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

ATT&CK techniques

Execution

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
- T1059.002AppleScript
- T1204.002Malicious File
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule detects a shell process launched by Terminal whose command line references a path under /Volumes, matching the drag-to-Terminal execution technique used by fake macOS installers to run infostealer payloads. Adversaries populate the Terminal prompt with a path to a mounted DMG so the victim executes the payload manually. This bypasses Gatekeeper prompts and leads to credential and browser data theft.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1204.002 — drag to rearrange

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

Pivot detection · T1204.002 · 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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