moonD4rk/HackBrowserData · error

securityd process not found

Error message

securityd process not found

What it means

findProcessByName walks the kern.proc.all sysctl table looking for a process whose p_comm equals "securityd" and (with forceRoot=true) whose real uid is 0. It throws "securityd process not found" when no entry matches both conditions, meaning the caller cannot proceed to dump securityd memory.

Source

Thrown at masterkey/gcoredump_darwin.go:55

		return 0, fmt.Errorf("sysctl kern.proc.all failed: %w", err)
	}

	kinfoSize := int(unsafe.Sizeof(unix.KinfoProc{}))
	if len(buf)%kinfoSize != 0 {
		return 0, fmt.Errorf("sysctl kern.proc.all returned invalid data length")
	}

	count := len(buf) / kinfoSize
	for i := 0; i < count; i++ {
		proc := (*unix.KinfoProc)(unsafe.Pointer(&buf[i*kinfoSize]))
		pname := byteSliceToString(proc.Proc.P_comm[:])
		if pname == name {
			if !forceRoot || proc.Eproc.Pcred.P_ruid == 0 {
				return int(proc.Proc.P_pid), nil
			}
		}
	}
	return 0, fmt.Errorf("securityd process not found")
}

type addressRange struct {
	start uint64
	end   uint64
}

// DecryptKeychainRecords dumps securityd memory, scans for the keychain master key, and uses it to
// read login.keychain-db's generic password records. Requires root.
func DecryptKeychainRecords() ([]keychainbreaker.GenericPassword, error) {
	if os.Geteuid() != 0 {
		return nil, errors.New("requires root privileges")
	}

	pid, err := findProcessByName("securityd", true)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to find securityd pid: %w", err)
	}

View on GitHub (pinned to 0503d04d7a)

Solutions

1. Verify securityd is running: `ps aux | grep securityd` — it must appear with UID root.
2. Run on a normal, non-sandboxed macOS host (not a container) where launchd has started securityd.
3. Confirm the process name is exactly "securityd" (p_comm is 16-char truncated; custom builds renamed differently will not match).
4. Check that sysctl kern.proc.all returns data as root (SIP/hardening profiles can restrict it).
5. Ensure the binary is built with the `keychain_gcore` darwin build tag and run as root (euid 0), as DecryptKeychainRecords requires.

Example fix

// before
pid, err := findProcessByName("securityd", true)
// after
pid, err := findProcessByName("securityd", true)
if err != nil {
    log.Fatalf("securityd not running as root on this host; aborting keychain dump: %v", err)
}

out, err := exec.Command("ps", "-U", "root", "-o", "comm=").Output()
if err != nil || !strings.Contains(string(out), "securityd") {
    return fmt.Errorf("securityd not running as root on this host")
}

records, err := masterkey.DecryptKeychainRecords()
if err != nil {
    if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "securityd process not found") {
        // surface actionable message: not a standard macOS host or securityd not root
    }
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling DecryptKeychainRecords on a macOS system where no process named exactly "securityd" runs as root. p_comm is truncated to 16 chars, so any renamed/prefixed securityd binary will not match; also, any non-root securityd-like process is skipped when forceRoot is true.

Common situations: Running the tool in a container/VM without normal macOS system daemons; a hardened/modified system where securityd runs under a different name; securityd running as non-root (unusual); a broken or restricted sysctl kern.proc.all returning no entries.

Understand the failure class

Background: 'Could not be found', 'does not exist', 'not found in database': the resource-not-found family when an ID, slug, key, or URI lookup comes back empty — this error's family across 20 libraries.

Related errors

• failed to find securityd pid: %w
• requires root privileges
• keychain gcore dump not built in (rebuild with -tags keychai
• not found in credential store
• sysctl kern.proc.all failed: %w

AI-assisted analysis of moonD4rk/HackBrowserData@0503d04d7a (2026-09-06). Data as JSON: /api/errors/ea5d3cf52920f0fa. Report an issue: GitHub.