Support Request – Issue Signing with Digital Certificate on macOS Sequoia in Adobe Acrobat

[moises_7394]

Good morning,

I need your support regarding an issue I'm experiencing when trying to sign a document using a digital signature certificate in Adobe Acrobat on a Mac device running the latest versions of macOS Sequoia.

When using a physical token, the cryptographic device does not allow the signature process to complete. Although I can draw the signature field, it seems that the system is not connecting to the Keychain, and therefore the certificate is not being retrieved or shown for selection. It just gets stuck at that point without any further action.

We have already performed several validations, including associating the PKCS#11 library, and tested this behavior across multiple versions of Adobe Acrobat (from 2020 onward), all with the same result.

Any insights from someone who has faced this issue or knows how to resolve it would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance for your support.

[S. S]

Hi @moises_7394,

Hope you are doing well. Sorry for your experience with using digital signatures on Acrobat.

Are you using an IT-managed machine? If yes, I would like to know if the CryptoTokenKit framework is enabled during deployment.

To enable it, you can follow the steps below:

• Acrobat ▸ Preferences ▸ Signatures ▸ Creation & Appearance ▸ More…

• Tick “Enable CryptoTokenKit framework support” and OK.
  (Internally, this toggles the enableCTK preference; default is on.)

Next is, Insert the token → open Keychain Access ▸ View ▸ Show Tokens. Check if your token name appears, and the certificate is listed.

If available, then go ahead and attach the PKCS#11 module inside Acrobat:

1. Preferences ▸ Signatures ▸ Identities & Trusted Certificates ▸ More…

2. Expand Digital IDs / PKCS#11 Modules and Tokens → Attach Module…
   – Point to the library, e.g. /usr/local/lib/libetpkcs11.dylib (SafeNet) or /Library/SafeNet/libbit4idpkcs11.dylib.

3. Expand the module, select the token, press Login, enter PIN.

4. Close all dialogs → draw a signature field → Acrobat should now show the certificate list.

Hope this helps.

Regards,
Souvik.

[moises_7394]

Kind regards,

I confirm that we carried out the mentioned actions. Initially, we verified that the CryptoTokenKit option is already enabled by default, and the library is attached as shown in the image below.

In addition to this, the library located at /usr/local/lib/libcastle.1.0.0.dylib was configured, and it was verified that the digital certificate is correctly recognized.

However, the issue persists and the system still does not allow the digital signature to be completed.

We would like to inform you that an error or incompatibility appears to be occurring with the 2025 versions of Adobe Acrobat, as it does not allow the PKCS#11 module/library to be attached.

I appreciate your support regarding this matter.

[S. S]

Hi @moises_7394,

Thanks for sharing the details.

I have logged a ticket for the development team to investigate further. 

I will update the thread as soon as I hear back from them.

Regards,
Souvik.

[moises_7394]

Hi Souvik,

Thank you for your support.

We would like to kindly ask if it is possible to confirm the current status of the case, whether any progress has been made or if something has already been identified. We are very attentive since the use of digital signatures in PDF documents is an important matter for us.

Looking forward to your update.

Best regards,

[moises_7394]

Hi Souvik,

I hope you are doing well.

We would like to kindly request an update regarding the ticket opened with the development team. At this time, the digital signature process is still not functioning on macOS devices running versions higher than 14.7, and we need to confirm whether any findings, progress, or expected timelines are available.

Your support is greatly appreciated, and we look forward to your feedback so we can inform our users accordingly.

Regards,

[S. S]

Hi @moises_7394,

Hope you are doing well. Sorry for the delayed response.

No updates yet. I cannot commit to the exact date and time of the fix, but I can confirm that work is in progress.

Regards,
Souvik.