Sigma rule: Suspicious MacOS Firmware Activity

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-4a7ed03e2290, updated 2022-10-09T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title: Suspicious MacOS Firmware Activity
Status: test
Level: medium
Author: Austin Songer @austinsonger
Date: 2021-09-30
Modified: 2022-10-09
File: rules/macos/process_creation/proc_creation_macos_susp_macos_firmware_activity.yml
Commit: ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects when a user manipulates with Firmward Password on MacOS. NOTE - this command has been disabled on silicon-based apple computers.

Log source

product: macos
category: process_creation

Detection

selection1:
    Image: '/usr/sbin/firmwarepasswd'
    CommandLine|contains:
        - 'setpasswd'
        - 'full'
        - 'delete'
        - 'check'
condition: selection1

False positives (as the rule lists them)

Legitimate administration activities

References

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_susp_macos_firmware_activity.yml

Sources and licences

SigmaHQ
"Suspicious MacOS Firmware Activity" by Austin Songer @austinsonger (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/macos/process_creation/proc_creation_macos_susp_macos_firmware_activity.yml.
Licensed under the Detection Rule License (DRL) 1.1: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/Detection-Rule-License
Detection Rule License (DRL) 1.1

Cite this page

Dragons Eye Ransomware Tracker, "Sigma rule: Suspicious MacOS Firmware Activity",
entity page, dataset version ref-4a7ed03e2290, updated 2022-10-09T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/7ed2c9f7-c59d-4c82-a7e2-f859aa676099 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 7ed2c9f7-c59d-4c82-a7e2-f859aa676099, commit ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84.

Pages change. The dataset version identifies the data, but no archive of old versions is kept, so this citation cannot be replayed later.