Owners of Apple devices recently faced a widespread issue: Logitech Options+ and Logitech G Hub suddenly stopped launching on macOS. Advanced configuration of mice, keyboards, and gaming peripherals became unavailable, and devices reverted to basic functionality. The root cause was the expiration of Logitech’s macOS code signing certificate, which was not renewed in time.
What Caused Logitech Options+ and G Hub to Break on macOS
Logitech Options+ and Logitech G Hub are system utilities that provide fine‑grained control of peripherals: custom key bindings, per‑application profiles, lighting configurations, sensor options, scrolling behavior, and more. On macOS, such utilities are treated as high‑risk from a security perspective because they interact with low‑level system components and input devices.
In the Apple ecosystem, any application that integrates deeply with the operating system must be signed with a valid code signing certificate. This digital certificate is issued to a developer and used to cryptographically sign the application, proving that the software truly comes from that developer and has not been altered.
When a certificate expires, macOS is designed to stop trusting binaries signed with it. The operating system may block the application from launching, treating it as potentially unsafe, even if the code itself has not changed.
This is precisely what happened with Logitech Options+ and G Hub. Once Logitech’s code signing certificate expired, macOS refused to trust the applications. The situation was aggravated because the built‑in auto‑update mechanism was signed with the same expired certificate and could not run either. Users encountered applications that would not start and often attempted reinstalls, safe‑mode launches, or configuration resets—none of which resolved the issue.
How Logitech Is Fixing the Problem and What macOS Users Should Do
Following extensive user reports, Logitech acknowledged on its support portal that the expired code signing certificate caused the mass outage on macOS. The company has released separate patch installers containing correctly signed versions of the affected applications.
How to Safely Update Logitech Options+ on macOS
To restore Logitech Options+ on macOS, users are advised to:
1. Download the latest Logitech Options+ patch installer from the official Logitech website.
2. Open the downloaded file and run it with a double‑click.
3. Wait for the installer to complete; Options+ should then launch automatically.
4. Existing device profiles, key assignments, and configuration settings are expected to be preserved.
Logitech specifically warns users: do not uninstall the existing Options+ application before applying the patch. Full removal can lead to the permanent loss of profiles, macros, and customized scenarios, which are often time‑consuming to recreate.
How to Safely Update Logitech G Hub on macOS
The recovery process for Logitech G Hub on macOS is similar, with a small but important difference:
1. Download the most recent Logitech G Hub installer for macOS from the official site.
2. Run the installer (patch) via double‑click.
3. If macOS reports that “the application already exists,” close the installer.
In this case, the patch’s primary role is to refresh the signing components and restore macOS trust, without modifying or deleting user profiles or device configurations.
Why Expired Code Signing Certificates Are a Serious Security Risk
The Logitech incident clearly illustrates how critical digital certificate lifecycle management is to modern cybersecurity. A code signing certificate is not a bureaucratic formality; it is a foundational trust mechanism between the operating system and software vendors.
If a certificate is compromised or expires, the platform must stop trusting software signed with it, or it risks executing tampered or malicious code. Similar certificate‑related failures have caused notable outages in the past, such as a Microsoft Teams disruption in 2020 when an internal certificate was not renewed, and connectivity issues across many services when the DST Root CA X3 certificate used by Let’s Encrypt expired in 2021.
In enterprise environments, this risk is typically mitigated with centralized certificate management, continuous monitoring of expiration dates, automatic renewals, and clear ownership of PKI processes. The failure of Logitech’s consumer tools shows that these practices are equally important for mass‑market software, not only for cloud platforms or business‑critical systems.
Unsafe Workarounds: Convenience Versus Security on macOS
While Logitech worked on official fixes, user communities began sharing unofficial workarounds to restore Options+ and G Hub functionality. These included manually changing the system date to a past value, installing older application versions with auto‑updates disabled, or blocking network access for the software to bypass certificate checks.
From a cybersecurity standpoint, such approaches introduce significant risks:
— Altering the macOS system date disrupts the entire cryptographic stack, affecting TLS certificate validation, VPNs, software updates, and secure communication channels, potentially creating new vulnerabilities and errors.
— Running outdated builds of Logitech Options+ or G Hub with updates disabled leaves users without security patches and exposes them to known bugs or exploitable flaws.
— Blocking network access to avoid certificate validation interferes with normal update and telemetry mechanisms, complicating future patch deployment and reducing overall software reliability.
Even though these temporary methods may appear to “work,” they contradict core security principles and should not be used as long‑term solutions. The most secure path is to install the official Logitech patches and return to a standard trust model based on valid code signing certificates.
The outage of Logitech Options+ and G Hub on macOS underscores that even large vendors are vulnerable to lapses in certificate lifecycle management. For end users, the key takeaway is to rely on official updates, avoid risky hacks, and pay attention to macOS trust warnings. For developers and IT teams, this case is a reminder to audit certificate inventories, automate renewals where possible, and integrate certificate monitoring into incident response. Proactive certificate management, regular software updates, and robust integrity controls remain essential pillars of both personal and corporate cybersecurity.
