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I found that my PATH on my MacBook Pro running Mac OS Ventura 13.0.1 has a strange directory inside all of the normal ones, i.e. /opt/homebrew/bin:/usr/local/bin:XXX:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:

/System/Cryptexes/App/usr/bin is inserted into my PATH at the point with XXX

As noted from the command: echo $PATH

  1. Where is it coming from?
  2. Is it safe to keep?
  3. Is it okay to remove from PATH?
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2 Answers 2

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Where is it coming from?
Is it safe to keep?
Is it okay to remove from PATH?

The /System/Cryptexes directories are part of macOS security. Mostly Safari and a few other features use it.

So it came from Apple, it is safe to keep, and if you don't use anything in there, it is likely safe to remove.

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  • 2
    Thanks for that link. That definitely helped curb my curiosity. I will probably leave it as it isn't really hurting anything.
    – l3v1tat3
    Commented Nov 18, 2022 at 19:16
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    That specific PATH entry is the location of safaridriver, which is used for browser testing with Selenium.
    – RCross
    Commented Jan 6, 2023 at 8:20
  • @RCross could you clarify what path you are referring? Are you suggesting Apple ships a Selenium component?
    – James Risner
    Commented Jan 6, 2023 at 9:21
  • The only file I see from ls -l /System/Cryptexes/App/usr/bin/ is safaridriver: -rwxr-xr-x 1 root wheel 134304 Feb 9 2023 safaridriver
    – Dave X
    Commented Nov 21, 2023 at 19:30
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  1. Where is it coming from?

from: /etc/paths

Solid explanation of /etc/paths file and /etc/paths.d directory

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