Sigma rule: System Information Discovery Via Sysctl - MacOS

Rule

Title

System Information Discovery Via Sysctl - MacOS

Status

test

Level

medium

Author

Pratinav Chandra

Date

2024-05-27

File

rules/macos/process_creation/proc_creation_macos_sysctl_discovery.yml

Commit

ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects the execution of "sysctl" with specific arguments that have been used by threat actors and malware. It provides system hardware information.
This process is primarily used to detect and avoid virtualization and analysis environments.

Log source

product

macos

category

process_creation

Detection

selection_img:
    - Image|endswith: '/sysctl'
    - CommandLine|contains: 'sysctl'
selection_cmd:
    CommandLine|contains:
        - 'hw.'
        - 'kern.'
        - 'machdep.'
condition: all of selection_*

False positives (as the rule lists them)

• Legitimate administrative activities

Tags

• attack.stealth
• attack.t1497.001
• attack.discovery
• attack.t1082

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

• T1082
• T1497.001

References

• https://www.loobins.io/binaries/sysctl/#
• https://evasions.checkpoint.com/techniques/macos.html
• https://www.welivesecurity.com/2019/04/09/oceanlotus-macos-malware-update/
• https://www.sentinelone.com/labs/20-common-tools-techniques-used-by-macos-threat-actors-malware/
• https://objective-see.org/blog/blog_0x1E.html
• https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/1c547a064494a35d6b5e6b459de183ab2720a22725e082bed6f6629211f7abc1/behavior
• https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/b4b1fc65f87b3dcfa35e2dbe8e0a34ad9d8a400bec332025c0a2e200671038aa/behavior

Read on 2026-11-03T00:58:21.399Z under licence sigma-drl-1.1@d5f4c36a from https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/macos/process_creation/proc_creation_macos_sysctl_discovery.yml