Malicious AMOS Stealer AppleScript Execution via osascript

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 detects osascript executing AppleScript that shells out to remove quarantine attributes and grant execution permissions, a technique used by the Atomic (AMOS) Stealer delivered through fake DeepSeek installer sites. Attackers combine do shell script with xattr and chmod to run unsigned payloads while evading Gatekeeper, so this activity is a strong indicator of macOS stealer staging.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1059.002 — drag to rearrange

Malicious Data Exfiltration via curl with Stealer Specific BuildID Header

Suspicious osascript Password Prompt via AppleScript Display Dialog (via process_creation)

Malicious Sapphire Sleet curl to osascript Chain With mac-cur User-Agent (via process_creation)

Suspicious osascript Spawning Shell Interpreter on macOS

Suspicious AMOS Stealer Fake Password Prompt via osascript (via process_creation)

Suspicious osascript Spawning Shell curl to External Host on macOS (via process_creation)

Malicious Fake Zoom AppleScript Execution via Osascript

Suspicious osascript Fake Password Prompt by ClickLock macOS Stealer (via process_creation)

Malicious AppleScript Execution of curl-Fetched Shell Payload via osascript (via process_creation)

Malicious AMOS Stealer AppleScript Execution via osascript

Pivot detection · T1059.002 · 9 related

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

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