Attempt to modify settings - unsuccessful - what does this mean?

From time to time I get the computer notification "Attempt to modify settings - unsuccessful", but it doesn't have any additional information. What does this mean? What settings might have attempted to have been modified? 

From time to time I get the computer notification "Attempt to modify settings - unsuccessful", but it doesn't have any additional information. What does this mean? What settings might have attempted to have been modified?