Recent trouble with Safari, OS X

Ask the Community Password Manager
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  • Yesterday: Safari Extension worked, but I could not log into either the OS X Desktop app or the BW website via Safari. I COULD log into the BW website via Chrome.
  • I reinstalled the OS X Desktop app
  • I can now start the Desktop app, but the Safari Extension is gone, and I can’t seem to get it back. I get a message to the tune of “needs OS X 16 and up”.

Running OS X 10.15.7, Safari 15.16.1, Chrome 128.0.6613.138. These are the latest versions that my computer can run.

The Safari Extension is, by far, where I use BW the most. I’d like to get it back! Any ideas? I’ve rebooted everything, etc…

Thanks - Bob

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@BobBl Hi!

Here comes a short answer you may not like:

MacOS 10 is not supported by the Bitwarden desktop app:

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image1387×386 30.8 KB

(source: https://bitwarden.com/download/#downloads-desktop)

OSX 10.15 got it’s last security update on July 20th, 2022. You should not use your password manager at all on such an outdated machine, IMHO.

The Safari extension requires also at least MacOS 12, as I see it:

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image682×225 15.4 KB

(source: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/bitwarden/id1352778147?mt=12&browser=safari)

And adding to all that, the latest Chrome browser version would be 131 and the latest Chrome browser versions require MacOS 11 as it seems:

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image744×131 8.68 KB

(source: https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/7100626?text=To%20use%20Chrome%20browser%20on,Windows%20Server%202016%20or%20later)

To me it seems, you have to change to a newer computer, to use Bitwarden securely in the future. Or put in other words: I guess your “recent trouble” will not get better (or rather is not even solvable) on your current machine.

PS: You tagged the post with “self-hosting”, so I would adivse to check for regular Bitwarden server updates. Regular server updates (and updates for the server environment) are important for security and functionality.

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Thanks - I was afraid of that. (OS X 10.15 isn’t THAT old! :grinning:) Guess it’s time to go shopping for a new machine. I’ve certainly got years of good use out of this one. It will make a great music server - not internet connected!
Oh - I had “self-hosting” tagged because it was this only option I had (needed two tags, with no good options after selecting the first). Could be another old computer option…
Bob

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Hm, a machine that had it’s last security update around 2.5 years ago (= EOL, end of life - not supported any longer), I would still call “old”. :sweat_smile:

Ok, just for the order of things, I change the tag then for you. :+1:

Great! Good decision!

PS: Before you change machines, make sure you have everything important from Bitwarden. If you don’t have an emergency sheet with (at least) your BW email, master password, Bitwarden server region (US/.com or EU/.eu) and 2FA recovery code on it, it would be a good preparation to make one now.

A backup/export shouldn’t be needed as your new Bitwarden app will “download” the vault from the cloud with the first login on your new machine… but it is never a bad idea to have a backup/export of your vault either. (https://bitwarden.com/help/export-your-data/)