Keychain - Odd Request For Access

[Buadhai]

This on a 2017 iMac running Catalina.

Every now and then Airport Utility makes a very brief appearance (too brief for a screenshot) followed by this dialog box:

Clicking the help [?] button offers no help at all.

There's no app or device name in the dialog box.

The Console offers no hints in either the System Log or the WiFi Log.

Any ideas as to how I can track this down?

 

[alexprice]

Can you locate any items in your Keychain called mgn ?

 

[Buadhai]

Can you locate any items in your Keychain called mgn ?

I'm sorry. I left that out of my post. "mgn" is the SSID of my AirPort Extreme wireless network.

So, yeah, it's some process or device asking for the password of my WiFi network, but I can't figure out how to find out who or what it is.

 

[Buadhai]

Here's another hint. While looking through the Console for clues I saw that my Apple Watch was not showing any log entries. Then this popped up:

But there was no pairing request on the watch or any "Trust this computer" query.

 

[alexprice]

I'm sorry. I left that out of my post. "mgn" is the SSID of my AirPort Extreme wireless network.

So, yeah, it's some process or device asking for the password of my WiFi network, but I can't figure out how to find out who or what i

 

[alexprice]

I'm sorry. I left that out of my post. "mgn" is the SSID of my AirPort Extreme wireless network.

So, yeah, it's some process or device asking for the password of my WiFi network, but I can't figure out how to find out who or what it is.

Ok.. If you open the Airport Utility manually, does it still ask the same?

 

[Buadhai]

Ok.. If you open the Airport Utility manually, does it still ask the same?

No, it does not. But, I like they way you're thinking. It always pays to have a better brain look at a problem.

 

[alexprice]

No, it does not. But, I like they way you're thinking. It always pays to have a better brain look at a problem.

Whats happens if you click "Deny"? Does it then require you enter the password in order to view/edit the settings?

The Airport Utility will automatically launch when there's an issue. Sounds like the system is trying to auto authenticate to it and needs your authorisation to consult the keychain for the credentials. If you remove all "mgn" references from the Keychain and restart, other than needing to enter the WPA2 key again, it'd be interesting to know if the issue is resolved.

 

[Buadhai]

Whats happens if you click "Deny"? Does it then require you enter the password in order to view/edit the settings?

I clicked [Deny] this time and was able to view and edit the Airport settings. So, no.

The Airport Utility will automatically launch when there's an issue. Sounds like the system is trying to auto authenticate to it and needs your authorisation to consult the keychain for the credentials. If you remove all "mgn" references from the Keychain and restart, other than needing to enter the WPA2 key again, it'd be interesting to know if the issue is resolved.

It launches, but it disappears immediately. It's not visible long enough to see if there is any message. I can see that both the Internet and Airport lights are green when it appears.

I did delete both instances of "mgn" from the Keychain and re-entered the password and rebooted.

I don't know how I'll know if this fixes it as the occurrences are relatively rare.

 

[Buadhai]

I don't know how I'll know if this fixes it as the occurrences are relatively rare.

Well, now I know that it didn't fix it as it appeared again yesterday and again this morning:

I always click "Deny" and nothing bad happens, but I'd sure like to know what process is causing this.