macOS: Process execution of osacompile by applet/osascript child processes

Flags macOS applet or osascript processes launching command lines that contain osacompile.

FreeReviewedSigma · Medium · v2

Product: macos
Category: process_creation
Author: Sohan G (D4rkCiph3r), Red Canary (Idea) (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published: 2023-04-03
Updated: 2026-07-31

ATT&CK techniques

Execution

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
- T1059.002AppleScript
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule flags macOS process executions where a child process with a parent image ending in /applet or /osascript contains “osacompile” in its command line. Executing osacompile can indicate compilation or deployment of AppleScript-based components from script or applet contexts, which attackers may use to establish or modify functionality. It relies on process creation telemetry, specifically parent process image paths and the spawned process command line.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1059.002 — drag to rearrange

Suspicious Osascript Requesting Administrator Privileges (via process_creation)

Malicious Remote Script Piped to a Shell on macOS (via process_creation)

AppleScript do-shell-script Abuse via Osascript (via process_creation)

Suspicious AppleScript Payload Execution via osascript (macOS)

Suspicious AppleScript Execution Spawning a Shell via Osascript

Suspicious osascript Execution of Encoded AppleScript on macOS (via process_creation)

Suspicious Credential Prompt Phishing via osascript (via process_creation)

Malicious ClickFix Stager Piping curl Output to osascript

Suspicious Shell Execution Referencing Mounted DMG Volume via Terminal (macOS)

macOS: Process execution of osacompile by applet/osascript child processes

Pivot detection · T1059.002 · 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-detect-applet-osascript-execution-of-osacompile-via-process-command-line-a753a6af

title: "macOS: Process execution of osacompile by applet/osascript child processes"
id: a0c77cf5-1871-4534-a9d5-d6ecb2e2424d
status: test
description: This rule flags macOS process executions where a child process with a parent image ending in /applet or /osascript contains “osacompile” in its command line. Executing osacompile can indicate compilation or deployment of AppleScript-based components from script or applet contexts, which attackers may use to establish or modify functionality. It relies on process creation telemetry, specifically parent process image paths and the spawned process command line.
references:
  - https://redcanary.com/blog/mac-application-bundles/
  - https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/master/rules/macos/process_creation/proc_creation_macos_suspicious_applet_behaviour.yml
author: Sohan G (D4rkCiph3r), Red Canary (Idea), Huntrule Team
date: 2023-04-03
tags:
  - attack.execution
  - attack.t1059.002
logsource:
  category: process_creation
  product: macos
detection:
  selection:
    ParentImage|endswith:
      - /applet
      - /osascript
    CommandLine|contains: osacompile
  condition: selection
falsepositives:
  - Unknown
level: medium
license: DRL-1.1
related:
  - id: a753a6af-3126-426d-8bd0-26ebbcb92254
    type: derived

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