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I am investigating some strange issues with my home network, and decided to have a look at my device history.

I only have one Macbook Air, but my device history is showing ten, all with different MAC addresses (as well as a variation in the name). The first one in the list is the correct one:

Odd device history, showing lots of MacBook air's

I see it's possible to randomise MAC addresses on macOS, but as far as I can tell, it doesn't happen natively, and I haven't done anything to change this - https://apple.stackexchange.com/q/282605/18070

This question was prompted by my printer randomly printing this:

Printout showing HTTP requests against my printer

After some Googling, I figured out that any HTTP request against port 9100 on my printer prompts it to print out details of the request.

The firewall is on, on the router, that port isn't accessible from my public IP address, so I figure somebody would need to be on my network to do it.

No device on my network has this particular version of curl.

Should I be worried, or is this some sort of 'feature' of macOS I'm not aware off?

Thanks

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  • Ah no worries, so they ransomized the name as well? Feel free to add an answer if you learn more and I'll mark it as the answer, thanks
    – JMK
    Commented Apr 30, 2020 at 22:08
  • By any chance, are you using a Netgear Orbi mesh system, or are you running Netgear Armour security scans?
    – mti2935
    Commented May 1, 2020 at 1:07
  • I have Netgear Armour on my router @mti2935, yes
    – JMK
    Commented May 1, 2020 at 6:19

2 Answers 2

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You mentioned in the comments that you are running Netgear Armor.

The spontaneous pages printed by your computer are probably a result of the security scan by Netgear Armor. See https://community.netgear.com/t5/NETGEAR-Armor/Printer-spontaneously-prints-when-Netgear-Armor-Security-Scans/td-p/1824982

If you are running BitDefender on your Apple device, this (in combination with Netgear Armor) may be causing the Apple device to appear with multiple MAC addresses on your network. See https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/answer/27897/.

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    I think your answer about Netgear-Armor explains the printer. It seems unlikely that BitDefender would generate new but related device names while also failing to connect.
    – user10216038
    Commented May 1, 2020 at 17:20
  • Thanks both, I'm not running BitDefender on my Macbook however @user10216038
    – JMK
    Commented May 2, 2020 at 0:37
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After a little research as a result of your additional information prodding.

I don't think this is MAC randomization on your Mac Air.

I believe this is someone else attempting, and failing, to break into your network.

Double-check all your security settings just to be sure.

Your known MAC shows a connection type of "Wireless", all of the others show as "Unknown", indicating they did not successfully authenticate and get an IP address on your network.

The Printer stuff suggests that your Printer is WiFi capable and may not be secured properly. If so, the printer could potentially become an access point into your network.

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  • I think @mti2935 's answer about Netgear-Armor explains the printer.
    – user10216038
    Commented May 1, 2020 at 17:16

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