Updated Many Mac users today found, to their surprise, they are unable to print to their HP Inc printers.
Download the latest drivers, firmware, and software for your HP Deskjet 1051 All-in-One Printer.This is HP’s official website that will help automatically detect and download the correct drivers free of cost for your HP Computing and Printing products for Windows and Mac operating system.
This means that it should be possible to use this model without having to install drivers, providing that the printer and the computer are connected to the same network (subnet). An AirPrint-enabled printer is compatible with macOS (Catalina). Reset the Mac printing system to solve a problem - Apple Support. Add a printer on Mac - Apple Support. Learn how to update Mac OS X to use the HP printer driver. Updating the printer driver will allow you to get full functionality out of your HP printer and he.
This is due to a code-signing snafu affecting macOS Catalina (version 10.15) and Mojave (10.14), specifically. HP's printer driver software is cryptographically signed with a certificate that macOS uses to determine whether the application is legit and can be trusted. However, that certificate was today revoked through an XProtect update, causing the software to be rejected by Macs.
XProtect is the mechanism Apple uses to inform Macs to no longer trust and run certain programs, and it does this by revoking their code-signing certificates. There is no central database of certs cancelled by XProtect, there's one for each OS version it seems, and Catalina and Mojave were selected in particular. Apple chose to revoke the HP driver cert, or perhaps was asked to do so by HP.
'No questions asked' Windows code cert slingers 'fuel trade' in digitally signed malware
READ MOREIn any case, HP's driver software no longer works on those two particular operating system flavors. Users are told when trying to print, for instance, that HP's application 'will damage your computer,' and are given the option to run it anyway or send it to the trash. Trying to continue just loops you back round to the error message, with no work done. Punters are also encouraged to report this 'malware' to Apple.
Unofficial workarounds for now include using AirPrint to an HP printer, or uninstalling the HP software and using a generic PostScript driver.
A Reg reader who tipped us off about the blunder told us he was able to jerry rig some IPP connectivity to get an older device to print: 'We had a handful of printers where macOS would print into the ether. Windows had no problem. I found some IPP trickery on macOS Catalina worked on an older HP4650.'
We had a handful of printers where macOS would print into the ether. Windows had no problem
Complaints from punters are building up on the Apple and HP support forums.
'Trying to open Printer Utility on MacOS 10.15.7 and I get a crash dump every time saying 'Code Signature Invalid' for the binary /Library/Printers/hp/Utilities/HP Utility.app/Contents/MacOS/HP Utility,' said one netizen.
'Yes, my Deskjet F4140 abruptly stopped working with both my Mac mini desktop AND my partner's AirBook,' complained another. 'The AirBook keeps insisting it's malware (it's not), while my desktop says the certificate has expired. Suddenly, HP and Apple are NOT playing well together! I've redownloaded and reinstalled the printer software TWICE now but nothing has changed, just the same message about HP Utility now missing. Our jobs depend on this printer, HP.'
Thomas Reed, director of Mac and mobile at Malwarebytes, tweeted to say his users were up in arms at the tech breakdown: 'We're seeing a significant influx of support cases where users are seeing macOS identify what appear to be legit processes as malware.'
Mac blogger Howard Oakley has some more background, here. 'You’re seeing that [error] message because macOS is checking the signature on your HP printer software, and being told that its signing certificate has been revoked,' he observed.
Amazon's Music desktop app is also, weirdly enough, no longer working, either, it's reported.
Spokespeople for HP and Amazon were not available for immediate comment. Apple declined to comment. ®
Updated to add
The Register understands from sources familiar with the matter that HP Inc asked Apple to revoke its printer driver code-signing certificates. It appears this request backfired as it left users unable to print. A HP Inc spokesperson told us on Friday night:
We unintentionally revoked credentials on some older versions of Mac drivers. This caused a temporary disruption for those customers and we are working with Apple to restore the drivers. In the meantime, we recommend users experiencing this problem to uninstall the HP driver and use the native AirPrint driver to print to their printer.
Apple macOS X users with HP printers are left unable to print from their computers after Apple revoked a certificate that signed HP's print drivers.
The result was print drivers being mistaken on macOS X for malware, and user complaints springing up over the weekend.
Print drivers mistook for malware
As observed by BleepingComputer, when printing a document from a MacBook running macOS Catalina (10.15.7 (19H2)) to an HP printer, the job remains in print queue but does not complete. That's because the corresponding print driver is being mistaken as malware.
Reports of macOS users with HP printers experiencing the issue emerged on Apple, HP forums, and of course, Twitter.
The problem seems to impact both macOS Catalina (10.15) and Mojave (10.14) users with HP printers.
Furthermore, the print queue shows a mysterious 'Encryption credentials have expired' message.
The issue stems from Apple having recently revoked the digital certificate installed on HP's printers via XProtect.
XProtect is a feature by which Apple can prevent Mac devices from running certain applications it no longer deems trustworthy.
Apple does so by revoking the cryptographic code-signing certificates associated with these applications.
'There is no central database of certs cancelled by XProtect, there's one for each OS version it seems, and Catalina and Mojave were selected in particular. Apple chose to revoke the HP driver cert, or perhaps was asked to do so by HP,' explained The Register.
How to resolve the issue?
macOS X users can resolve the issue by following a series of steps outlined below.
The advice specifically applies to HP OfficeJet models with wireless printing and the printer's web interface enabled.
- Remove the /Library/Printers/hp folder to delete any old drivers that are being incorrectly flagged as malware
- Open System Preferences on your macOS X and navigate to the Printers & Scanners area.
- Double-click on the printer and then select 'Printer settings.' and then click 'Show Printer Web Page...'
Once on the printer's web page, follow the steps provided by HP's Knowledge Base to generate a new Self-Signed certificate for the device.
This generates a new certificate for your HP printer with 10-year validity. Ignore the 'Not Secure' warning; that is typical for self-signed certificates.
Now return to the Printers & Scanners area, right-click (Cmd+click) on your printer and select the 'Reset printing system...' option
This will uninstall and remove the printer from the list. Now click the '+' icon to re-add it.
Select the printer as it re-appears on the list. Make sure 'Secure AirPrint' is selected next to the 'Use' dropdown and click 'Add.'
You may also use the 'IP' option to add the printer by its IP address should the 'Bonjour' (AirPrint) connectivity fail.
You should now be able to print from applications such as your web browser and Preview seamlessly to your printer.
The 'Encryption credentials have expired' message should also no longer appear in your print queue.
While SSL certificate expiry dates and revocations are essential security features, these can become a hindrance in legitimate use cases if not planned properly by the industry players.
In Apple's case, revoking HP's certificates without a heads up left very many users without a means to print and having to deal with confusing 'malware' alerts.
Update, Oct 30th 2020:
Apple reached out to BleepingComputer to clarify that the revoked certificates were an action undertaken by HP:
'We unintentionally revoked credentials on some older versions of Mac drivers. This caused a temporary disruption for those customers and we are working with Apple to restore the drivers. In the meantime, we recommend users experiencing this problem to uninstall the HP driver and use the native AirPrint driver to print to their printer,” said HP.