Helper fails to launch with quarantine attribute on macOS 27 Developer Beta (high launchd CPU)

[breechlock]

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Describe the bug
The privileged helper (com.bitgapp.eqmac.helper) fails to launch due to the quarantine extended attribute on macOS 27 Developer Beta. This causes repeated launchd failures, high CPU usage on launchd/logd, and heavy log spam.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Install eqMac (via Homebrew cask or direct download).
2. The helper is installed to /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/.
3. macOS quarantines the plist/helper.
4. launchd repeatedly tries (and fails) to spawn it.

Expected behaviour
Helper launches cleanly without quarantine issues or repeated launchd errors.

Setup information:

• Audio device used for playback: Klipsch Heritage 2.1 with subwoofer
• Audio transmission interface: USB / built-in
• macOS Version: 27 Golden Gate Developer Beta (26A5378j)
• eqMac Version: latest stable via Homebrew cask

Screenshots or Console.app logs

2026-07-06 14:59:37.244... launchd: [system/com.bitgapp.eqmac.helper:] cannot spawn: service plist has the quarantine extended attribute
2026-07-06 14:59:37.244... launchd: [system/com.bitgapp.eqmac.helper:] assertion failed: ...

(The error repeats constantly.)

Additional information
Workaround: sudo launchctl disable system/com.bitgapp.eqmac.helper
The app itself works fine, but helper integration fails. Fresh reinstall does not resolve it.

[etrahretep]

From macOS 27b3 releasenotes:

Launch Daemons and Agents

Known Issues

launchd no longer supports loading launchd property list files with the quarantine extended attribute. (166415497)

Workaround: Remove the quarantine extended attribute from your launchd property list file. You can do this by obtaining a URL instance of the file by its path, retrieving the URL's quarantine URLResourceValues by calling "resourceValues = url.resourceValues(forKeys: [.quarantinePropertiesKey])", setting resourceValues.quarantineProperties = nil, and then updating the URL's resource values by calling "url.setResourceValues(resourceValues)"

[ragauskl]

Dev is aware of this issue but other matters take priority over support for developer beta right now, he will also be away for a week with reduced availability, but soon after that should be able to look into this issue

[asptweets]

I was able to fix this issue on my machine. I assume this is a bandaid and full disclosure, commands were generated by gemini. But, it is working.

sudo xattr -d com.apple.quarantine /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.bitgapp.eqmac.helper.plist

sudo launchctl bootstrap system /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.bitgapp.eqmac.helper.plist

Then reboot.

Basically striping that quarantine tag and telling launchd that the program is trustworthy.

[jasonhejiahuan]

Additional confirmation and diagnostic data from another affected system:

• macOS 27 Beta 3, build 26A5378j

• eqMac v1.8.15, updated recently

• launchd stays around 200% CPU and logd around 100% CPU

• /var/log/com.apple.xpc.launchd/launchd.log repeatedly reports:

  (system/com.bitgapp.eqmac.helper) cannot spawn:
  service plist has the quarantine extended attribute
  
  assertion failed: 26A5378j: launchd + 170532 ... 0x9b
  

• The loop becomes fast enough to report:

  file logs dropped [in-flight 10000]:
  6830 os_log_simple logs dropped
  

• A macOS CPU/disk resource report recorded logd writing 2,147.53 MB over 15,465 seconds.

• The launchd logs rotate through approximately 7 MB files within seconds.

• Pausing bird/cloudd, and separately stopping fileproviderd, did not reduce the CPU usage of launchd or logd, confirming that this particular loop is unrelated to iCloud/File Provider activity.

The installed LaunchDaemon plist still has an old quarantine attribute:

/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.bitgapp.eqmac.helper.plist
com.apple.quarantine: 0181;6698a506;Microsoft Edge Beta;

The privileged helper bundle also retains a quarantine attribute. The current eqMac app is notarized, and the helper passes strict code-signature verification and Gatekeeper assessment.

This suggests that updating eqMac does not clear a stale quarantine attribute from an already-installed helper/plist. The updater or helper installation process may need to explicitly clear the quarantine metadata before registering the LaunchDaemon.

[nodeful]

It seems like Apple is aware of the issue and at least "tried" to fix this in Beta 4:
https://developer.apple.com/documentation/macos-release-notes/macos-27-release-notes#Launch-Daemons-and-Agents

Although after testing it still doesn't seem to be fixed and the Helper when marked with quarantine attribute still doesn't launch, but at least the launchd doesn't use all the CPU retrying.
I have reported this to Apple through Feedback Assistant so hopefully it's resolved soon as the best way is if Apple fixes this rather than coming up with unreliable workarounds.

[bdresher]

Plists with quarantine attributes marked on them still continue to not load on Beta 5.