Apple has released macOS Golden Gate 27.2.1 to fix a security issue that continued to affect some Mac users even after the company blocked compromised security certificates last month.
The update addresses a gap involving command-line tools such as curl and git, which could still trust certificates that Apple had already blocked in Safari, Mail, and other apps.
The fix is also available for older Macs through macOS 26.7.3 and macOS 15.8.3.
Why Apple’s Earlier Security Fix Wasn’t Enough
The problem involves eMudhra, an Indian certificate authority responsible for issuing digital certificates used to verify the identity of websites.
A security investigation found that some of its certificates relied on extremely weak private keys that attackers could potentially reconstruct.
That weakness could allow someone to create fraudulent certificates and impersonate legitimate websites.
Apple responded in October by blocking the affected certificates in Safari, Mail, and apps using its built-in security frameworks.
However, command-line tools that rely on a separate certificate store remained vulnerable.
That meant developers and system administrators using tools such as curl and git could still encounter certificates that the rest of macOS had stopped trusting.
Apple initially offered a manual workaround that involved removing the affected certificates from the Mac’s /etc/ssl/cert.pem file.
macOS 27.2.1 Closes the Remaining Security Gap
The new update extends those protections to command-line tools, preventing them from trusting the affected eMudhra certificates.
Apple had already included the fix in the macOS 27.3 developer beta, but that update isn’t expected to reach the public until December.
Instead of waiting, the company released the security correction separately.
Mac users can install it by opening System Settings > General > Software Update.
Those running older versions of macOS can install the corresponding security updates:
- macOS Golden Gate: 27.2.1
- macOS 26: 26.7.3
- macOS 15: 15.8.3
The manual workaround remains available for systems that cannot receive the update.
The broader response to eMudhra’s compromised certificates is continuing, with additional restrictions reportedly planned across major technology platforms later this month.
For Mac users, installing the latest security update closes a gap that Apple’s initial certificate restrictions left unresolved.
