Remove code signature from a Mac binary

Question

How can I remove the code signature from a binary so that I can patch it without the binary refusing to run afterwards?

Needless to say, I'm not the original creator of the binary, nor I have the certs that were used to sign the binary.

if the app's name I want to remove the code signature is a two words with space between them, how should I type it? Thanks in advance — user34480, Sep 24 '20 at 02:29

NirIzr · Accepted Answer · 2017-09-06T16:26:36.183

18

There are tools for that, as well as a codesign flag --remove-signature

First two should work the same. The codesign flag is undocumented and so YMMV (A user reported in a comment the codesign produced a corrupt executable).

You should use any of them with caution and backup the application before using them.

edited Sep 06 '17 at 16:26

answered Sep 30 '16 at 09:28

NirIzr

11,765
1
37
87

Would you recommend me using one of those 3 tools in particular or any of those would work exactly the same for me and my use case? – alexandernst Sep 30 '16 at 12:13
Added the question to address your questions here – NirIzr Sep 30 '16 at 12:24
3

codesign --remove-signature seems to create malformed executables, at least in some cases. – zneak Sep 06 '17 at 16:20
1

@zneak thanks for sharing your experience. Edited my answer to note that. – NirIzr Sep 06 '17 at 16:27

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 20 '20 at 11:21

2

Another blunt way that seemed to work for me on Catalina (note that this strips all attributes):

xattr -cr /path/to/your/program.app

answered Mar 20 '20 at 11:21

user31463

21
1

score -1 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 19 '20 at 12:00

-1

codesign --remove-signature /path/to/binaryAppName

Tested it on macOS 10.15.3 Catalina, works perfectly.

You can edit the hex values of the now removed code signature binaries and it will launch on macOS with out a hitch.

answered Mar 19 '20 at 12:00

S To

1

This answer doesn't offer any new information. The accepted answer (from 2016) already discusses the codesign --remove-signature approach – julian Mar 19 '20 at 15:40

Remove code signature from a Mac binary

3 Answers3