In March, with the release of macOS Tahoe 26.4, Apple introduced a new security pop-up that warns Mac users when they paste a command into the Terminal app that could be dangerous. Apple has now released a support document explaining why the pop-up warning appears.
The warning states the following when it appears:
Possible malware, stuck collage
Your Mac has not been damaged.
Scammers often encourage pasting text into Terminal in an attempt to damage your Mac or compromise your privacy.
These instructions are usually offered via websites, chat agents, apps, files, or a phone call.
There is a “Paste Anyway” option allowing users to continue if they wish.
In a document titled “If your Mac blocks a terminal command or script”, marked by 9to5MacApple explains that the alert appears if you don’t regularly use Terminal and you copied the command from a website, chat agent, or mail or messaging app.
“Scammers use these channels to ask users to paste malicious commands into Terminal to damage your Mac or compromise your privacy,” Apple explains. “This alert helps ensure that you are not triggered into fulfilling an order that you did not expect.”
The document also mentions two other types of Terminal-related alerts that are more proactive. If a “Malware Detected, Pasting Blocked” or “Malicious Script Blocked” alert appears, macOS has detected a command or script containing known malware and blocked it, according to Apple. In such cases, no “Paste anyway” option is provided.
Apple says that if you think the command or script was blocked in error, it may be because a website it’s trying to access was wrongly flagged as misleading. In this case, users can report the error.
