Big Sur 11.2.3 - Intercept X 10.0.4 - Adobe InDesign opening files as read-only

No one else has run into any permission issues? We are also having trouble opening custom 4D databases. The files we are opening in both cases are on a Synology NAS. We have tried AFP and SMB. Neither work. When we open the database file it says it is write protected. We move the file to our desktop it opens just fine. Same with InDesign. Disabling Cryptoguard works for opening InDesign files but not for 4D. Only thing that helps 4D is to uninstall Sophos. I have added a ton of global exclusions for Mac File and folders but they do not seem to work. I do have a case open but so far no one knows the problem.

Getting this exact issue with InDesign on 3 new iMac machines with Big Sur installed.

Looks like opening a case with Sophos as well as trying to add exclusions that work seems to be a nightmare.

Finally, LOL. The InDesign files are stored on our Synology NAS. We think this is a combination of Sophos, Synology's file system and maybe SMB and Apple. You can make all the Exclusions you want, they will not help because exclusions are only for Antivirus.

I have been going back and forth with them for a month. Here is their last response:

Hello Jeff,

As we discussed, unfortunately this is an issue we're not able to affect on our end as the underlying file system protocols and extensions are controlled by Apple. There is no configuration of the Sophos Endpoint that we can say will resolve file locking issues while using Adobe or other software.

Please let me know if you have any other concerns or need further clarification.

Otherwise we will mark this case closed as an unresolved environmental issue.

Regards, 

Ian Diminie 
Sophos Technical Support Escalations

The 4 computers that are affected here are in their own Policy with Crytoguard turned off. Not sure what else to do. I sent this to our reseller and to the Sophos Professional Services Engineer that I did my training with. They are going to try and get this to the Global Escalation Team.

We also have a problem with 4D databases that are on the Synology. They are opening as write-protected and we cannot edit them. I have to completely uninstall Sophos to get them to open. Both 4D and InDesign files work fine when you open them locally.

Ours are using SMB on a Windows Domain network so NTFS volumes.
Open locally fine as well, so common issue seems to be network located files.

If I get anywhere other than the current option, I'll try and reply back.

Great. I was just about to reopen my ticket with Synology. Please let me know if you get anywhere.

Andrew, Here is supports latest response:

Hello Jeff,

This seems like an InDesign issue and should be brought up with their support team.

Our investigation suggests that InDesign is likely not waiting for OPLOCK to be released on a file before opening it, hence it can only work in read-only mode.

Cryptoguard may be incidentally adding additional wait time before OPLOCK is released by the system, since we're touching the file, but we're not directly affecting InDesign's file access logic at all.

Most applications check the OPLOCK status and wait until they have write access before opening a file.

Regards, 

Ian Diminie 
Sophos Technical Support Escalations

Here is the latest and final result. Not happy at all: 

Hello Jeff,

As we have reached the conclusion that the issue is with InDesign's file access logic, and have exhausted our options for mitigating the circumstances that cause the issue, I will be marking this case closed.

The next step should be to reach out to Adobe support.

Thank you for your time working with me on this case.

Regards, 

Sophos Technical Support Escalations

This issue was initially introduced with MacOS 10.13 when Apple updated its SMB support. Further details on the root cause of this issue can be found in the following article. 
- Files may become locked on SMB network volumes

Apple has acknowledged the issue in: Open Radar SMB file system with odd locking behavior