Why Adobe wants to use the local items keychain?

[Codeworks]

Hi,

I work on a Mac and received a message from the OS that says "Creative Cloud helper wants to use the local items keychain".

It turns out that the local items keychain contains many passwords, that can be synced with iCloud. In my understanding, granting access would allow Adobe to read a lot of passwords that have nothing to do with Adobe products.

So, my question is: why Adobe wants access to all my passwords?

[Codeworks · Accepted solution]

Nevermind, it turns out that a Mac app can only access its own items in the keychain. I wish this information was more visible, or the prompt was more clear. For anyone who's interested, here's the reference from the Apple docs: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/security/1398306-secitemcopymatching

When you use Xcode to create an application, Xcode adds an application-identifier entitlement to the application bundle. Keychain Services uses this entitlement to grant the application access to its own keychain items.

[ZorkNation]

This seems to happen if you quit the Creative Cloud app from the top menu bar tool icon.  Apparently not all the CC processes exit.  This helper process must normally request access from the Creative Cloud app, which caches access when you boot the system or restart that program.  I'd guess that when it fails to get the credential from the CC app, it defaults to prompting the user.

[Stan19]

I'm getting all these Keychain pop ups. Was wondering if Adobe, itself wants access? Don't like that idea. Eitherway, I'm trying to stop all the keychain popups.

[Kelly28426700yhzt]

Did you figure out how to disable keychain popups? I'm getting this popup window at work and I don't have or know the keychain password so I can't get it to go away.

[Stan19]

It's been a while but, I think deleting all the Adobe keychains helped. 

[jane-e · Accepted solution]

Hi 

Keychain is where macOS stores passwords.

• Details from Apple here:  
  https://support.apple.com/guide/keychain-access/what-is-keychain-access-kyca1083/mac

• Details from MacWorld here:
  https://www.macworld.com/article/552930/how-to-macos-utilities-keychain-access.html

@Stan19 No, Adobe cannot access the other passwords in your keychain. That's not how keychain works. All Adobe can do is ask to store your Adobe PW in keychain. If you deleted all the passwords from macOS keychain, you will have to eventually put them all back in again, as they are no longer being remembered.

@Kelly28426700yhzt : the pw for keychain is the same as for login for your computer unless you change it on purpose. If your Mac keeps asking for your keychain password, see this help page from Apple:

https://support.apple.com/guide/keychain-access/mac-keychain-password-kyca1242/11.0/mac/13.0

Jane

[Stan19]

Thanks. Whatever I did seems to have worked. It may have been what Apple recommended.