Starting with macOS Sequoia Beta, a new "Local Network Privacy” feature was introduced, which had previously been present in iOS. Unfortunately, there is little information about this topic on the Apple developer website, especially for the macOS platform. I conducted some experiments to understand the new feature, but was confused by the results. Firstly, I noticed that the type of application accessing the local network in macOS matters - bundled or command-line (CLI) applications. The TCC subsystem does not restrict access to the local network for CLI applications at all, regardless of how they are launched - as a launchd daemon with root privileges, or through a terminal with standard user privileges. At the same time, access to the local network for bundled applications is controlled by the TCC subsystem at most cases. Upon the first request, the system will display an alert to the user explaining the purpose of using the local network. Then, communication with local network devices will be allowed or restricted based on whether consent has been granted or revoked. Secondly, it's worth noting that if the bundled application supports CLI mode (launched through the terminal without a GUI), it will be able to access the local network in that mode regardless of the “Local Network Access” consent state if it has been granted at least once. However, if the same application is in GUI mode, its access to the local network will be limited by the current consent. Is this behaviour correct and likely to remain the same in future releases of macOS Sequoia? Or is there something described here that is incorrect and will be fixed in the upcoming betas? Also, I have posted FB14581221 on this topic with the results of my experiments.
