While the fifteenth iteration of the OS might have brought in quite a few goodies, but on the flip side, it has also made life difficult for networking users. With VPNs not working or randomly disconnecting, VMs not working via Shared Networking, DHCP refusing to provide IP, and the ssh_dispatch_run_fatal are just some of the examples highlighting the abject failure of the OS in this domain. And now, there has been another unwanted entry to this list.
Numerous users have voiced their concern that they are unable to allow or block connection in the Firewall after updating their Mac to the latest macOS Sequoia. Likewise, it is no longer possible to add or remove entries to this list. Making matters worse is the fact that even the /usr/libexec/ApplicationFirewall/socketfilterfw command is not working on the apps listed there.
Apart from that, when MacOS automatically adds an app with the permission “Allow incoming connections” confirmed by the user, all incoming connections for this app are still blocked. Moreover, even if you manually add an entry to this list, it will be shown initially, but as soon as you close and re-open the System Settings, it will be gone.
Likewise, if you have set an app to Block incoming connections and then want it to be changed to “Allow incoming connection”, then you wouldn’t be able to do so, at least not in the current state. So this begs the all-important question: is there a fix? Let’s find out.
Fix macOS 15 Sequoia Firewall: Unable to Block or Allow Connection
You might still be able to remove a few entries from the Firewall via the terminal command, such as sshd-keygen-wrapper, using the command given below:
sudo /usr/libexec/ApplicationFirewall/socketfilterfw --remove /usr/libexec/sshd-keygen-wrapper
However, do note that the said command is not working with any other third-party apps. So for all the other apps, the only way to make it work is to completely disable the Firewall from System Settings > Network. While this is neither the most viable nor the most feasible way of getting the job done, but currently that is the best tweak that we have at our disposal. With that said, you can still use Firefox with Firefox enabled, using the below command
/usr/libexec/ApplicationFirewall/socketfilterfw --add /Applications/Firefox.app
That’s it. This was all from this guide regarding macOS 15 Sequoia Firewall issues wherein users are unable to Block or Allow Connection. As and when there are any further developments surrounding this bug, we will update this post accordingly. If you have any queries concerning the aforementioned steps, do let us know in the comments. We will get back to you with a solution at the earliest.
As far as the official stance on this matter is concerned, the developers are aware of this issue, but they haven’t given out any ETA for the rollout of a fix. As and when that happens, we will update this guide accordingly. In the meantime, the aforementioned workarounds are your best bet.
