Websites and not being blocked

[Flababa22]

Summary

None of the websites on my mac are being blocked. I transferred everything from an old 2014 MacBook Pro to a new Mac Mini. I'm relatively new to Github also. Is anyone able to contact me directly?

This issue also seems to only be happening on Safari as well, as I can't access the sites that are blocked on Chrome.

Background Info

SelfControl version? 4.0.2
macOS version? - Sequoia 15.6
Do you use a VPN/proxy, and if so which one? - No
Has this ever worked for you on a prior version of SelfControl? If so, when? No
Any other special system setup we should know about? - N/A

[SamTSham]

I experienced a closely related failure and was able to isolate the enforcement problem. This may also explain the Safari-versus-Chrome behaviour originally reported here.

After a reboot, SelfControl restored an active block and displayed its running countdown, but ordinary Safari could access the blocked domain. Chrome and Safari Private Browsing still blocked it. No VPN or proxy was active.

SelfControl’s configuration was present:

• /etc/hosts contained valid entries for the blocked domain.
• The main PF ruleset included anchor "org.eyebeam" all.
• The org.eyebeam anchor contained correct TCP and UDP block rules for the domain’s resolved IPv4 addresses.
• Safari’s WebKit networking process was observed connecting directly to one of those exact blocked IPv4 addresses.

The decisive check was:

sudo pfctl -s info

It reported:

Status: Disabled

Running:

sudo pfctl -E

immediately restored blocking in ordinary Safari. No browser data, cookies, caches or extensions needed to be removed.

This appears to be an integrity-check edge case: after reboot, SelfControl can restore and display an active session while macOS PF—the enforcement mechanism containing SelfControl’s rules—remains disabled.

Suggested safeguard: whenever an unfinished block is restored after startup, and during periodic integrity checks, verify that PF is enabled as well as checking that the SelfControl anchor and rules exist. If PF is disabled, attempt to re-enable it or warn clearly that the displayed block is not being enforced.

Environment:

• macOS 27.0
• SelfControl version: [enter version]
• Blocklist mode
• No VPN or proxy