Hi, I'm doing Java 22 experiments with open source package "wgpu-macos-aarch64-release" on my Mac M3. This library contains a .dylib file and a .a file. In Java you can load native dynamic libraries using JNI. I used that in the past. Now in MacOS 15 this stopped working. Currently, I compile my Java file and run the binary file on the command line, including the library directory. The application would load the library from that directory. This should normally works but the library is not loaded. After some investigation it seems the .dylib is rejected by MacOS. Calling spctl --assess --verbose=4 libwgpu_native.dylib gives libwgpu_native.dylib: rejected without any extra reason message. Using sudo xattr -rd com.apple.quarantine libwgpu_native.dylib doesn't solve the problem. I also can't "accept" it in "Privacy & Security" because it's run as a command line call. I know that code signing should be done for "complete" applications. But these are just experiments and working with single dynamic libraries. How should this be done, to be able to load those libraries in a Java command line program? Or in general, how can you load an unsigned dylib in an application (apart from using Java as a tool). Kr, J

I am developing a macOS app that requires the Associated Domains entitlement. The app will be distributed as a custom app. The app needs to be signed using Team A’s Developer ID Application certificate and packaged under Team A’s Team ID. Team A has a secure signing and packaging setup, but they do not provide access to their Developer ID Application Identity (cert) or their provisioning profile. I am part of Team B and have access to Team B’s Developer ID Application identity and provisioning profiles. I am thinking of doing the following: I create a provisioning profile under Team B that authorizes the Associated Domains entitlement. I sign the app using Team B’s Developer ID Application identity, ensuring the required entitlements are included. Then, I re-sign the app using Team A’s Developer ID Application identity, since Team A has also set up the same bundle ID with the Associated Domains entitlement and corresponding provisioning profile. Questions: Is this approach correct & does it have any drawback? Will the double signing process work without issues, given that Team A has the required provisioning profile for the same bundle ID? Are there better ways to handle this situation where signing must be done under Team A but access is limited? Thanks!

When I first tried to sign my local unit test with the identity generated by Xcode, it failed because the intermediate certificate was missing. In that case, the error message explained that the trust chain could not be completed. But after installing the correct intermediate, codesign still fails, but no longer gives any explanation: codesign -f -s '0EFE7E591A4E690842094B8EC5AFDFE059637D3C' build/Darwin-Xcode-arm64_obf/bin/Release/UNITTEST build/Darwin-Xcode-arm64_obf/bin/Release/UNITTEST: replacing existing signature build/Darwin-Xcode-arm64_obf/bin/Release/UNITTEST: errSecInternalComponent It's the same error line "errSecInternalComponent". Is there a log somewhere that might explain what exactly is the error?

All libraries are getting rejected with errors like: not valid for use in process: mapping process and mapped file (non-platform) have different Team IDs

The Codesign command adds extended attributes to files that previously had no extended attributes. In my case codesign add following extended attributes to text file in Frrameworks folder: com.apple.cs.CodeDirectory com.apple.cs.CodeRequirements com.apple.cs.CodeRequirements-1 com.apple.cs.CodeSignature Can I somehow prevent this behavior? Thank you.

Hello, I'm working on an app at work and we finally got to signing and notarizing the app. The app is successfully notarized and stapled, I packaged it in a .dmg using hdiutil and went ahead and notarized and stapled that as well. Now I tried to move this app to another machine through various methods. But every time I download it from another machine, open and extract the contents of the dmg and attempt to open the app, I get the "Apple could not verify my app is free of malware that may harm your Mac or compromise your privacy. When I check the extended attributes there's always the com.apple.quarantine attribute which from what I know, is the reason that this popup appears I've tried uploading it to google drive, sending through slack, onedrive, even tried our AWS servers and last but not least, I tried our Azure servers (which is what we use for distribution of the windows version of our app). I tried uploading to Azure through CloudBerry (MSP360 now), and azure-cli defining the content-type as "application/octet-stream", the content-disposition as "attachment; filename=myApp.dmg", and content-cache-control as "no-transform". None of these worked The only times where a download actually worked with no problems was when I downloaded through the terminal using curl, which obviously not a great solution especially that we're distributing to users who aren't exactly "tech savy" I want the installation experience to be as smooth as other apps outside the App Store (i.e Discord, Slack, Firefox, Chrome etc....) but I've been stuck on this for more than a week with no luck. Any help is greatly appreciated, and if you want me to clarify something further I'd be happy to do so

Hello I have a qt, CMAKE app, non-xcode one till xcode start supporting cmake. I have 3 apps, 2 basic ones and 1 very complex ones. My complex one build/links/notarises/validates/deploys beautifly. I have tear in my eye when I see it build. The other 2 apps explode and torment me for past 5 days. The build proves is 99% the same, the only thing that a little changes are info.plist and app name+ some minor changes. Its absolutely bananas and I can't fix it, I'm running out of ideas so if any1 could sugged anything, I'll buy & ship you a beer. Anyway, errors: Log: Using otool: Log: inspecting "/Users/dariusz/Qt/6.9.1/macos/lib/QtCore.framework/Versions/A/QtCore" Log: Could not parse otool output line: "/Users/dariusz/Qt/6.9.1/macos/lib/QtCore.framework/Versions/A/QtCore (architecture arm64):" Log: Adding framework: Log: Framework name "QtCore.framework" Framework directory "/Users/dariusz/Qt/6.9.1/macos/lib/" Framework path "/Users/dariusz/Qt/6.9.1/macos/lib/QtCore.framework" Binary directory "Versions/A" Binary name "QtCore" Binary path "/Versions/A/QtCore" Version "A" Install name "@rpath/QtCore.framework/Versions/A/QtCore" Deployed install name "@rpath/QtCore.framework/Versions/A/QtCore" Source file Path "/Users/dariusz/Qt/6.9.1/macos/lib/QtCore.framework/Versions/A/QtCore" Framework Destination Directory (relative to bundle) "Contents/Frameworks/QtCore.framework" Binary Destination Directory (relative to bundle) "Contents/Frameworks/QtCore.framework/Versions/A" Log: copied: "/Users/dariusz/Qt/6.9.1/macos/lib/QtWebSockets.framework/Versions/A/QtWebSockets" Log: to "/AppBuild/Agameri_Toolbox/Agameri_Toolbox.app/Contents/Frameworks/QtWebSockets.framework/Versions/A/QtWebSockets" Log: copy: "/Users/dariusz/Qt/6.9.1/macos/lib/QtWebSockets.framework/Resources" "/AppBuild/Agameri_Toolbox/Agameri_Toolbox.app/Contents/Frameworks/QtWebSockets.framework/Versions/A/Resources" Log: copied: "/Users/dariusz/Qt/6.9.1/macos/lib/QtWebSockets.framework/Resources/Info.plist" Log: to "/AppBuild/Agameri_Toolbox/Agameri_Toolbox.app/Contents/Frameworks/QtWebSockets.framework/Versions/A/Resources/Info.plist" Log: copied: "/Users/dariusz/Qt/6.9.1/macos/lib/QtWebSockets.framework/Resources/PrivacyInfo.xcprivacy" Log: to "/AppBuild/Agameri_Toolbox/Agameri_Toolbox.app/Contents/Frameworks/QtWebSockets.framework/Versions/A/Resources/PrivacyInfo.xcprivacy" Log: symlink "/AppBuild/Agameri_Toolbox/Agameri_Toolbox.app/Contents/Frameworks/QtWebSockets.framework/QtWebSockets" Log: points to "Versions/Current/QtWebSockets" Log: symlink "/AppBuild/Agameri_Toolbox/Agameri_Toolbox.app/Contents/Frameworks/QtWebSockets.framework/Resources" Log: points to "Versions/Current/Resources" Log: symlink "/AppBuild/Agameri_Toolbox/Agameri_Toolbox.app/Contents/Frameworks/QtWebSockets.framework/Versions/Current" Log: points to "A" Log: Using install_name_tool: Log: in "/AppBuild/Agameri_Toolbox/Agameri_Toolbox.app/Contents/MacOS/Agameri_Toolbox" Log: change reference "@rpath/QtWebSockets.framework/Versions/A/QtWebSockets" Log: to "@rpath/QtWebSockets.framework/Versions/A/QtWebSockets" ERROR: "/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Toolchains/XcodeDefault.xctoolchain/usr/bin/install_name_tool: fatal error: file not in an order that can be processed (link edit information does not fill the __LINKEDIT segment): /AppBuild/Agameri_Toolbox/Agameri_Toolbox.app/Contents/MacOS/Agameri_Toolbox\n" ERROR: "" Even tho I get that error, it will "Notarize" and "greenlight by gatekeeper. So my automatic build app if he sees error with the __LINKEDIT it will stop deployment. But even tho he "stops" release of app to public I can still go check binary and when I try to run that I get: Library not loaded: @rpath/QtConcurrent.framework/Versions/A/QtConcurrent Referenced from: <69A296DB-8C7D-3BC9-A8AE-947B8D6ED224> /Volumes/VOLUME/*/Agameri_Toolbox.app/Contents/MacOS/Agameri_Toolbox Reason: tried: '/Users/dariusz/Qt/6.9.1/macos/lib/QtConcurrent.framework/Versions/A/QtConcurrent' (code signature in <192D5FAC-FE8C-31AB-86A7-6C2CE5D3E864> '/Users/dariusz/Qt/6.9.1/macos/lib/QtConcurrent.framework/Versions/A/QtConcurrent' not valid for use in process: mapping process and mapped file (non-platform) have different Team IDs), '/System/Volumes/Preboot/Cryptexes/OS/Users/dariusz/Qt/6.9.1/macos/lib/QtConcurrent.framework/Versions/A/QtConcurrent' (no such file), '/Volumes/DEV_MAC/02_CODE/Dev/Icarus.nosync/Icarus_Singleton/codeSingleton/libOutput/Release/QtConcurrent.framework/Versions/A/QtConcurrent' (no such file), '/System/Volumes/Preboot/Cryptexes/OS/Volumes/DEV_MAC/02_CODE/Dev/Icarus.nosync/Icarus_Singleton/codeSingleton/libOu (terminated at launch; ignore backtrace) And here is my build script, its QT based application, I'm using macdeployqt + my own custom signing as the one from macdeployqt breaks on the complex app. (I will post it in next post as apparently there is 7k limit O.O) I've tried to replace the @rpath/ to @executable_path but that has made a million new issues and I'm just lost.

The driver does not show up in the app settings after switching to “DriverKit USB Transport - VendorID”. Previously, the app used “DriverKit USB Transport (development)” and everything worked as expected. The entitlements looked like this: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd"> <plist version="1.0"> <dict> <key>com.apple.developer.driverkit</key> <true/> <key>com.apple.developer.driverkit.transport.usb</key> <array> <dict> <key>idVendor</key> <string>*</string> </dict> </array> </dict> </plist> I received approval to use “DriverKit USB Transport - VendorID”. I updated the App ID configuration in the portal, removed all development entitlements, updated the provisioning profile, and edited the driver’s .entitlements as follows: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd"> <plist version="1.0"> <dict> <key>com.apple.developer.driverkit</key> <true/> <key>com.apple.developer.driverkit.transport.usb</key> <array> <dict> <key>idVendor</key> <integer>1111</integer> </dict> </array> </dict> </plist> The app installs on an iPad with an M processor, but the driver does not appear in the settings. In the logs I see the following: 272 debug 19:50:42.005193+0300 installd 7935 signing bytes in 5 blob(s) from /var/installd/Library/Caches/com.apple.mobile.installd.staging/temp.bugkAE/extracted/Payload/****.app/SystemExtensions/****Driver.dext/****.Driver(arm64) 272 debug 19:50:42.012068+0300 installd open(/var/installd/Library/Caches/com.apple.mobile.installd.staging/temp.bugkAE/extracted/Payload/****.app/SystemExtensions/net.svedm.****.SDRDriver.dext/Info.plist,0x0,0x1b6) = 4 272 debug 19:50:42.012712+0300 installd 0xc2e14c618 done serializing <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "https://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd"><plist version="1.0"><dict><key>application-identifier</key><string>****.Driver</string><key>com.apple.application-identifier</key><string>****</string><key>com.apple.developer.driverkit</key><true/><key>com.apple.developer.driverkit.transport.usb</key><array><dict><key>idVendor</key><integer>3034</integer></dict></array><key>com.apple.developer.team-identifier</key><string>****</string><key>com.apple.security.get-task-allow</key><true/><key>get-task-allow</key><true/></dict></plist> 0 error 19:53:08.930054+0300 kernel Sandbox: MyApp(844) deny(1) sysctl-read kern.bootargs 0 error 19:53:08.931571+0300 kernel Sandbox: driverkitd(77) deny(1) syscall-unix 284 syscall-unix-denied-SIGKILL 0 error 19:53:09.985946+0300 kernel 1 duplicate report for Sandbox: driverkitd(77) deny(1) syscall-unix 284 syscall-unix-denied-SIGKILL 0 error 19:53:09.985985+0300 kernel Sandbox: MyApp(844) deny(2) file-test-existence /usr/bin/swift-backtrace 0 error 19:53:09.986011+0300 kernel Sandbox: MyApp(844) deny(2) file-test-existence /usr/bin/arm64e But I don’t quite understand what is going wrong. Any ideas?

We recently had an external pentest for one of our company's macOS applications and they brought up the topic of library validation. Our app has hardened runtime enabled and passes notarization. The codesign verification output includes: flags=0x10000(runtime) The pentesters brought up that both validation and runtime should be present, so I discovered that you could also add library validation by augmenting our flags with: OTHER_CODE_SIGN_FLAGS = --timestamp -o library which changes the flags to: flags=0x12000(library-validation,runtime) The pentesters insist that both options are necessary, especially to avoid library injection when SIP is off, but Apple's docs say that hardened runtime already implies library validation (see here ) My question is: does explicitly specifying library validation provide something that hardened runtime does not already? Or is it correct that hardened runtime already imply library validation? For what it's worth, I did a quick scan of some of the apps on my system, interesting some of the Apple system apps have only library validation (e.g. Safari, Photos), some have both (e.g. Podcasts), some have only hardened runtime (e.g. Mail). So that didn't help answer the question. Thank you!

We are building an installer application to install a dext. Building in Xcode, the installer app launches fine locally and installs the dext. We then try to sign it with the company Developer ID application certificate. However after doing so we cannot launch the application anymore as we get the following crash at launch: Exception Codes: 0x0000000000000000, 0x0000000000000000 Termination Reason: CODESIGNING 1 Taskgated Invalid Signature Triggered by Thread: 0 Thread 0 Crashed: 0 dyld_path_missing 0x102e187c0 _dyld_start + 0 Thread 0 crashed with ARM Thread State (64-bit): x0: 0x0000000000000000 x1: 0x0000000000000000 x2: 0x0000000000000000 x3: 0x0000000000000000 x4: 0x0000000000000000 x5: 0x0000000000000000 x6: 0x0000000000000000 x7: 0x0000000000000000 x8: 0x0000000000000000 x9: 0x0000000000000000 x10: 0x0000000000000000 x11: 0x0000000000000000 x12: 0x0000000000000000 x13: 0x0000000000000000 x14: 0x0000000000000000 x15: 0x0000000000000000 x16: 0x0000000000000000 x17: 0x0000000000000000 x18: 0x0000000000000000 x19: 0x0000000000000000 x20: 0x0000000000000000 x21: 0x0000000000000000 x22: 0x0000000000000000 x23: 0x0000000000000000 x24: 0x0000000000000000 x25: 0x0000000000000000 x26: 0x0000000000000000 x27: 0x0000000000000000 x28: 0x0000000000000000 fp: 0x0000000000000000 lr: 0x0000000000000000 sp: 0x000000016d13fba0 pc: 0x0000000102e187c0 cpsr: 0x00000000 far: 0x0000000000000000 esr: 0x00000000 Address size fault Binary Images: 0x102e14000 - 0x102eaffff dyld_path_missing (*) <9cf0401a-a938-389e-a77d-9e9608076ccf> /dyld_path_missing 0x102cc0000 - 0x102cc3fff main_executable_path_missing (*) <5fb2bea6-ba11-340d-a7a4-8657d5a736e2> /main_executable_path_missing 0x0 - 0xffffffffffffffff ??? (*) <00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000> ??? Error Formulating Crash Report: dyld_process_snapshot_get_shared_cache failed Following the different help pages from Apple, the application seems to be correctly signed. Looking at the Console, we are seeing the following message at launch: "Unsatisfied entitlements: com.apple.developer.system-extension.install, com.apple.developer.driverkit". However, the entitlement file I am using to sign the installer app contains those entitlements. We are looking at different possible issues for days now and can't figure it out. Any advice or thought would be appreciated.

Hello, I have a macOS app built with Flutter’s macOS target (native Xcode project). The app is unsigned (no Developer ID code signing / notarization). The .app bundle looks valid: CFBundlePackageType = APPL Unique CFBundleIdentifier No LSUIElement or LSBackgroundOnly Executable exists and is runnable Placed at /Applications/MyApp.app (top-level), runs fine from Finder However, it does not show up in Launchpad. What I tried: Remove quarantine: xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine "/Applications/MyApp.app" Force Launch Services registration: /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Support/lsregister -f "/Applications/MyApp.app" Rebuild LS caches: /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Support/lsregister -kill -r -domain local -domain system -domain user Reset Launchpad DB and restart Dock: defaults write com.apple.dock ResetLaunchPad -bool true && killall Dock Verified bundle structure/type: mdls -name kMDItemContentType -name kMDItemKind "/Applications/MyApp.app" → shows com.apple.application-bundle / Application Questions Is code signing/notarization required for an app to appear in Launchpad (even if it runs from Finder)? What additional conditions cause Launchpad to skip an otherwise valid, unsigned .app in /Applications? Are there deeper Launch Services or Dock database checks I can run to diagnose why this specific app is excluded?

To validate incoming XPC connections from other executables, we perform SecCode checks for the dynamic signature of the connection (kSecCSDynamicInformation). Reading the setCodeSigningRequirement(_:) function documentation it appears to perform only static signing checks, is that so? If we use setCodeSigningRequirement(:) function in our listener(:, shouldAcceptNewConnection:) do we still need to check the dynamic information to be properly secure?

I was working in Xcode with a free personal Team ID. I upgraded to the Dev Program and now have a paid Team ID. I used the same Apple ID for both. The paid Team ID shows up in developer.apple.com as associated with my Apple ID. However, Xcode is not using the paid Team ID in signing, it's stuck on my old personal Team ID. In addition, I'm getting provisioning errors (0xe8008015) when we try to run our app on an iPhone. Anyone have any thoughts? I've scoured the forums and ChatGPT'd, Cursor'd, etc...all of the suggested fixes do not work. This almost seems like Apple needs to make my Apple ID associated with the paid Team ID or something, to start. Thanks all.

Hi, I have an Electron app that I build, sign, notarize, and staple using electron-builder. It includes Sound Exchange (SoX), which I was invoking from the homebrew installed version. It builds a dmg and works fine. However, my users are non-technical, thus cannot be expected to install dev tools, homebrew, and sox from the command line and set paths. Therefore, I need to include a SoX binary in my app. I have a static SoX binary that works. However, when I try to run it from my electron app, I get Error: spawn / <path>/sox EACCES. Electron-builder is signing the SoX binary codesign --sign <sign number> --force --timestamp --options runtime --entitlements dist/entitlements/entitlements.mac.plist /<app path>Contents/Resources/bin/sox/sox The app sign/notarize works fine, the dmg mounts, and the app runs until I try to invoke SoX. Also, I verified the sox binary and entire app are signed and the app staple is valid. I am running the app from /Applications. Please help me!

We are facing following message "A timestamp was expected but was not found" during codesign for following .dylib and .pkg and it cause notarization process failed. We are facing this issue for last 3 days. we have access for timestamp.apple.com and 17.0.0.0/8 and we didn't change firewall settings. We are facing this issue randomly and not for all time(scenario is 3:1). We tried the below command to sign the package, codesign --verbose --deep --force --timestamp --options=runtime --sign "" Kindly let us know how to fix this probelm. traceroute timestamp.apple.com traceroute to timestamp.v.aaplimg.com (17.157.80.35), 64 hops max, 52 byte packets .... 10 17.0.9.19 (17.0.9.19) 185.693 ms 17.0.9.17 (17.0.9.17) 180.932 ms 189.060 ms 11 * * * 12 17.0.17.141 (17.0.17.141) 191.513 ms * 17.0.17.137 (17.0.17.137) 183.086 ms 13 * * * 14 * * *

Hi our team is looking into feasibilities of appending customized data to personalized installer, so that we can make new users onboarding experience better. I did some investigations. Append token data to xattr to a dmg, I went though this smoothly. I can successfully retrieve the data back, and the app can still be launched successfully. Want to make sure this doesn't require the dmg to be re-signed and re-notarized, and I didn't miss any steps in between I created a fake simulation app try to sign and notarize. Signing the dmg seems to be successful, but when I notarize, it gave me back Invalid status. Is there anything wrong? This is the signature: Executable=/Users/myname/myname/poc/MySimulation.dmg Identifier=MySimulation Format=disk image CodeDirectory v=20200 size=304 flags=0x0(none) hashes=1+6 location=embedded Hash type=sha256 size=32 CandidateCDHash sha256=e2a149614f6e0e3939db3a 4c762adda0e8c24 CandidateCDHashFull sha256=e2a149614f6e0e3939db3a3054adda0e8c24f597ddf4c4503cd27fb83821 Hash choices=sha256 CMSDigest=e2a149614f6e0e3939dba3054c62adda0e8c24f597ddf4c4503cd27fb83821 CMSDigestType=2 CDHash=e2a149614f6e0e39393a3054c762adda0e8c24 Signature size=4789 Authority=Apple Development: myId (someId) Authority=Apple Worldwide Developer Relations Certification Authority Authority=Apple Root CA Signed Time=Oct 14, 2024 at 3:46:08 PM Info.plist=not bound TeamIdentifier=W3TC3HXUZC Sealed Resources=none Internal requirements count=1 size=188 Do you have any other recommendations for us to append some data that doesn't break signing / notarization?

App is signed, notarized and stapled, I send that dmg file with file transfer tool, it can open correctly on other mac without any warning or error. However, if I send that dmg file through IM to the same mac, it will produces the "cannot check it for malicious software" error. I check the transfered dmg with spctl -a -t open -vvv --context context:primary-signature MyApp.dmg, it show source=Notarized Developer ID; origin=*** How can I resolve this issue?

Codesigned and notarized app cannot directly write files inside the app bundle (neither in my.app/Contents/Resources/ nor my.app/Contents/MacOS/). Are there any restrictions regarding this? Is there a way to bypass these restrictions? Here is the situation I encountered: The main app contains several sub-apps and sub-executables. When the main app calls the sub-apps or sub-executables, it can write files within the app bundle, but when executed directly, it cannot write files. The app is usually opened using the GUI, and when using the command line, neither the main app nor the sub-apps/sub-executables can write files within the app bundle. My codesigning environment is: Sonoma 14.0 on mac mini M1. I manually sign the app directly using the codesign command in CI instead of using Xcode. The process will traverse all of the files and sub-apps in the app folder and sign them from the deepest paths to the shallowest paths. I also tried applying this process to other applications, but all of them encountered the same issue of failing to write files. The app should not be sandboxed (I did not add sandbox entitlements). I have tried adding the entitlement com.apple.security.files.user-selected.read-write, but this has not resolved the issue.

In the past, I used to export a developer-signed test version of my macOS app in Xcode, create a zip archive from the Finder, upload it to my website and share the link to the testers. The last time I did this with macOS 14 the tester was still able to download the test app and run it. But it seems that with macOS 15 the trick to open the context menu on the downloaded app and click Open to bypass the macOS warning that the app couldn't be checked when simply double-clicking it, doesn't work anymore. Now I'm always shown an alert that macOS couldn't check the app for malware, and pushes me to move it to the bin. In this StackOverflow topic from 10 years ago they suggested to use ditto and tar to compress and uncompress the app, but neither worked for me. How can I share macOS apps that I signed myself with testers without physically handing them a drive containing the uncompressed app?

I work with a team that is responsible for our company's centralized infrastructure for code signing various products within our portfolio, including iOS apps. For security purposes, we want to sign apps before their posting on the App Store, and also to log this activity for eventual security audits. Not surprisingly, we need automated processes; we can't use an IDE like Xcode to do the work. We must queue, process, and log all signing jobs, and have Macs dedicated to this purpose. I can't go into many details about our infrastructure due to confidentiality concerns, so I'll apologize now if my questions seem a little vague. We currently require our iOS developers to submit one or more new provisioning profiles as well as their IPA archive for signing. We support supplying multiple provisioning profiles because some of our developers include embedded third-party extensions within their IPAs, and these extensions can also have their own provisioning profiles. Within our back end, we open the archive, sign the relevant portions using the entitlements in one of the profiles (that we believe to be the appropriate one for the particular archive element), overwrite each supplied provisioning profile with (what we believe to be) the appropriate one from user input, and re-compress the archive. Here come the questions: When we receive multiple provisioning profiles, how do we know which profile should be used to help with signing which archive elements? What data (e.g. entitlements application-identifier, team-identifier) can we use? We also need to know which provisioning profiles from their input correspond to those that already exist within the archive. What data can we use to map profiles from one set to the other? Should we be requiring our users to submit new provisioning profiles in the first place? Or should we edit/recycle the existing ones in some way? We'd like to remove any unnecessary burdens for our users, if possible.