OBS Studio
OBS Studio is a free app for recording your screen, camera and sound, and broadcasting live video. It’s made by OBS Project.
Criminals have used its name in fake downloads or scams, so get it only from obsproject.com.
What it is
People use OBS Studio to record games, lessons and demonstrations, or broadcast events live. It can combine screen content, camera video, images and sound.
With your permission, it can capture your screen, webcam, microphone and other audio devices. Accessibility access lets keyboard shortcuts work while another app is in front.
OBS Studio is free and open source, with downloads provided by its project. Its recording permissions support those features. Extra plug-ins and web overlays can introduce security risks.
Who makes it
OBS Project is a community software project created by Lain Bailey and supported by contributors, donations and sponsors. Its website is obsproject.com.
Is it the real one?
Every Mac app carries a signature from the developer who made it. Apple checks who the developer is before handing out the certificate, and macOS refuses to open an app whose signature has been tampered with.
HARD hasn’t yet recorded the signature on a real copy of OBS Studio. Its Mac app shows who signed the copy you have.
Its bundle ID, the name macOS knows it by, is com.obsproject.obs-studio. Download it only from obsproject.com, not from an ad or a link someone sends you.
Fakes. A February 2024 OSArmor report documented Google ads leading to copied OBS download sites that distributed fake Windows installers containing RedLine password-stealing malware.
What it connects to
In normal use, OBS Studio talks to these places on the internet. A firewall that asks before apps connect, like the one in HARD’s Mac app, will show them.
| Address | Why |
|---|---|
obsproject.com | App update checks |
auth.obsproject.com | Signing into supported streaming services |
api.twitch.tv | Channel details and stream key when Twitch is connected |
www.twitch.tv | Twitch chat and stream statistics when connected |
dashboard.twitch.tv | Twitch stream settings and activity when connected |
What it can see
macOS asks you before an app can use these. You can change them any time in System Settings → Privacy & Security.
| Permission | What it’s for |
|---|---|
| Screen Recording | Capture your desktop, windows and apps. |
| Camera | Capture video from webcams and capture cards. |
| Microphone | Capture sound from microphones and audio devices. |
| Accessibility | Use keyboard shortcuts while another app is in front. |
Security record
Problems with OBS Studio or OBS Project in the last three years, newest first. Keeping the app up to date covers the ones that were fixed.
| When | What happened | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Researchers demonstrated code execution on Windows through an unsafe Twitch chat overlay and OBS’s outdated embedded browser; OBS Studio 33.0 subsequently updated the affected browser engine. | ↗ | |
| Attackers used compromised forum accounts to distribute malicious ClickSound, SRBeep and obs-websocket plug-in downloads, which OBS removed; the obs-websocket version bundled with OBS was unaffected. | ↗ |
References
- OBS Studio official website obsproject.com
- Download OBS Studio obsproject.com
- New Ways to Support OBS Development obsproject.com
- Official macOS build configuration and bundle identifier github.com
- macOS Permissions Guide obsproject.com
- OBS macOS updater implementation raw.githubusercontent.com
- Sparkle update behaviour github.com
- Official authentication service configuration github.com
- Official Twitch integration network endpoints raw.githubusercontent.com
- Fake OBS Studio Websites Advertised on Google Lead to Infostealer blog.osarmor.com
- How One Twitch Chat Message Became Code Execution on a Streamer’s PC blog.scrt.ch
- OBS Studio 33.0.0 release notes github.com
- Resource Security Incident obsproject.com