Malicious macOS LaunchAgent Persistence via Masqueraded com.apple hcpi Property List

ATT&CK techniques

Persistence → Priv Esc

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
- T1543.001Launch Agent
Priv Esc
- T1543.001Launch Agent
Defense Evasion
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule detects creation of a LaunchAgent property list that masquerades as an Apple system component using a com.apple prefix combined with an hcpi identifier. The MacSync RAT reverse engineered by Huntress installed persistence as a com.apple.<hex>.hcpi.plist LaunchAgent to survive reboots while blending in with legitimate Apple agents. The mismatch between the trusted-looking name and the user-writable LaunchAgents path is a strong persistence indicator.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1543.001 — drag to rearrange

Suspicious ClickLock LaunchAgent Persistence Plist Creation (via file_event)

Suspicious osascript LaunchAgent Plist Persistence for PhantomPulse on macOS

LaunchAgent or LaunchDaemon Persistence File Creation on macOS (via file_event)

Suspicious Persistence Load via Launchctl (via process_creation)

Masquerading Cuckoo Stealer LaunchAgent Masquerading as Homebrew Updater (via file_event)

Malicious Mini Shai-Hulud gh-token-monitor Persistence Service (via file_event)

Suspicious LaunchAgent Masquerading as coreaudiod (via file_event)

Suspicious LaunchAgent or LaunchDaemon Load via launchctl

Suspicious macOS LaunchAgent or LaunchDaemon Plist Creation

Malicious macOS LaunchAgent Persistence via Masqueraded com.apple hcpi Property List

Pivot detection · T1543.001 · 9 related

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