Security Flaw: Screen Saver Authentication

Hi,
I have found a security flaw, it exists in both Panther and Tiger. If a system has 2 accounts, the first account being active and locked through a screen saver. The second account (if administrator) can type their username/password in the authentication screen, and it will unlock the first account. This works if the first account is an administrator or not. Any administrator username/password will authenticate any other account from the screen saver authentication box. I have proven this on 2 machines, a D2.5 G5, and a 1.6 iMac G5.
Please contact me for further testing.

it's not a TECHNICAL flaw, it is however a logical flaw, yes.
Because admins are part of the sudoers files, one admin does have the permission to unlock another admin like that, the same as how when logged in with one account you can use another admin account to authorize the installation of software (why it's not necessary to be logged in with your admin account)
The behavior I suspect you desire is the behavior Windows uses, where when you use an admin account to unlock a computer, it logs out the user who locked it (assuming the admin isn't the one logged in).
I suggest you submit a feature request to Apple.

Similar Messages

Cannot dismiss screen saver authentication dialog

Hi,
When my screensaver (Word of the day) kick in, and I move the mouse, I need to authenticate to dismiss it (I configured it so).
So I enter my login and password. (correctly of course)
But then everything in the authentication dialog goes grey (disabled): the two edit fields, and the three buttons. But it doesn't go away and neither does the screen saver.
At this point, the Mac will not do anything: it won't go to sleep by itself, and the screen saver will not kick back in, whatever long I may try to wait.
Moreover, at this point, if I put my MacBook Pro to sleep (by closing its lid OR by pression command-option-eject, it doesn't make any difference), and I try to wake it back up, it wakes back to the all greyed-out authentication dialog: I am not even given the opportunity to enter my login/password anymore.
Everything else running on the computer seems to be running fine: I have this app which gives progress feedback with audio, and I can hear it fine working along.
But the only way it seems I can get back in control is to violently force a reboot, with lost unsaved data.
Does this ring a bell with anyone? Any suggestion for a workaround, especially one with no data loss?
Many thanks
Message was edited by: Jean-Denis Muys for a typo

First step is to run DU and repair permissions and HD while you are at it.
Second step is to create a new user and see if this issue occurs with the new user.

Screen Saver Password Protection - Security Flaw

Although I have always felt OS X has been a solid and secure operating system, there continues to remain one painful, and blatant security flaw. I keep thinking that Apple will address the issue, but they certainly haven't done so thus far.
Explanation:
With any good security policy, and in any secure environment, there will always be a need to "lock" (password protect) a system when not in use. That is, after 'X' period of time, the user interface is password protected so as not to allow access to the system while not in use. This is probably the most common and fundamental security measure in any environment. However, Apple's (GUI) password protection falls short in a number of ways. The only current method of password protecting the user interface is through the Screen Saver. Although at a glance it appears functional, it is a poor design and is easy to disable.
The screen saver configuration lies within two files; the ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.dock.plist and ~/Library/Preferences/ByHost/com.apple.screensaver.<variable>.plist. It is especially important to note that both of these files are located in the users home folder, which gives them full access to the configuration files. There is absolutely nothing preventing a user from deleting these files, and thus, disabling the only mechanism to password protect the user interface. Giving the user the ability to disable or remove ANY security related configuration is a poor design.
Now initially we thought we had a solution by setting the user immutable flag on the ByHost screen saver plist using chflags. This would still allow user access, but would prohibit them from deleting the ByHost plist. Well, it sounded good in theory. However, if ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.dock.plist is deleted, you can say goodbye to your password protected screen saver, despite locking the screen saver plist. So naturally the idea occurred to me to set the user immutable flag on ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.dock.plist. This works, but makes it impossible to modify the Dock. Needless to say, if the Dock can't be modified, there's no point in even having it.
Now that isn't the only thing wrong with the screen saver password protection. You would expect that an administrator could unlock a users (password protected) screen saver, but you would also assume that the user was logged off as a result. Not in this case... If an admin unlocks a password protected screen saver for a user, they are now logged in as that user and have access to everything the user was doing when it was locked (email, spreadsheets, confidential information... anything). This is not the preferred method. If for some reason an admin needs to unlock a password protected screen saver, it should log off that user, not allow access to the user's session.
Finally, the biggest flaw yet. With a recent update, the password protection doesn't even work, as indicated by several people in the following threads.
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=2706417&#2706417
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=1950444&#1950444
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=2648700&#2648700
I have personally seen this issue while developing our corporate OS X image. Despite any fix or workaround, the simple fact that this has occurred is disturbing. ...As if the design wasn't bad enough, it now has the potential to stop working entirely.
Now don't get me wrong, I love OS X and prefer to work on it over any other operating system. Nonetheless, the current design for the "screen lock" is inadequate at best. For a large enterprise environment with stringent security requirements, it's far from sufficient. My hope in posting this is that someone from Apple acknowledges the design flaw and incorporates a more effective solution into the next OS.
MacBook Mac OS X (10.4.6)

One thing I forgot to mention is that "Workgroup Manager.app" is a part of the "Server Admin Tools" which can be downloaded free from Apple. Although it seems to be primarily intended to be used to configure OS X Server from an OS X Client machine, many of its functions can be used to configure the OS X Client machine itself, in the complete absence of OS X Server. Unfortunately, the 'mcx_settings' aren't really "image friendly" - as far as using them on OS X client is concerned, they are something that seem to need to be applied to user accounts individually (although it is possible to copy all of the settings at once so it isn't necessary to go through the whole configuration process for each setting for each user). I have tried tinkering and applying them to groups, but group members don't seem to automatically be restricted (I may be missing something). The "tools" are available here:
http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/serveradmintools104.html
I don't know if it would be any better than the screen saver "hot corner", but there is an option to lock the screen from the "Keychain Access" menu extra, which can normally be enabled through "/Applications" > "Utilities" > "Keychain Access.app", from its "Preferences". This setting is then stored in the "com.apple.systemuiserver.plist" file (ie independent of the "Dock"), but could in principle be controlled from 'mcx_settings' as well. The level of control seems to be incomplete - the user can still drag the item off of the menu bar, but it returns during the next login. However, it does provide convenient access to a method to lock the screen and keychains, and has a nice "padlock" icon so that its function is obvious. It is also potentially possible to assign a two-step keyboard shortcut to the "Lock Screen" item, but it would be somewhat less convenient than a direct key combo...
One other note regarding the "admin" user's ability to unlock the screensaver. The configuration file allowing the "admin" user to do this is "/etc/authorization", under 'system.login.screensaver'. Currently, the "rule" is set to 'authenticate-session-owner-or-admin'. Changing it to 'authenticate-session-owner' would be expected to remove the "admin" user's ability to unlock the screensaver, and if "Fast user switching" is available, the "admin", being unable to authenticate, should be able to switch to the "login window" from the authentication dialogue. I haven't tested this at all in "Tiger", but in "Panther", there was apparently a problem with it (which is why it had slipped my mind since at the time it was rejected as a viable option) - the person who posts here as "LittleSaint" had mentioned some problem with user logins when set up that way but I don't remember what it was, and so can't test if it has been fixed in "Tiger" (not very reassuring, and I apologize). And again, this is a setting that an "admin" would be able to reverse for themselves. Also, should "Fast user switching" become disabled for some reason, and the screen saver kicks in and the user isn't available, it might be a hassle to get back into the machine (it might be possible to do something over ssh). Nevertheless, it might be something to look in to.

HUGE SECURITY HOLE IN LOGIN FROM SCREEN SAVER

One of the options in the security panel permits a user to require that a username and password be entered to login once the screen saver locks your account.
The option is "Require password to wake this computer from sleep or screen saver"
Although one would assume that the credentials required to wake the computer is the username/password of the account that was being used when the computer went into sleep mode or the screen saver. WRONG!!! Anyone with an account on the machine can enter their username/password and wake the computer and voila that user now has control of the machine as the former user. That's right you guessed it HUGE security hole.
Anyone thinking that they can wake away from their machine and have the screen saver or sleep mode protect their account after a specified period of time is sadly mistaken. Anyone with an account on the machine can enter their own username and password and drop right into your account right where you left off.
Can you believe this stuff? No warning, no release note to tell you of such a poorly designed "security" option.
Apple please fix what must have been an oversight or at least tell people about this intentional design BEFORE they find anyone can wake the computer and become you as a user.
Thanks,
JH

jonathan_2005 wrote:
One of the options in the security panel permits a user to require that a username and password be entered to login once the screen saver locks your account.
The option is "Require password to wake this computer from sleep or screen saver"
Although one would assume that the credentials required to wake the computer is the username/password of the account that was being used when the computer went into sleep mode or the screen saver.
Never assume
WRONG!!! Anyone with an account on the machine can enter their username/password and wake the computer and voila that user now has control of the machine as the former user. That's right you guessed it HUGE security hole.
Anyone with a standard user account? Are you quite sure?
Anyone thinking that they can wake away from their machine and have the screen saver or sleep mode protect their account after a specified period of time is sadly mistaken. Anyone with an account on the machine can enter their own username and password and drop right into your account right where you left off.
I never think that way. A more secure lock is ensured by using the screen lock feature of the keychain.
Can you believe this stuff?
Not sure what stuff you refer to.
No warning, no release note to tell you of such a poorly designed "security" option.
Would you believe that anyone can access your computer? Stolen computers are regularly started up without much problem.
Apple please fix what must have been an oversight or at least tell people about this intentional design BEFORE they find anyone can wake the computer and become you as a user.
You are writing to other users like yourself here, not Apple.
I also presume you are new to the Mac world.

10.4.6 Issues with screen saver security and Finder Inspector dialog

Now that I've updated my system to 10.4.6, I no longer have password protection on my screen saver. I also can no longer right-click, select Inspector, and lock multiple files at once.
I can open Inspector and lock multiple files using the key command with no problem. It's just when I try to right-click that doesn't work. Inspector comes up, but it's available only for the entire disk -- it does not show multiple files. And a lock box to check doesn't exist anywhere in the dialogue box. Note that this is only a problem with files on my slave partition. My master drive is OK.
Anyone else have these issues?

Welcome to Apple Discussions!
Sometimes if preference files are corrupt an update will simply reinforce their being corrupt. Try resetting them from the program that activates them. The password screen saver is in Apple menu -> System Preferences -> Security mentioned in:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303548
As for the inspector, I don't know where that is controlled, but maybe someone else here will know.

Why does screen saver prompt for secure disk image password?

Okay, seems like an odd problem, but here it goes.
I go into System Preferences->Dektop & Screen Saver. As the program "loads" availabe image sources and such I get a pop-up requesting a password to my secure disk image.
Yes, I have a secure disk image in my home directory.
Yes, the secure disk image is currently "locked" (Not mounted in finder).
I click cancel (a few times, probably 2 maybe 3 times) and things continue along fine.
I select a photo source that I want for a screen save and exit peferences.
I then go an start the screen saver (I'm using Hot-Corners).
I get the message "Looking for pictures....." for , well...basically forever...
Sure enough I touch the mouse to leave my screen saver and there is the pop-up again. Asking for me to unlock my secure
disk image.
I thought this might be related to Spotlight. I tried reading several threads and have gone as far as taking my entire hard-drive/volume
and putting it into the "Privacy" tab under spotlight.
Anybody have any idea on what is going on and how I might get it so the "Desktop & Screen Saver" stop prompting me to unlock my
secure disk image? (WITHOUT having to make sure the disk image is unlocked before I sleep my screen or open the screen saver utlity)
As always, I am only speculating that this is Spotlight related so that could be a red-herring....
thanks in advance.
OSX:10.7.3
imac/3.1G/Intel

Update: i made some progress on this issue. I found that in the ~/picture/iPhot Library/Database/ directory
there is a file called Library.apdb. This file has an entry for the secure disk image i have/had. I moved the file
to Libraryapdb.bkup and sure enough, my picture problem went away. The screen aaver panel no longer prompts
me to unlock my secure disk image.
So now the next chapter of my problem;when i open up iPhoto it wants to rebuild my photo library(which makes
sense and is what i want to haopen) so i allow it. After about 25 mins it has rebuilt the iPhoto library, but there is
one problem. The secure diskimage reference is back in the Library.apdb file that has been recreated!
So now i need to figure outnhow to get iPhoto to remove anynreference to a phot library i once had on the secure
disk image but have long since removed.
I first created an iPhoto library on my secure disk image by holding the option key and invoking iPhoto.
I removed that library awhile ago....
So how do i make iPhoto remove a no longer used iPhoto library?

Security problem: Waking from screen saver botched in 10.5.5

When using my MBP, I like to have my screen saver as simple computer lock in that it requires a password to wake the computer from sleep or screen saver (option in the Security system preference pane).
Since the update to 10.5.5, my computer just wakes from sleep or when in screen saver mode, without demanding a password to be entered, even though the option is checked in the pane. I did an immediate SMC reset after the installation because the fans were acting oddly, and a PRAM zap just now to see if it'd do any good with this problem.
Has anyone experienced something similar?

I had this happen a few times back when I was running Tiger. I was able to fix it by going to Homefolder/Library/Preferences/ByHost and deleting all of the com.apple.screensaver.xxxxxxx plist files, and then logging out/in.

Security Flaw - Push apps opens the home screen on sleep?

I'm sure this is a security flaw. I have my iPhone on the sleep mode. I pressed the sleep button and placed it in my pants. So no way I'm pressing the button and sliding the finger to unlock.
After playing Words with Friends as one of the apps in question, I press the lock button. Seconds later my iPhone goes directly to home with an alert. No lock screen at all. I get the alert that says my friend made a move on the scrabble board.
Anyone know of any other apps that have this security flaw?

One more thing before you take it back to the store - try a restore. You will do this from within iTunes. Since you really don't have app data to concern yourself with, do a "restore as new". This will wipe it clean and reinstall the firmware. You can then sync to add everything back to it.

Trying to purchase an app on the ipod after the upgrade. Asking for security info, but after we answer the questions, we get "an error occured. We couldn't save your changes" on security info screen. HELP!

Trying to purchase an app on the ipod after the upgrade to 5.1.1. Asking for security info, but after we answer the questions, we get "An error occured. We couldn't save your changes" on security info screen. HELP!

Us too! We've answered the questions and then get "An error occurred. We couldn't save your changes". Now what? We have a balance in the itunes account that it seems cannot be transferred. What next?

Annoying: Mail app opens randomly after screen saver login

Hi
I have my security settings setup so that everytime my iMac goes into screen saver mode it asks for login password. Recently I have noticed that if I leave the computer unattended for a long period of time (a few hours) and come back, the mail app opens up. If I just go away for a few minutes and come back the problem does not occur.
Since I am not using the mail app and have not set it up, the setup account window is the one to come up.
I have checked the Login Items under Accounts in System Preferences and it's not there. I have also right clicked the icon in the dock and checked if it was set to start up automatically - it isn't.
I have read online this maybe has something to do with email alerts from iCal but I have not set up iCal to send email, nor do I know where I can disable that type of feature. This is happening even when iCal is closed and I have no events for that day. I've looked around in the prefrences of iCal and disabled any option that has something to do with email but it still happens.
The next logical step was to check Activity Monitor to try and see what started a process. You see I am originally a Windows user and have recently converted my OS religion. Back in Windows when something like this happened I had many tools that could tell me what started the application and even it's command line. But with the Mac all i have is the activity monitor and I'm still not familiar. I have clicked the process and then inspect, the parent process indicated launchd, pressing that lead me to another inspector window still without much info.
How can I solve this, it is becoming rather annoying?
Also does anyone know a better process monitor for mac? or how to use top on the terminal to get the information I need?
Please help a confused new mac user!
Thanks

So I've tried both of the tips you gave my guys, but non of them works
But I've found out something. When I switch to different space (in spaces), than drop some file and then try to switch back to my mail space, there are 2 possibilities how to do it. First - I just move mouse to the space to where I want to switch, wait for a second and it switch automatically or I can move mouse to the space where I want to switch and than press spacebar to make it faster.
The strange thing with opening app from dock happens just when I press the spacebar.
And question for your other answer - yes, it happens just with apps in my dock.
It is so uncomfortable...
EDIT: few days ago I've run OnyX (which was probably mistake) and this happens probably since than. I used it because Snow Leopard got little bit slower so I wanted to clean it... It might be because of that.
Message was edited by: jakudo

Screen saver lag in loading photos from new folder

I use my screen saver to display the family photos in a side show. I have several thousand photos in several folders. I have noticed that whenever I want to change the folder used as the side show source, it takes the Screen Saver Preference pane a very long time to respond. It is as if it is scanning all the photos in the currently assigned folder in order to display them in the preview window provided, and it gets so dogged down doing that it can't respond to my clicks on the Choose Folder option. This is puzzling because when I move my mouse cursor to the upper left corner of my screen to activate the screen saver, it only takes a few seconds to begin displaying photos, even with iTunes and other apps running. But when I open the Screen Saver Preference Pane just to change the source folder or to make any other simple change in options (pan and zoom, time to activate screen saver, etc.) it bogs down completely for 2-3 minutes. This makes no sense to me -- if the OS can get the screen saver side show going on a folder with several thousand photos in just seconds when the hot corner is used to activate it, why does it take the Preference Pane version so long to load the very same photos in a preview window? The problem is so bad, that I rarely bother to change source folders now. Which is a shame, because the side show program does a stellar job displaying photos -- at least once it gets around to it! A possible solution would be to give the user the option to suppress previewing of images. I have suggested this to Apple in several emails, and with each update to the OS I hope to find the problem corrected. So far, no cigar.
As long as I'm at it, I'd like to make my annual request that Apple to make the Screen Saver side show a stand-alone application. My reasons, partly taken from an earlier post, are as follows. The built-in side show provided by Apple via the Screen Saver Preference Pane does a fantastic job of displaying even low-resolution photos in full-screen mode (especially with pan and zoom activated) without the photo appearing excessively blurry or pixelized. I don't know how the Apple programmers do it, but the photos displayed by the screen saver seem crisper and sharper than the same photos displayed by Preview or Photoshop. This may partly be due to an illusion created by the pan and zoom -- the expansion and shifting of the image on the screen causes the mind to focus on the signal, which is consistent from frame to frame, as opposed to the noise (pixelization) which varies somewhat randomly. I think there is some kind of perceptual averaging process that allows the mind to perceive the underlying true image, despite the low resolution.
Be that as it may, I love the iMac screen saver. But I can't get control of it because it is not a stand-alone app. If the side show were available as stand-alone application it would probably have other features such as the ability to pause, go backward or forward, set the duration of each photo, select background music, etc. These would be in addition to the pan and zoom options already offered by the Screen Saver Preference Pane. And unlike the Preference Pane, selecting a new folder for the side show would (hopefully) not dog the machine completely down.
I am aware that side show capability is available within iPhoto and also at the FINDER level when using Spotlight to search for images. But again, none of these are stand alone apps, they all work a little differently, and no one of them does everything you need. How about just having an app called Slideshow (or iSlideshow)?
Does anyone else see a need for this?

I have several thousand photos in several folders. I have noticed that whenever I want to change the folder used as the side show source, it takes the Screen Saver Preference pane a very long time to respond. It is as if it is scanning all the photos in the currently assigned folder in order to display them in the preview window provided, and it gets so dogged down doing that it can't respond to my clicks on the Choose Folder option.
Assuming you don't want to redistribute your photos into a greater number of folders or subfolders so there would be fewer in each folder to process, you could try a workaround. Try moving your currently-assigned folder to your desktop temporarily, before opening the Screen Saver preference pane. If the preference pane can't find the old folder, it may immediately ask you to choose a new one. You could hopefully then do so, close the preference pane, and then put back the old folder.
It's my understanding that there will be no future updates to Tiger, only security fixes.

ITunes Artwork Screen Saver Not Working. Empty black screen. Garbage collection, memory leak issue? ... malloc: auto malloc[]: attempted to remove unregistered weak referrer 0x ...

Hey Smart Apples,
My iTunes Artwork screen saver is not working. After reboot, then selecting iTunes Artwork in System Preferences, just a black screen appears in the preview, as well as when pressing Test, and when allowing the screen saver to start on it's own. The error message in Console says...
11-10-13 2:13:18.304 AM [0x0-0x4f04f].com.apple.systempreferences: System Preferences(540,0x7fff77286960) malloc: auto malloc[540]: attempted to remove unregistered weak referrer 0x102021a10
11-10-13 2:13:18.305 AM [0x0-0x4f04f].com.apple.systempreferences: System Preferences(540,0x7fff77286960) malloc: auto malloc[540]: attempted to remove unregistered weak referrer 0x102021a60
also...
11-10-13 3:31:38.722 AM [0x0-0x65065].com.apple.ScreenSaver.Engine: ScreenSaverEngine(727,0x7fff77286960) malloc: auto malloc[727]: attempted to remove unregistered weak referrer 0x109eac410
11-10-13 3:31:38.723 AM [0x0-0x65065].com.apple.ScreenSaver.Engine: ScreenSaverEngine(727,0x7fff77286960) malloc: auto malloc[727]: attempted to remove unregistered weak referrer 0x109eac460
The memory address location at the end of each line is different everytime I preview the screen saver.
I've tried...
    deleting ~/Library/Preferences/ByHost/com.apple.screensaver.* files
    making sure each album has a cover in iTunes
    running Get Album Artwork in iTunes
    recreating symbolic link ~/Music/iTunes/iTunes Music -> ~/Public/iTunes Music/
... but doesn't help.
All other screen savers work... my usual is Flurry, and it works too, but gives invalid framebuffer operation under Console.
Nothing running/checked under Sharing.
Activity Monitor:
0     kernel_task    root    1.5    66    355.9 MB    Intel (64 bit)    124.7 MB
1     launchd    root    0.0    3    1.6 MB    Intel (64 bit)    38.7 MB
41     mds    root    0.0    4    104.4 MB    Intel (64 bit)    260.8 MB
93     WindowServer    _windowserver    9.0    5    81.5 MB    Intel (64 bit)    31.6 MB
26     coreservicesd    root    0.0    4    26.8 MB    Intel (64 bit)    37.3 MB
44     loginwindow    [userhandle]    0.0    2    22.7 MB    Intel (64 bit)    19.2 MB
152     com.apple.dock.extra    [userhandle]    0.0    2    12.0 MB    Intel (64 bit)    32.2 MB
19     opendirectoryd    root    0.0    8    8.3 MB    Intel (64 bit)    25.3 MB
192     applepushserviced    root    0.0    4    7.1 MB    Intel (64 bit)    29.9 MB
11     UserEventAgent    root    0.0    4    6.8 MB    Intel (64 bit)    41.7 MB
23     securityd    root    0.0    4    6.6 MB    Intel (64 bit)    32.9 MB
57     socketfilterfw    root    0.0    3    6.3 MB    Intel (64 bit)    31.7 MB
60     lsd    root    0.0    3    5.9 MB    Intel    32.8 MB
15     fseventsd    root    0.0    29    5.3 MB    Intel (64 bit)    45.9 MB
14     configd    root    0.0    7    5.2 MB    Intel (64 bit)    27.1 MB
144     coreaudiod    _coreaudiod    0.0    3    5.2 MB    Intel (64 bit)    32.6 MB
239     aosnotifyd    root    0.0    2    4.6 MB    Intel (64 bit)    28.2 MB
552     VDCAssistant    root    0.0    4    4.6 MB    Intel (64 bit)    30.2 MB
607     xpchelper    [userhandle]    0.0    2    4.4 MB    Intel (64 bit)    29.6 MB
37     revisiond    root    0.0    4    3.5 MB    Intel (64 bit)    27.9 MB
10     kextd    root    0.0    3    3.5 MB    Intel (64 bit)    15.0 MB
42     mDNSResponder    _mdnsresponder    0.0    3    3.4 MB    Intel (64 bit)    40.9 MB
30     warmd    nobody    0.0    3    3.2 MB    Intel (64 bit)    23.2 MB
71     netbiosd    _netbios    0.0    2    2.9 MB    Intel (64 bit)    40.8 MB
594     cupsd    root    0.0    3    2.9 MB    Intel (64 bit)    41.4 MB
600     taskgated    root    0.0    3    2.7 MB    Intel (64 bit)    28.6 MB
31     usbmuxd    _usbmuxd    0.0    3    2.6 MB    Intel (64 bit)    40.6 MB
591     writeconfig    root    0.0    2    2.5 MB    Intel (64 bit)    29.3 MB
33     special_file_handler    root    0.0    3    2.3 MB    Intel (64 bit)    21.1 MB
28     ntpd    root    0.0    1    2.0 MB    Intel (64 bit)    18.6 MB
204     filecoordinationd    root    0.0    2    1.9 MB    Intel (64 bit)    21.7 MB
20     powerd    root    0.0    3    1.8 MB    Intel (64 bit)    29.6 MB
48     hidd    root    1.0    5    1.8 MB    Intel (64 bit)    22.7 MB
55     autofsd    root    0.0    2    1.7 MB    Intel (64 bit)    21.6 MB
106     logind    root    0.0    2    1.6 MB    Intel (64 bit)    21.1 MB
94     CVMServer    root    0.0    1    1.6 MB    Intel (64 bit)    21.8 MB
17     distnoted    root    0.0    2    1.6 MB    Intel (64 bit)    21.1 MB
13     diskarbitrationd    root    0.0    3    1.6 MB    Intel (64 bit)    21.7 MB
608     activitymonitord    root    2.5    1    1.4 MB    Intel (64 bit)    28.6 MB
109     launchd    [userhandle]    0.0    2    1.3 MB    Intel (64 bit)    38.1 MB
546     Firefox    [userhandle]    1.5    21    389.6 MB    Intel (64 bit)    321.6 MB
551     Firefox Plugin Process (Shockwave Flash)    [userhandle]    0.0    5    22.4 MB    Intel (64 bit)    37.1 MB
540     System Preferences    [userhandle]    2.1    8    82.5 MB    Intel (64 bit)    321.8 MB
143     Finder    [userhandle]    0.2    8    61.8 MB    Intel (64 bit)    171.6 MB
328     mdworker    [userhandle]    0.0    4    48.0 MB    Intel (64 bit)    69.6 MB
140     Dock    [userhandle]    0.0    3    40.6 MB    Intel (64 bit)    35.5 MB
520     Console    [userhandle]    0.0    3    35.2 MB    Intel (64 bit)    41.5 MB
605     Activity Monitor    [userhandle]    12.1    3    23.6 MB    Intel (64 bit)    35.2 MB
142     SystemUIServer    [userhandle]    0.0    2    21.3 MB    Intel (64 bit)    50.5 MB
389     GrowlHelperApp    [userhandle]    0.0    3    18.2 MB    Intel (64 bit)    37.5 MB
207     AppleSpell.service    [userhandle]    0.0    2    13.0 MB    Intel (64 bit)    36.6 MB
155     ubd    [userhandle]    0.0    7    11.2 MB    Intel (64 bit)    26.8 MB
593     Image Capture Extension    [userhandle]    0.0    2    10.8 MB    Intel (64 bit)    33.0 MB
150     fontd    [userhandle]    0.0    2    10.6 MB    Intel (64 bit)    28.4 MB
166     Little Snitch UIAgent    [userhandle]    0.0    3    9.0 MB    Intel    30.8 MB
167     Little Snitch Network Monitor    [userhandle]    2.3    4    8.6 MB    Intel    31.9 MB
131     UserEventAgent    [userhandle]    0.0    3    8.4 MB    Intel (64 bit)    41.3 MB
141     talagent    [userhandle]    0.0    2    7.0 MB    Intel (64 bit)    30.5 MB
160     imagent    [userhandle]    0.0    4    5.4 MB    Intel (64 bit)    15.5 MB
290     iTunes Helper    [userhandle]    0.0    3    3.6 MB    Intel (64 bit)    29.7 MB
115     distnoted    [userhandle]    0.0    4    3.3 MB    Intel (64 bit)    25.3 MB
559     lsboxd    [userhandle]    0.0    2    2.7 MB    Intel (64 bit)    30.8 MB
304     cookied    [userhandle]    0.0    2    1.9 MB    Intel (64 bit)    30.3 MB
165     AirPort Base Station Agent    [userhandle]    0.0    4    1.9 MB    Intel (64 bit)    22.8 MB
154     warmd_agent    [userhandle]    0.0    2    1.7 MB    Intel (64 bit)    22.8 MB
146     pboard    [userhandle]    0.0    1    1.5 MB    Intel (64 bit)    19.7 MB
35     stackshot    root    0.0    3    1.1 MB    Intel (64 bit)    21.6 MB
12     notifyd    root    0.0    3    1.0 MB    Intel (64 bit)    25.3 MB
46     KernelEventAgent    root    0.0    3    988 KB    Intel (64 bit)    29.2 MB
584     launchd    _spotlight    0.0    2    784 KB    Intel (64 bit)    38.1 MB
586     mdworker    _spotlight    0.0    3    5.6 MB    Intel (64 bit)    22.9 MB
587     distnoted    _spotlight    0.0    2    1,008 KB    Intel (64 bit)    30.3 MB
16     syslogd    root    0.0    4    764 KB    Intel (64 bit)    39.2 MB
50     dynamic_pager    root    0.0    1    740 KB    Intel (64 bit)    9.4 MB
173     appleprofilepolicyd    root    0.0    1    724 KB    Intel (64 bit)    9.4 MB
59     memcached    daemon    0.0    6    640 KB    Intel (64 bit)    29.0 MB
Does anyone have a solution?
Environment: Mac OS X (10.7.2), Macbook Pro (late 2008)

So it turned out that the cause of the problem wasn't as complicated as I thought...
I had a few songs that were not added to the iTunes library, instead referenced from other locations on my hard drive.
Specifically, if you bring up the Get Info window of a song, under Summary > Where, it may show a different path than your usual iTunes Media folder location, set under Preferences.
E.g. Where: ~/Desktop/downloaded_song.mp3
I guess, this happens when you drag a song into your iTunes instead of adding it to the library, and apparently, causes problems with the Artwork Screen Saver.
Solution:
To correct it,
For those songs, go to File > Add to Library...
Then find and select the song file.
That's all I had to do to get the screen saver working... All your songs have to be added to your iTunes Library.
I think my brother was messing around with my playlist... I hope Apple nails a better way to lock-unlock/secure OS X soon (proximity sensor, biometric 3D face recognition, unique voice recognition, soul recognition, etc.).
That malloc error message still shows up; that must be an unrelated issue with the screen saver.
I hope this helps out all those suffering through the same issue with their iTunes Artwork Screen Saver.

System crash; data recovered; screen saver no longer works 10.3.9

My iMac crashed last Fri and finally today the dealer received the hard drive and recovered my data.
So far all is working EXCEPT my screensaver which used to work beautifully with OS X 10.3.5.
I DID update things including a OS X Update Combined" (10.3.9):
Installed "Apple Remote Desktop Client" (1.2.4)
Installed "iSync" (1.5)
Installed "iPhoto Update" (2.0.1)
Installed "Java 1.4.2 Update 2" (1.4.2 Update 2)
Installed "Security Update 2004-09-16" (1.0)
Installed "iCal" (1.5.5)
Installed "iPod Updater 2006-01-10" ((null))
Installed "iTunes" (6.0.4)
Installed "Mac OS X Update Combined" (10.3.9)
Installed "Security Update 2004-10-27" (1.0)
Installed "Security Update 2005-002" (2.0.0)
Installed "Security Update 2005-004" (1.0)
Installed "Java Update for Mac OS X v10.3.9" (1.0)
Installed "Java Security Update" (4.0)
Installed "Safari Update" (1.3.1)
Installed "iTunes Phone Driver" (1.1)
Installed "QuickTime" (7.0.4)
Installed "Safari Update" (1.3.2)
Installed "Security Update 2006-002 (PowerPC)" (1.0)
The problem is twofold:
1 - sys pref > desktop & screen saver > desktop
this option still allows me to select my picture folder, but no longer scrolls through the subfolders of pictures
2 - sys pref > desktop & screen saver > screen saver
while I CAN select my picture folder, i get a "looking for slides" message and finally after about maybe 20 seconds the first picture in the folders appears but when the screen saver is activated, I only get a black screen
Any advice is appreciated.
Thank you -
Pat

I just noticed that the Shell screensaver has the same issue of taxing my CPU to nearly 200%. Very frustrating!!!

Windows 8.1 enterprise screen saver custom time wont save setting??

i have no idea why i cannot save time settings for my screen saver. it keeps the same time default no matter what. any ideas how i can custom set this?
very annoying.
system specs:
OS Name   Microsoft Windows 8.1 Enterprise
Version   6.3.9600 Build 9600
Other OS Description    Not Available
OS Manufacturer   Microsoft Corporation
System Name
System Manufacturer   MSI
System Model   MS-7642
System Type   x64-based PC
System SKU   To Be Filled By O.E.M.
Processor   AMD Phenom(tm) II X4 965 Processor, 3400 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date   American Megatrends Inc. V1.8, 12/24/2010
SMBIOS Version   2.5
Embedded Controller Version   255.255
BIOS Mode   Legacy
BaseBoard Manufacturer   MSI
BaseBoard Model   Not Available
BaseBoard Name   Base Board
Platform Role   Desktop
Secure Boot State   Unsupported
PCR7 Configuration   Binding Not Possible
Windows Directory   C:\Windows
System Directory   C:\Windows\system32
Boot Device   \Device\HarddiskVolume1
Locale
Hardware Abstraction Layer   Version = "6.3.9600.17196"
User Name
Time Zone
Installed Physical Memory (RAM)   8.00 GB
Total Physical Memory   7.50 GB
Available Physical Memory   4.28 GB
Total Virtual Memory   8.69 GB
Available Virtual Memory   5.81 GB
Page File Space   1.19 GB
Page File   C:\pagefile.sys
A hypervisor has been detected. Features required for Hyper-V will not be displayed.

Hi boadiceaa,
Is the machine in a domain environment ?How did you configure the screensaver ?
Usually we can configure it here .
Right click the blank desktop ,choose personalize ,screensaver.
There is a registry key we can configure the timeout of the screensaver .
HKCU\Control Panel\Desktop\ScreenSaveTimeout
If it is a domain environment ,please check whether the screensaver group policy has been configured.
We can run "rsop " to have a check .
We also can try to configure it from the group policy
Screen Saver timeout
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc961876.aspx?f=255&MSPPError=-2147217396
If the issue persists, we can try to login with another account and configure it to have a check .This will help us to narrow down whether this issue is caused by the specific account .
Best regards
im not exactly sure what you mean by domain but its for my home network, just simple SOHO. ive tried using another user account to change it but it doesnt matter what it only goes to 15 mins max time.
youd suggest i look into the registry for starters or?
thanks again for the reply

Apple TV: Music Visualizer (Like iTunes) or Alternative Screen Saver?

Hello, I am wondering if there is any way to get a "Visualizer" for my Apple TV, like iTunes has that is basically a screen saver that wavers with the pitch and beat of the music. Similar to those on Windows Media Player, xBox 360, PS3, etc... Or is there at least a way to get/buy an alternative "Screen Saver" besides the floating pictures?
If not, that is a serious design flaw that someone should have thought about before release. I mean, come on, a unit that is designed to be hooked up to your TV and play music? You need to have something visual and floating pictures are not only boring but borderline annoying. I have to believe it is an easy fix with a software update; I mean, everyone else has managed to incorporate one into their products as I mentioned above and **** iTunes even has its own Visualizer, and in my humble opinion, rivals only windows media player in top quality. There has to be a way to at least stream it like AirTunes streams the music iTunes is playing to the Apple TV that plays it out the speakers it is hooked up to; with G protocol you could easily add a video stream that would stream the iTunes visualizer to the Apple TV and display it on the TV.
Anyway, just thoughts, if anyone cares, not really upset with the product, in fact, I love it so much I'm thinking of proposing to it soon (it has no idea). I just REALLY wish I could throw up a sick Visualizer on my Samsung 60" 240hz LED TV to go along with my music...SOS! Help!
Thank you.

AppleProductUser101 wrote:
Hello, I am wondering if there is any way to get a "Visualizer" for my Apple TV, like iTunes has that is basically a screen saver that wavers with the pitch and beat of the music. Similar to those on Windows Media Player, xBox 360, PS3, etc... Or is there at least a way to get/buy an alternative "Screen Saver" besides the floating pictures?
no - the "visualiser" is not an option on the appletv.
you only have the screensaver options.

Security Flaw: Screen Saver Authentication

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