xauth ☆

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Description:
X.Org Applications: xauth

Type: Formula | Tracked Since: Dec 28, 2025

Links: Homepage | formulae.brew.sh

Category: System utilities

Tags: x11 xorg authentication security graphics

Install: brew install xauth

About:
xauth is a command-line utility used to manage and manipulate Xauthority files, which store authentication cookies used by the X Window System. It allows users to merge, extract, and list these tokens, enabling secure remote display of graphical applications. This tool is essential for managing trusted connections between X clients and servers in multi-user or networked environments.

Key Features:

Extract authentication data from a remote server
Merge authentication tokens into local Xauthority files
List and remove entries from the Xauthority database
Supports both MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 and XDM-AUTHORIZATION-1 protocols

Use Cases:

Enabling secure X11 forwarding over SSH sessions
Granting temporary access to a user's display for specific applications
Troubleshooting X11 authentication and connection issues

Alternatives:

ssh -X – Handles X11 forwarding automatically, but xauth provides lower-level control for complex scenarios.

Version History

Detected	Version	Rev	Change	Commit
Sep 11, 2025 10:08am		0	VERSION_BUMP	40667574
Nov 20, 2024 12:39am		0	VERSION_BUMP	1411c858