Suspicious Shell Password Gathering Referencing System Preferences (via process_creation)

ATT&CK techniques

Execution → Cred Access

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
- T1059.002AppleScript
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
Cred Access
- T1555Credentials from Password Stores
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule detects a shell command line referencing both system preferences and password, the shell-based credential-gathering pattern Red Canary associated with Atomic Stealer on macOS. This wording is used to coax users into entering their password while impersonating a system settings prompt, so its appearance warrants review for credential theft.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1059.002 — drag to rearrange

Suspicious Credential Prompt Phishing via osascript (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)

Malicious User Files Dump via Network Share - DonPapi, Lazagne (via security)

Malicious User Application Credentials Dump via Network Share - DonPapi, Lazagne (via security)

Malicious Veeam Credential Theft via PowerShell (via ps_script)

Suspicious AppleScript Payload Execution via osascript (macOS)

Malicious Credential Harvesting via LaZagne (via process_creation)

Suspicious AppleScript Execution Spawning a Shell via Osascript

Suspicious Shell Password Gathering Referencing System Preferences (via process_creation)

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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