As far as I know, the timeout for authorization in OS X (if done properly) is set in the Policy Database located at etc/authorization
, usually programmatically. It looks like a plist file, and if an item has no 'timeout' key, then it has no timeout.
I do know that the preference is usually set in code using Apple's APIs (as shown in Apple's Authorization Services Programming Guide and the function reference).
This is a protected file. Use something like sudo pico /private/etc/authorization
to edit it.
The entry in this file will have a title using a kind of descriptor 'com.company.application.right' or something like that (e.g. com.apple.itunes.copy, com.stackexchange.superuser.deleteuser) - which is specific to each application, so look for that. (It's in alphabetical order to make things easier, I believe).
If there is no such entry, then the app probably grabs authorization in another way which I don't know about. I just tried adding a timeout to an app I wrote - it worked. I then deleted it again - and the timeout disappeared. It should work in your case, I'm guessing.
You do mention a settings panel - if that involves System Preferences then I don't know how it works either. There's no way to do it through applescript.
Edit: If there is no such entry
ANOTHER way an application may authorize is using the now deprecated and insecure method AuthorizationExecuteWithPrivileges
. I'm guessing that if an application doesn't have its own entry in the Policy Database, it uses AuthorizationExecuteWithPrivileges
. It may be that the application you're trying to work with uses this.
There is an entry in the Policy Database for this particular method called system.privilege.admin
, but note that modifying this and deleting the timeout will probably change the timeout for all applications using AuthorizationExecuteWithPrivileges
, not just the one you're trying to change. It may be worth a try.
Thanks for such a detailed response and diagramming skills. Unfortunately there's no entry in there for the application. – Ben Packard – 2011-08-23T01:47:45.487
What application might it be? – Vervious – 2011-08-23T02:03:04.773
I also added some information, see if it helps! – Vervious – 2011-08-23T02:16:46.623