Sigma rule: Local Groups Discovery - MacOs

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-1f01932eb02d, updated 2022-11-27T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
Local Groups Discovery - MacOs
Status
test
Level
informational
Author
Ömer Günal, Alejandro Ortuno, oscd.community
Date
2020-10-11
Modified
2022-11-27
File
rules/macos/process_creation/proc_creation_macos_local_groups.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects enumeration of local system groups

Log source

product
macos
category
process_creation

Detection

selection_1:
    Image|endswith: '/dscacheutil'
    CommandLine|contains|all:
        - '-q'
        - 'group'
selection_2:
    Image|endswith: '/cat'
    CommandLine|contains: '/etc/group'
selection_3:
    Image|endswith: '/dscl'
    CommandLine|contains|all:
        - '-list'
        - '/groups'
condition: 1 of selection*

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Legitimate administration activities

Tags

  • attack.discovery
  • attack.t1069.001

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

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_local_groups.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "Local Groups Discovery - MacOs" by Ömer Günal, Alejandro Ortuno, oscd.community (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/macos/process_creation/proc_creation_macos_local_groups.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: Local Groups Discovery - MacOs",
entity page, dataset version ref-1f01932eb02d, updated 2022-11-27T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/89bb1f97-c7b9-40e8-b52b-7d6afbd67276 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 89bb1f97-c7b9-40e8-b52b-7d6afbd67276, 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.