what they are doing, they forget all about having agreed to receiving updates.

PS One of my iMacs runs on macOS High Sierra. It had a security update. Absolutely no problems.

The problems apparently only effects Mojave and Catalina.

I logged in here today with the intention of telling folks about my experience with this Security Update. I'm glad that I saw the OP's post, as it let me know that I'm not the only person who has suffered deleterious effects from having installed it.

 

[toMACsh]

I ... was alerted to a new security update by Software Update about three days ago. I used Software Update to download it, so I know that it is legitimate. I REALLY regret having installed it.

It took about half an hour to install...which seems like a long time just for a security update.

Now my Mac is running again, but it's a bit flaky and a bit slow. There are rotating beachballs randomly. I'm at a loss as to what else I can do to fix it. I wish to goodness that I hadn't installed that Security Update, my Mac was running so nicely beforehand.

Same here. I'm hoping Apple releases a bug fix, 'cause I need an exterminator!

 

[jjBoye]

Thanks to all for responding to my security threat email from mrmacintosh.com. No idea how or why I was contacted but seems pretty clear that they were selective. Think I’m going to keep an eye on forum replies as there seem to be discrepancies re user results from updating.

 

[krs]

It looks to me as if the warning that "jjboye" got was legitimate (I wish that I had received it):

Safari 14.0 + Mojave 2020-005 Security Update Causing Major Problems!

Reports coming in from users who are starting to have major problems after installing the Mojave 2020-005 Security Update. Workarounds Inside

mrmacintosh.com

Sounds like a good site to get email notifications from - I just signed up

 

[IWT]

@jjBoye

Are you saying that you have never subscribed to mrmacintosh? The assumption was that you most probably had done in the past. Otherwise, why would they email you?

Anyway, it’s your shout. Whether you install the security update or wait to see if further updates appear to clean up the mess that some, but clearly not all, have encountered.

Ian

 

[krs]

@jjBoye

Are you saying that you have never subscribed to mrmacintosh? The assumption was that you most probably had done in the past. Otherwise, why would they email you?

Anyway, it’s your shout. Whether you install the security update or wait to see if further updates appear to clean up the mess that some, but clearly not all, have encountered.

Ian

When I just signed up, one also gets a confirmation email that one has to reply to - ie a two-step process.

Luckily I have not installed that update on Mojave and I have no intention to roll the dice.

 

[jjBoye]

Hi Ian, The mrmacintosh warning came out of the blue. I’m not a subscriber but it did arrive as a notification so opened email and was immediately suspicious as the address had changed (don’t remember the original as the notification iwas only on my phone for about 5-10 seconds) and went to you folks before I did something I might have regretted. I’m running Mojave OS 10.14.6
Thanks again for your quick reply and looking forward to the final chapter on this.

 

[chscag]

Reading through the link Randy supplied above, it's clear that the Mojave security update should be avoided. Apple will likely issue a supplemental update that clears up the problems with the original one.

As for the Catalina 10.15.7 update, I see no reason not to install it. Again according to the article Randy supplied above, some folks may run into minor glitches which are easily remedied.

Kind of makes me wonder who is testing these updates at Apple before releasing them to the public?

 

[Randy B. Singer]

... there seem to be discrepancies re user results from updating.

At this point I've already heard from a bunch of folks who made the mistake of installing the Mojave Security Update and are now experiencing nasty problems.

One of the articles that I cited above tells you how to fix the problem by either using Time Machine or Recovery.

 

[dufchick]

Hi All-

My MacBook Pro automatically updates; today it did the Catalina 10.15.7. Should I leave the setting to automatically update or not? What is the preferred safe method? Thanks

Allison

 

[chscag]

If you're referring to the "Automatically keep my Mac up to date" option in System Preferences, Software Update, it might be better not to select that option. Updates from Apple are usually okay to download and install, however, sometimes they are not as in the case above.

 

[Randy B. Singer]

Everything is all fixed!

Apple pulled the problematic update and just released a new update that fixes everything. What a relief!

 

[IWT]

@Randy,

Do you think it appropriate for users (like myself) who have not experienced any obvious problems, to download the new, revised version anyway?

It is on offer on my Macs via System Preferences > Software Update.

Ian

 

[Randy B. Singer]

@Randy,

Do you think it appropriate for users (like myself) who have not experienced any obvious problems, to download the new, revised version anyway?

It is on offer on my Macs via System Preferences > Software Update.

Frankly, Ian, I don't know. My wild guess is that if it is available via Software Update, then it should be fine for your setup. However, having recently been badly burned by a simple security update from Apple, I'm now a bit gunshy about *any* Apple updates. I installed this one because my system was already screwed up by Apple and I was hoping that it would fix things, and it did.

If you are running Mojave, and you previously updated Safari and then applied the problematic Security Update (the steps that have led to folks having very nasty problems), then even if you aren't seeing any problems I suspect it would be a good idea to installed the latest update. Though you haven't seen any problems yet, I understand that nasty problems could still appear when you do certain things. It would probably be best to get things back to being perfect.

 

[Jim40]

I never let my Mac upgrade itself. I like to see what's happening. Living in the UK and using BT as my ISP can be a pain. My maximum download speed is just 20 Mbps, so I have to sit up for hours for a major upgrade. When `I first upgraded to Catalina at osMac 10.15.2, it had to be installed twice to get the full upgrade. I upgraded to 10.15.7 and got the Security Update at the same time. Not noticed any problem upgrading to 10.15.7, and ditto for the Security Update.