EXC_BAD_ACCESS (SIGSEGV) Error when Accessing AXUIElementCopyAttributValue() in .NET macOS App

Question

I'm developing a macOS application in .NET 7.0 that utilizes the Accessibility Framework (ApplicationServices -> HIServices) to access assistive features. When attempting to invoke the AXUIElementCopyAttributValues() function, the application crashes with the EXC_BAD_ACCESS (SIGSEGV) error.

Here is my code and a link to my test repository:

public partial class ProgramTest
{
   public void MainTest()
   {       
            AccessibilityHelper.RequestAccessibilityPermission();

            string bundleIdentifier = "com.apple.Safari";

            NSRunningApplication app = NSRunningApplication.GetRunningApplications(bundleIdentifier)?.First();

            if (app != null)
            {
                int processId = app.ProcessIdentifier;

                IntPtr appElement = AXUIElementCreateApplication((uint)processId);

                IntPtr mainWindow;
            if (AXUIElementCopyAttributeValue(appElement, kAXMainWindowAttribute, out mainWindow) == 0)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("Main Window Handle: " + mainWindow);
            }
            else
            {
                Console.WriteLine("Could not retrieve the main window.");
            }
        }
        else
            {
                Console.WriteLine("Application not found.");
            }
        }

        const string accessibilityFramework = "/System/Library/Frameworks/ApplicationServices.framework/Versions/Current/ApplicationServices";
        [DllImport(accessibilityFramework)]
        static extern IntPtr AXUIElementCreateApplication(uint pid);
        [DllImport(accessibilityFramework)]
        static extern int AXUIElementCopyAttributeValue(IntPtr element, string attribute, out IntPtr value);
        const string kAXMainWindowAttribute = "kAXTitleAttribute";
    }

    public static class AccessibilityHelper
    {
        public static void RequestAccessibilityPermission()
        {
            NSString key = new NSString(AXTrustedCheckOptionPrompt);
            NSDictionary options = NSDictionary.FromObjectAndKey(NSNumber.FromBoolean(true), key);

            IntPtr optionsPtr = options.Handle;
            bool isTrusted = AXIsProcessTrustedWithOptions(optionsPtr);

            if (!isTrusted)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("User denied accessibility permission.");
            }
        }

        const string accessibilityFramework = "/System/Library/Frameworks/ApplicationServices.framework/Versions/Current/ApplicationServices";
        [DllImport(accessibilityFramework)]
        static extern bool AXIsProcessTrustedWithOptions(IntPtr options);
        const string AXTrustedCheckOptionPrompt = "AXTrustedCheckOptionPrompt";
    }

Here are the steps I've taken to address the issue:

Info.plist Entries:

I've added the required keys for Accessibility Permissions in my Info.plist file:

<key>NSAppleEventsUsageDescription</key>
<string>We need accessibility permissions to interact with other applications.</string>
<key>NSAccessibilityUsageDescription</key>
<string>We need accessibility permissions to interact with other applications.</string>

Requesting Permissions at Runtime:

I implemented a RequestAccessibilityPermission() method to request Accessibility Permissions at runtime.

 public static void RequestAccessibilityPermission()
 {
     NSString key = new NSString(AXTrustedCheckOptionPrompt);
     NSDictionary options = NSDictionary.FromObjectAndKey(NSNumber.FromBoolean(true), key);

     IntPtr optionsPtr = options.Handle;
     bool isTrusted = AXIsProcessTrustedWithOptions(optionsPtr);

     if (!isTrusted)
     {
         Console.WriteLine("User denied accessibility permission.");
     }
 }

Custom Library

I've also created a custom Cocoa Library using Xcode with the methods AXUIElementCreateApplication(_:) and AXUIElementCopyAttributeValue(_:_:_:). I intend to use these methods through P/Invoke in my .NET 7.0 macOS application. However, I'm encountering the same EXC_BAD_ACCESS (SIGSEGV) error even when using this custom Cocoa Library.

Entitlements

Additionally, I have disabled the Sandbox in the entitlements.

<key>com.apple.security.app-sandbox</key>
<false/>

Error

Here is the error report

-------------------------------------
Translated Report (Full Report Below)
-------------------------------------

Process:               netMacOSTest [70764]
Path:                  /Users/USER/*/netMacOSTest.app/Contents/MacOS/netMacOSTest
Identifier:            com.companyname.netMacOSTest
Version:               1.0 (1)
Code Type:             X86-64 (Translated)
Parent Process:        vsdbg-ui [70763]
Responsible:           VisualStudio [491]
User ID:               501

Date/Time:             2023-12-07 15:44:18.6174 +0100
OS Version:            macOS 14.0 (23A344)
Report Version:        12
Anonymous UUID:        E66ED467-F839-D06D-428B-00BCDEEAD568


Time Awake Since Boot: 610000 seconds

System Integrity Protection: enabled

Notes:
PC register does not match crashing frame (0x0 vs 0x10344B8E8)

Crashed Thread:        0  Dispatch queue: com.apple.main-thread

Exception Type:        EXC_BAD_ACCESS (SIGSEGV)
Exception Codes:       KERN_INVALID_ADDRESS at 0x0000746954584180
Exception Codes:       0x0000000000000001, 0x0000746954584180

Termination Reason:    Namespace SIGNAL, Code 11 Segmentation fault: 11
Terminating Process:   exc handler [70764]

VM Region Info: 0x746954584180 is not in any region.  Bytes after previous region: 22442082320769  Bytes before following region: 12514185690752
      REGION TYPE                    START - END         [ VSIZE] PRT/MAX SHRMOD  REGION DETAIL
      MALLOC_NANO              600000000000-600020000000 [512.0M] rw-/rwx SM=PRV  
--->  GAP OF 0x1fcae3f00000 BYTES
      MALLOC_TINY              7fcb03f00000-7fcb04000000 [ 1024K] rw-/rwx SM=PRV  

Error Formulating Crash Report:
PC register does not match crashing frame (0x0 vs 0x10344B8E8)

Thread 0 Crashed::  Dispatch queue: com.apple.main-thread
0   <translation info unavailable>         0x10344b8e8 ???
1   HIServices                          0x7ff81c30f1e0 AXUIElementCopyAttributeValue + 95
2   ???                                    0x116ecfdbe ???
3   ???                                    0x116ecafd2 ???
4   ???                                    0x116ecae4a ???
5   libcoreclr.dylib                       0x10d478d89 CallDescrWorkerInternal + 124
6   libcoreclr.dylib                       0x10d478d89 CallDescrWorkerInternal + 124

Does anyone have experience with this issue and can provide advice on how to resolve it? Are there additional steps I should take to identify and address the root cause of the error?