Some Mac users being warned that Amazon Music app and HP drivers are malware [u]

Some users are reporting that they can no longer print to HP printers, or can't continue playing Amazon Music through the dedicated app, because of a macOS error that claims the software is malware. Update: HP is reportedly working with Apple to fix the problem.

AppleInsider has been contacted by users reporting that their Macs are suddenly claiming their HP printers contain malware and "will damage your computer." Separately, other users are reporting the same issue, but to do with the Amazon Music app.

In each case, attempting to launch the app or to just use the Mac, brings up a dialog box. It reports that there is malware, says it will damage the Mac, and advises users to move a particular file to the trash.

That file can be the Amazon Music app, or it can be the HP printer driver called "HP Device Monitoring.framework." Users have the option to click Move to Trash or Cancel, but if they cancel, the error keeps reoccurring.

The problem originally appeared to be related to Apple's XProtect. This is part of Gatekeeper, Apple's security system that exists to identify and disable malware on Macs.

Most reported incidents are from consumers, but AppleInsider can now confirm that the issue is affecting printing in enterprise as well. It appears to still be possible to successfully AirPrint from Mac to an affected HP printer, however.

Most users affected report that they have not recently updated either their HP printer drivers, or the Amazon Music app. The presumption is that it's therefore to do with a behind-the-scenes macOS malware definitions update, but has not been confirmed.

Update: the issue does appear to be related to XProtect, but was specifically caused by HP asking Apple to revoke its printer drivers. It's not known why HP requested this, but the company reportedly told The Register that it wasn't intended to cause these problems.

"We unintentionally revoked credentials on some older versions of Mac drivers," said a HP spokesperson. " 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."

There is also now a workaround that should fix the issue. It involves removing the old HP printer driver and getting the Mac to download a new version.