Tailscale
Tailscale connects your devices through an encrypted private network so you can reach them remotely. It’s made by Tailscale, based in Canada.
Criminals have used its name in fake downloads or scams, so get it only from tailscale.com.
What it is
People use Tailscale to reach home computers, storage devices and work systems while away. It can also connect family members’ devices for sharing files and photos.
It installs a VPN configuration and, in the direct download version, a network extension. These handle connections between devices. Tailscale collects device and connection details, including public IP addresses, operating system information and network routes. It says it cannot read the encrypted traffic between your devices.
Other devices on the same Tailscale network can connect to your Mac according to the network’s access rules. This access is the app’s purpose. Tailscale publishes security notices and fixes, so keeping it updated matters.
Who makes it
Tailscale is a Toronto-based networking software company founded in 2019. Its legal name is Tailscale Inc.. Its website is tailscale.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.
The real Tailscale is signed by Tailscale Inc., Apple team ID W5364U7YZB. A copy signed by anyone else isn’t from Tailscale. HARD’s Mac app checks this for you; to check by hand, open Terminal and run codesign -dv "/Applications/Tailscale.app", and look for that TeamIdentifier.
Its bundle ID, the name macOS knows it by, is io.tailscale.ipn.macsys or io.tailscale.ipn.macos or io.tailscale.ipn.macsys.network-extension or io.tailscale.ipn.macos.network-extension. Download it only from tailscale.com or the Mac App Store, not from an ad or a link someone sends you.
Fakes. In September 2026, Malwarebytes reported that Kothamine malware used genuine Tailscale software for remote command connections on infected Windows computers. Some versions silently downloaded the official installer.
What it connects to
In normal use, Tailscale 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 |
|---|---|
login.tailscale.com | Sign-in and network coordination. |
controlplane.tailscale.com | Device coordination and key exchange. |
console.tailscale.com | Network administration and coordination. |
log.tailscale.com | Client operation and connection logs. |
derp*-all.tailscale.com | Regional relays for encrypted connections. |
pkgs.tailscale.com | Direct downloads and software updates. |
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 |
|---|---|
| Network Extensions | The direct download version needs its network extension enabled to connect the Mac. |
| VPN | Installs a VPN configuration to carry private network connections. |
| Local Network | Accesses devices on local networks; the App Store extension has been reported to request this as IPNExtension. |
Security record
Problems with Tailscale or Tailscale in the last three years, newest first. Keeping the app up to date covers the ones that were fixed.
| When | What happened | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Tailscale Serve could mix access permissions between shared applications under certain HTTP/2 configurations; fixed in 1.104.4. | ↗ | |
| Tailscale Serve socket forwarding flaws could expose privileged local services and allow device takeover in affected configurations; fixed in 1.104.4. | ↗ | |
| An authorised Tailscale SSH user could exhaust a server’s memory and interrupt its Tailscale connections; fixed in 1.104.4. | ↗ | |
| Tailscale SSH forwarding could give authorised users access to privileged local sockets when forwarding was enabled; fixed in 1.104.4. | ↗ | |
| Compromised eMudhra certificates could allow impersonation of TLS services on affected systems; Tailscale 1.104.2 and updated internal services reject them. | ↗ |
References
- Deploy Tailscale on macOS using MDM tailscale.com
- Using Tailscale with your firewall tailscale.com
- Alumni’s VPN startup secures $230M to meet AI demands uwaterloo.ca
- About Tailscale tailscale.com
- Download Tailscale for macOS tailscale.com
- Security at Tailscale tailscale.com
- Authorising the Tailscale system extension on macOS tailscale.com
- macOS local network permission prompt is attributed to IPNExtension github.com
- Update Tailscale tailscale.com
- What firewall ports should I open to use Tailscale? tailscale.com
- Logging overview tailscale.com
- Changelog tailscale.com
- Kothamine malware uses Tailscale’s tailcat to evade network detection malwarebytes.com
- Security Bulletins tailscale.com
- The signature on a real installed copy, read by HARD with
codesign.