Remote SSH Login Enabled via systemsetup Command

Last updated 5 months ago on 2025-03-18
Created 5 years ago on 2020-08-18

About

Detects use of the systemsetup command to enable remote SSH Login.
Tags
Domain: EndpointOS: macOSUse Case: Threat DetectionTactic: Lateral MovementData Source: Elastic DefendLanguage: eql
Severity
medium
Risk Score
47
MITRE ATT&CK™

Lateral Movement (TA0008)(opens in a new tab or window)

License
Elastic License v2(opens in a new tab or window)

Definition

Rule Type
Event Correlation Rule
Integration Pack
Prebuilt Security Detection Rules
Index Patterns
logs-endpoint.events.*
Related Integrations

endpoint(opens in a new tab or window)

Query
process where host.os.type == "macos" and event.type in ("start", "process_started") and
 process.name == "systemsetup" and
 process.args like~ "-setremotelogin" and 
 process.args like~ "on" and
 process.parent.executable != null and
 not process.parent.executable like ("/usr/local/jamf/bin/jamf", "/usr/libexec/xpcproxy", "/usr/bin/sudo")

Install detection rules in Elastic Security

Detect Remote SSH Login Enabled via systemsetup Command in the Elastic Security detection engine by installing this rule into your Elastic Stack.

To setup this rule, check out the installation guide for Prebuilt Security Detection Rules(opens in a new tab or window).