macOS Big Sur Macbook does not respond to ping on neither ethernet or WiFi

Solution 1:

Checkpoint Endpoint Security VPN does block this as noted. Their explanation (from the web site) is that they include a built-in firewall because the VPN connection can have firewall rules that are defined by the VPN site administrator.

Another note - The Checkpoint VPN is compatible with 10.15 Catalina and 11.0 Big Sur. When you install it, you MUST go to the System Preferences->Privacy and allow their extensions. Then reboot before trying to use it.

Note on the previous answer - launchctl changed in newer MacOS releases. Previously, you could edit the *.plist file and change the RunAtLoad and KeepAlive directly. But this is no longer recommended. Instead, you should use launchctl to set the status to enable or For example: launchctl disable system/com.checkpoint.epc.service

To list services available, use the print system or print user or print gui options: launchctl print system

launchctl print gui/501 ### Where 501 is the User UID number, 501 is the first account created.

launchctl print login/myname ### Where byname is the User login name

Solution 2:

It seems that the Endpoint Security VPN (I have the Checkpoint client but the Symantec is also culpable) mingles around and blocks any incoming connections and any PING echo requests.

So the solution is to kill the agent:

Copy to clipboard sudo launchctl unload /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.checkpoint.epc.service.plist sudo kextunload /Library/Extensions/cpfw.kext and turn the AutoLaunch off by setting the RunAtLoad and KeepAlive PLIST values to false:

Copy to clipboard sudo nano /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.checkpoint.epc.service.plist I have a script that can be used here:

https://gist.github.com/cyupa/ebb2a80a699d4c2f567b78161cb28767