Analytics BIOC Informational
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Uncommon macOS shell command execution

An unusual process execution of a shell command on macOS. This action may indicate possible exploitation or shell command execution via a backdoor.

Module:
Platform Analytics
Data source:
XDR Agent
ATT&CK tactics: Execution (TA0002)
ATT&CK techniques: Command and Scripting Interpreter: Unix Shell (T1059.004) Command and Scripting Interpreter (T1059)
Detector tags: Shell Analytics
Attacker's goals:

An attacker may attempt to execute a malicious shell command on the system.

Investigative actions:

Check whether the executing process is benign and if this was a desired behavior as part of its normal execution flow. Check the executed shell command (and possible child processes) for malicious actions.

Test period:
N/A (single event)
Deduplication:
1 Day
10 variations:
  • Uncommon macOS shell command execution by a BAS solution High (parent: Informational)
  • Uncommon macOS shell command execution running a curl / wget in an uncommon way High (parent: Informational)
  • Uncommon macOS shell command execution taking a screenshot Low (parent: Informational) Adds Screen Capture (T1113)
  • Uncommon macOS shell command execution trying to gather information about the system Low (parent: Informational) Adds System Information Discovery (T1082) Software Discovery (T1518) Account Discovery (T1087) Account Discovery: Local Account (T1087.001) System Owner/User Discovery (T1033) Network Service Discovery (T1046) System Network Configuration Discovery (T1016) System Network Connections Discovery (T1049) File and Directory Discovery (T1083) Peripheral Device Discovery (T1120) Software Discovery: Security Software Discovery (T1518.001)
  • Uncommon macOS shell command execution loading a kernel extension Low (parent: Informational) Adds Boot or Logon Autostart Execution: Kernel Modules and Extensions (T1547.006)
  • Uncommon macOS shell command execution, possibly granting file execution permissions Low (parent: Informational) Adds File and Directory Permissions Modification (T1222)
  • Uncommon macOS shell command execution running a process kill command Low (parent: Informational)
  • Uncommon macOS shell command execution executed an AppleScript Low (parent: Informational) Adds Command and Scripting Interpreter: AppleScript (T1059.002)
  • Uncommon macOS shell command execution from an unsigned process Low (parent: Informational) Adds Masquerading: Invalid Code Signature (T1036.001)
  • Uncommon macOS shell command execution of an exceedingly rare process Low (parent: Informational) Adds Network Service Discovery (T1046)