Information
A firewall is a piece of software that blocks unwanted incoming connections to a system. Apple has posted general documentation about the application firewall.
http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201642
A computer should have a limited number of applications open to incoming connectivity.
Rationale:
A firewall minimizes the threat of unauthorized users from gaining access to your system while connected to a network or the Internet. Which applications are allowed access to accept incoming connections through the firewall is important to understand.
Solution
Perform the following to remove unnecessary firewall rules:
Open System Preferences
Select Security & Privacy
Select Firewall Options
Select unneeded rule(s)
Select the minus sign below to delete them
Terminal Method:
Run the following command to remove specific applications:
$ sudo /usr/libexec/ApplicationFirewall/socketfilterfw --remove </path/application name>
Application at path ( </path/application name> ) removed from firewall
The </path/application name> is the one to be removed from the previous listing
example:
$ sudo /usr/libexec/ApplicationFirewall/socketfilterfw --listapps
ALF: total number of apps = 3
1 : /System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app
( Allow incoming connections )
2 : /Applications/Chess.app
( Allow incoming connections )
3 : /Applications/Contacts.app
( Block incoming connections )
$ sudo /usr/libexec/ApplicationFirewall/socketfilterfw --remove /Applications/Chess.app
Application at path ( /Applications/Chess.app ) removed from firewall