iCloud / Keychain - Issue with old devices appearing for shared internet accounts

[Susurs]

Hi!

I have encountered a strange issue which scared me a bit actually.

I have added MS Exchange account to see my work mail on Big Sur / Mail app on my M1 Pro.

After adding the account I noticed a pop-up on my Mac Mini (Catalina) as well, saying that the account has been added. That is normal as the device use same Apple ID, Keychain is on, etc. It did not ask for anything else on the MM, and e-mail was available there as well.

However, I decided to try to delete the account as I thought I would use webmail instead, and when removing the Exchange account from my M1, a pop-up came up agin, saying Do you want to remove the Exchange account ... from all your computers using iCloud Keychain ... Removing from all computers will remove it from this Mac, Mac Mini, and Mac Pro.

I had an old Mac Pro tower some years ago, but that was sold, removed from my Apple ID, and also removed from My Devices in Apple ID (when you log in on the Apple's website). It does not show up anywhere else, like system preferences, iCloud - where you can see your devices. I tried opening Keychain app on my Mac, but couldn't find any reference to Mac Pro as well. It does not show up as trusted device in Music app as well.

What is really going on and how do I remove this old device from my Keychain / iCloud? This looks really wired if the account is added to that old device with different owner / ID which I do not have anymore when I created the account on my Apple ID.

P.S. I found only one old thread on internet with similar issue, which is not really helpful anyway: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5496153

Thank you!

 

[Susurs]

Apple support checked the issue and told that:

1) Only devices which are logged in under my ID could access the information / accounts, as I undestood it;

2) The issue seem to be more of ‘cosmetic’ nature as the device which should not be there now was (naturally) using the same Keychain in past under my ID as it was my device at some point, and appears there for that reason even currently even if it is not in connected in reality.

There seem to be no fix to remove it from the list at the moment. Maybe resetting all Keychain somehow and starting a new one.

So at least from the point of security concerns I seem to be relieved.

 

[chscag]

There seem to be no fix to remove it from the list at the moment. Maybe resetting all Keychain somehow and starting a new one.

Not recommended unless you enjoy adding all your passwords and other log in info stored in the keychain over again. Resetting the Keychain can be a real headache. Avoid it if you can.

 

[br0wnrice]

I'm having the same issue — I tried resetting iCloud keychain entirely (by 'forgetting' the other device's passcode and making it "Reset Encrypted Data") but somehow the account still came back.

 

[luckman212]

@Susurs did you ever solve this? This is killing me still, on 12.6 now and can't get rid of these ghost accounts / devices.

 

[Susurs]

I believe the support replied at that time that it is not possible, but it should not impact anything, if I remember correctly. Since then, I just forgot about it. You can try to call Apple support - maybe they can explain it better