“System Events” would like to control this computer using accessibility features

[Mr Rabbit]

A few days ago I upgraded my MacBook Air from 10.8.4 to 10.9 developer preview 4 in order to start compatibility testing against the applications and processes we use through our office in preparation for when Macs ship with Mavericks in the Fall. Just came back from lunch to the message below. I haven't made any significant changes over the past two days and have actually only lightly been using the Mac today since I've been running around the office. I've seen similar alerts in the past (10.6, 10.7, etc) for specific applications (Safari would like to access.., etc) but never for System Events.

Any ideas as to what could have triggered this?

Only reason I didn't post in an OS specific section was because I've seen similar alerts in the older systems, honestly making me unsure as to if this is a 10.9 specific issue.

 

[Mr Rabbit]

Also found this in Console. Process ID 7847 is no longer active though.

8/14/13 1:43:39.405 PM universalAccessAuthWarn[7848]: AccessibilityAPI: pid 7847, is not allowed to access the accessibility API. Path: /System/Library/CoreServices/System Events.app/Contents/MacOS/System Events

 

[budsimrin]

Same problem here

I'm hesitant to grant access to a system-level action for fear that this could be a conduit to allow outside interference with my computer. If root were the owner, surely it wouldn't need an administrator to approve?

When I denied access just now, I spotted a Console log message so I think in my case it is SIMBL wanting general access.

10/31/13 7:31:31.278 PM Console[6440]: AppleEvents/sandbox: Returning errAEPrivilegeError/-10004 and denying dispatch of event ESIM/load from process 'SIMBL Agent'/0x0-0x19019, pid=435, because it is not entitled to send an AppleEvent to this process.

 

[chown33]

Mavericks changed the security model. Here's a decent description:
http://www.tekrevue.com/2013/06/25/how-to-enable-access-for-assistive-devices-in-os-x-mavericks/

I don't know the URL of an Apple-provided description of these changes, but that doesn't mean there isn't one. Maybe someone else has found it and can can post it.

BTW, I googled search terms: system events mavericks security