macOS csrutil Used to Disable System Integrity Protection (SIP)

Detects macOS processes running csrutil to disable SIP by matching /csrutil with a command line containing 'disable'.

FreeReviewedSigma · Medium · v2

Product: macos
Category: process_creation
Author: Joseliyo Sanchez, @Joseliyo_Jstnk (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published: 2024-01-02
Updated: 2026-07-31

ATT&CK techniques

Discovery

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
Cred Access
Discovery
- T1518.001Security Software Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule identifies macOS process executions where the command line includes "disable" and the executed image ends with "csrutil", indicating an attempt to disable System Integrity Protection. Disabling SIP can weaken macOS security controls and is commonly used during post-exploitation to facilitate further tampering. The detection relies on process creation telemetry including the executable path and command-line arguments.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1518.001 — drag to rearrange

Antivirus Software Discovery via tasklist and findstr

Suspicious Security Software Discovery via WMI or Defender Query (via process_creation)

Suspicious Security Software Discovery via PowerShell SecurityCenter2 AntivirusProduct Query (via process_creation)

Suspicious Antivirus Product Enumeration via WMI Query via process_creation

Suspicious Security Software Discovery via tasklist and findstr (via process_creation)

Suspicious Security Process Enumeration via Tasklist And Findstr

Suspicious Security Software Enumeration on macOS

macOS SIP Status Enumeration via csrutil status

Windows Process Execution of findstr.EXE for Security Tool Keyword Filtering

macOS csrutil Used to Disable System Integrity Protection (SIP)

Pivot detection · T1518.001 · 9 related

Changelog

v2
Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
v1
No changelog recorded for this version.2026-07-30

Detection content is published as a reviewed draft. Tune thresholds and exclusions against your own telemetry before enabling this rule for alerting.

macos-csrutil-used-to-disable-system-integrity-protection-sip-3603f18a

title: macOS csrutil Used to Disable System Integrity Protection (SIP)
id: 384d54eb-69a4-4789-baad-21ca59af1cbe
status: test
description: This rule identifies macOS process executions where the command line includes "disable" and the executed image ends with "csrutil", indicating an attempt to disable System Integrity Protection. Disabling SIP can weaken macOS security controls and is commonly used during post-exploitation to facilitate further tampering. The detection relies on process creation telemetry including the executable path and command-line arguments.
references:
  - https://ss64.com/osx/csrutil.html
  - https://objective-see.org/blog/blog_0x6D.html
  - https://www.welivesecurity.com/2017/10/20/osx-proton-supply-chain-attack-elmedia/
  - https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/05a2adb266ec6c0ba9ed176d87d8530e71e845348c13caf9f60049760c312cd3/behavior
  - https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/master/rules/macos/process_creation/proc_creation_macos_csrutil_disable.yml
author: Joseliyo Sanchez, @Joseliyo_Jstnk, Huntrule Team
date: 2024-01-02
tags:
  - attack.discovery
  - attack.t1518.001
logsource:
  product: macos
  category: process_creation
detection:
  selection:
    Image|endswith: /csrutil
    CommandLine|contains: disable
  condition: selection
falsepositives:
  - Unknown
level: medium
license: DRL-1.1
related:
  - id: 3603f18a-ec15-43a1-9af2-d196c8a7fec6
    type: derived

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