Techniques
Sample rules
Suspicious PlistBuddy Usage via OSquery
- source: splunk
- technicques:
- T1543.001
- T1543
Description
The following analytic detects the use of the PlistBuddy utility on macOS to create or modify property list (.plist) files. It leverages OSQuery to monitor process events, specifically looking for commands that interact with LaunchAgents and set properties like RunAtLoad. This activity is significant because PlistBuddy can be used to establish persistence mechanisms, as seen in malware like Silver Sparrow. If confirmed malicious, this could allow an attacker to maintain persistence, execute arbitrary commands, and potentially escalate privileges on the compromised system.
Detection logic
`osquery_process` "columns.cmdline"="*LaunchAgents*" OR "columns.cmdline"="*RunAtLoad*" OR "columns.cmdline"="*true*"
| `suspicious_plistbuddy_usage_via_osquery_filter`
Suspicious PlistBuddy Usage
- source: splunk
- technicques:
- T1543.001
- T1543
Description
The following analytic identifies the use of the native macOS utility, PlistBuddy, to create or modify property list (.plist) files. This detection leverages data from Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) agents, focusing on process names and command-line executions involving PlistBuddy. This activity is significant because PlistBuddy can be used to establish persistence by modifying LaunchAgents, as seen in the Silver Sparrow malware. If confirmed malicious, this could allow an attacker to maintain persistence, execute arbitrary commands, and potentially escalate privileges on the compromised macOS system.
Detection logic
| tstats `security_content_summariesonly` count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime from datamodel=Endpoint.Processes where Processes.process_name=PlistBuddy (Processes.process=*LaunchAgents* OR Processes.process=*RunAtLoad* OR Processes.process=*true*) by Processes.dest Processes.user Processes.parent_process Processes.process_name Processes.process Processes.process_id Processes.parent_process_id
| `drop_dm_object_name(Processes)`
| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
| `suspicious_plistbuddy_usage_filter`