This Security Update (Security Update 2021-007 Catalina) breaks Safari (and e.g. Firefox too) for various webpages (e.g. https://www.weglide.org/flight/111131).
Is there a way to avoid this malfunction?
Mac mini, macOS 10.15
Hey msch,
it's possible that certain apps installed on the Mac mini in question are partly responsible for the problems with Safari and which sometimes induce malfunction in other browsers, too; various apps for cleaning, optimizing, speeding up, but above all anti-virus software ❗️ can lead to considerable problems in Catalina.
You might initiate a sometimes lengthy and possibly frustrating expedition with EtreCheck (download here https://etrecheck.com ) in order to discover reasonable causes for the browser malfunction (you could post the report here on the community).
Personally I prefer making a real job of it and so I would like to recommend a fresh installation of Catalina, a "clean install" (completely erasing the boot drive) which will completely dispose of the possibly accumulated and responsible "junk".
If you want help with reinstallation, kindly let us know 🍎
Warm regards
Manfred
Hi Manfred,
I have no virus scanners installed. The most system relevant software I've installed is the so called "System Toolkit".
Safari can load the pages in question if I select the developer-option "deactivate images".
Regarding new installation: I still have some space on my second hard disk. Is it possible to resize/shrink a data partition without data loss? The I would have an additional partition to do a virgin install of Catalina. Booting from an USB-disk usually fails after installing security updates... :-(
I did an Entre-Check - see below.
Regards - Matthias
Hi,
that's important information.
Your MacPro has a separate graphics card, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680.
The following sequence of the crashlog points to the driver of the Intel internal GPU:
Application Specific Signatures:
Graphics kernel error: 0xfffffffb
Thread 0 Crashed:: Dispatch queue: com.apple.main-thread
0 libsystem_kernel.dylib 0x00007fff69e4833a __pthread_kill + 10
1 libsystem_pthread.dylib 0x00007fff69f08e60 pthread_kill + 430
2 libsystem_c.dylib 0x00007fff69dcf808 abort + 120
3 libGPUSupportMercury.dylib 0x00007fff5103a0a5 gpusGenerateCrashLog.cold.1 + 95
4 libGPUSupportMercury.dylib 0x00007fff5103118f gpusGenerateCrashLog + 89
5 com.apple.driver.AppleIntelHD4000GraphicsGLDriver 0x00007fff258e7dd0 gpusKillClientExt + 9
6 libGPUSupportMercury.dylib 0x00007fff5103255b gpusSubmitDataBuffers + 164
7 com.apple.driver.AppleIntelHD4000GraphicsGLDriver 0x00007fff254bdc78 IntelCommandBuffer::getNew(GLDContextRec*) + 48
8 com.apple.driver.AppleIntelHD4000GraphicsGLDriver 0x00007fff254bdaa6 intelSubmitCommands + 187
So most likely there *is* a hardware dependency after all - regarding the GPU in use.
The content of the Security Update 2021-007 Catalina confirms that assumption:
[...]
Intel Graphics Driver
Available for: macOS Catalina
Impact: A malicious application may be able to execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges
Description: A memory corruption issue was addressed with improved state management.
CVE-2021-30824: Antonio Zekic (@antoniozekic) of Diverto
Intel Graphics Driver
Available for: macOS Catalina
Impact: A malicious application may be able to execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges
Description: Multiple out-of-bounds write issues were addressed with improved bounds checking.
CVE-2021-30901: Zuozhi Fan (@pattern_F_) of Ant Security TianQiong Lab, Yinyi Wu (@3ndy1), Jack Dates of RET2 Systems, Inc.
[...]
Thanks a lot for your participation and valuable input.
Regards - Matthias
Hi,
I could indeed resize (shrink!) the partition on my (magnetic) data disk without data loss. Very fine :-)) !
On a new created additional partition I did a fresh install of Catalina with Safari 15.1 and Security-Update 2021-007 Catalina. So I found out that
So what to do next?
Is there a way to contact Apple regarding this problem?
Regards - Matthias
That's what I appreciate so much about Apple Support - they don't just leave us high and dry with our antique boxes 😎
I tried to cause a crash or malfunction with Safari on my old Mac Pro 3.1 (2008)
with (nearly) the same configuration (patched Catalina 10.15.7, Security Update 2021-007, Safari 15.1) – I couldn't provoke any errors with Safari, everything working fine as usual leaving the question open whether hardware or software-induced errors...🍎
Thanks for your feedback and take care 👍
You can't change the size of an active partition on which data is already being saved.
Personally, I don't have any experience with "System Toolkit" but since there is no need for such software under Catalina deinstallation could be helpful.
However, other outdated apps such as Java and a large number of system modifications including possible adware running in the background which are really problematic.
A clean reinstall of Catalina should solve your problems, I'm sure, but the decision is yours.
Of course you might contact the Apple Support team on 0800 6645 451, the number is free in Germany, Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
And maybe we should agree on the terminology; an active, data-laden partition cannot be shrunk without using hacking tools but you can create another partition utilising free space.
Good luck and please and let us know what Apple Support has said about your concern and what measures they have suggested to resolve the problem 🍎
I just finished the phone call with Apple support and first of all I have to say that it was one of the best support talks I ever had! Kudos to Apple Support!
For the problem: We found out, that the problem does not occur if macOS Catalina is started in "Save Mode". This results in a severe degraded graphics performance, which directs attention further to the graphics subsystem like the "deactivation of images" developer-option of Safari.
Additionally I looked into the crash reports of the macOS 'Console' app, where I found "Graphics kernel error: 0xfffffffb" in the 'com.apple.WebKit.WebContent' crashlog at the time when the Safari crash occurs.
The Apple supporters now try to reproduce the error and try to find out if there is some hardware dependency (my Mac Mini 'Late 2012' is quite old). I don't think so but let's see what they find out. For me it was easily reproducible on a fresh Catalina installation with all current OS-updates installed.
Regards - Matthias
I dare not to decide 🙂
Maybe some naughty blighter cowardly sneaking somewhere in Catalina interfering with Intel's HD 4000 Graphics Driver 😵💫
Thanks for your feedback and have a nice evening ☕️
Manfred
I also have the problem and I dare say it occurs on all Macs that have an "Intel HD Graphics 4000" and are running macOS 10.15.7 after the "Security Update 2021-007 for macOS Catalina" has been installed. This update corrupts the driver. Anyone can test this themselves by accessing this 360º panorama on Google Streetview in Safari: https://goo.gl/maps/eiiUCEBmLJZSeTwg9 If the panorama is not displayed under Catalina on a Mac with the "Intel HD Graphics 4000", the graphics driver is corrupted.
I have to add that the same page loads without problems with the same browser (Safari 15.1) on my MacBook 12" with macOS Monterey (12.0.1).
@ Mercutio: No, there is no one sneaking in, it is the graphics driver itself.
Security Update 2021-007 macOS Catalina breaks Safari and other browsers
