Cross-source coverage
T1548.004 / ATT&CK
Abuse Elevation Control Mechanism: Elevated Execution with Prompt
3 rules across 2 sources.
From MITRE ATT&CK 19.2
Adversaries may leverage the AuthorizationExecuteWithPrivileges API to escalate privileges by prompting the user for credentials. The purpose of this API is to give application developers an easy way to perform operations with root privileges, such as for application installation or updating. This API does not validate that the program requesting root privileges comes from a reputable source or has been maliciously modified.
Although this API is deprecated, it still fully functions in the latest releases of macOS. When calling this API, the user will be prompted to enter their credentials but no checks on the origin or integrity of the program are made. The program calling the API may also load world writable files which can be modified to perform malicious behavior with elevated privileges.
Adversaries may abuse AuthorizationExecuteWithPrivileges to obtain root privileges in order to install malicious software on victims and install persistence mechanisms. This technique may be combined with Masquerading to trick the user into granting escalated privileges to malicious code. This technique has also been shown to work by modifying legitimate programs present on the machine that make use of this API.
- Tactics
- Privilege Escalation
- Platforms
- macOS
- Telemetry
-
macos:unifiedlog
How MITRE says to detect it DET0395
macOS AuthorizationExecuteWithPrivileges Elevation Prompt Detection
macOS Analytic 1111
Detects abuse of AuthorizationExecuteWithPrivileges API to gain elevated privileges via user credential prompts, typically through invocation of /usr/libexec/security_authtrampoline. Detection involves correlation of API usage, binary reputation, and prompt context.
macos:unifiedlogExecution of /usr/libexec/security_authtrampoline or child processes originating from non-trusted binaries triggering credential promptsmacos:unifiedlogCalls to AuthorizationExecuteWithPrivileges() observed via Apple System Logger or security_auditing toolsmacos:unifiedlogUser credential prompt events without associated trusted installer package
elastic/detection-rules
2 rules| Detection | Severity | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Apple Scripting Execution with Administrator Privileges | Medium | Elastic TOML |
| Execution with Explicit Credentials via Scripting | Medium | Elastic TOML |
elastic/protections-artifacts
1 rule| Detection | Severity | Format |
|---|---|---|
| ExecuteWithPrivileges Prompt via Unsigned or Untrusted Application | Undefined | Elastic TOML |