### WhatRoute Help

## Privileged Helper Tool

The first time you run WhatRoute (or after installing a new version) you will be prompted to enter your Admin user name and password.

This request is required for installation of a small helper tool that will run with elevated privileges and perform secure operations on behalf of WhatRoute.

The privileged operations performed by the helper tool are:

- Open a raw socket for use by the Traceroute, Ping, Netscan, Portscan functions of WhatRoute.
- Open a network interface for traffic monitoring.
- Run the command line program tcpdump.
- Clear the system DNS cache and system neighbour tables.

If you choose to not install the helper tool, then WhatRoute will not run.

Communication between WhatRoute and the helper tool is secure. Both programs are signed with my code signing certificate and no other software is abled to send messages to the helper. This communication is fully described in the Apple Secure Coding Documentation.

Copyright © 2016-2026 B.R. Christianson (bryan@whatroute.net)