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macOS 27: ifconfig command no longer prints hardware MAC address

  1. Investigating(done)
  2. Trending(skipped)
  3. Workaround available(current)
  4. Resolved(upcoming)

Executive summary

A recent macOS update (version not specified) broke several scripts that relied on the ifconfig command to print hardware MAC addresses, which are now all reported as 02:00:00:00:00:00. Users can still obtain the MAC addresses using networksetup -getmacaddress en0.

Workaround available

networksetup -getmacaddress en0

Reported inHNevidence [1]
Technical root cause

Under active investigation. No report has identified a root cause yet.

Evidence

1 report · 1 HNShow
  1. [1]
    HN First report
    macOS 27: ifconfig command no longer prints hardware MAC address(opens Hacker News thread in a new tab)

    Just a quick PSA. A handful of my scripts broke today after installing macOS 27. Turns out they decided to redact the interface hardware ether/MAC addresses, all of them report 02:00:00:00:00:00 (…unless you run with "sudo") Luckily, you can still get the MAC addresses with networksetup -getmacaddress en0

    by luckman212 8upvotes 14comments

Timeline

  1. First report on Hacker News thread

    macOS 27: ifconfig command no longer prints hardware MAC address

    Source
  2. Workaround discovered

    Workaround reported: networksetup -getmacaddress en0

    Source
  3. Status changed

    Status changed: new → workaround_available (workaround reported in source signals).