Suspicious COOKIE SPIDER LaunchDaemon Persistence via com.finder.helper Property List (via file_event)

PremiumReviewedSigma · High · v1
Product
macos
Category
file_event
Author
HuntRule
Published
2026-09-13
Updated
2026-09-13

ATT&CK techniques

Persistence → Priv Esc
  1. Recon

  2. Resource Dev

  3. Initial Access

  4. Execution

  5. Defense Evasion

  6. Cred Access

  7. Discovery

  8. Lateral Movement

  9. Collection

  10. C2

  11. Exfiltration

  12. Impact

What it detects

This rule detects creation of the com.finder.helper property list used for persistence on macOS. The SHAMOS stealer writes this plist into the LaunchDaemons directory so the payload re-executes across reboots. This masqueraded property list name is a specific persistence indicator.

Related detections7 linkedT1543.004 — drag to rearrange
LaunchAgent or LaunchDaemon Persistence File Creation on macOS (via file_event)
Malicious Mini Shai-Hulud gh-token-monitor Persistence Service (via file_event)
Malicious macOS LaunchDaemon Persistence Masquerading as Finder Helper
Suspicious macOS LaunchAgent or LaunchDaemon Plist Creation
macOS File Persistence from Atomic MacOS Stealer (helper file and LaunchDaemon plist)
macOS launchctl Execution of Launch Agent/Daemon
macOS Persistence Attempt Using PlistBuddy to Modify LaunchAgents/LaunchDaemons
Suspicious COOKIE SPIDER LaunchDaemon Persistence via com.finder.helper Property List (via file_event)
Pivot detection · T1543.004 · 7 related

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