Gatekeeper Override and Execution

Last updated 8 days ago on 2026-02-03

Created 12 days ago on 2026-01-30

About

Detects when macOS Gatekeeper is overridden followed by execution of the same binary from a suspicious location. This behavior indicates an attempt to bypass Apple's security controls and execute potentially malicious software downloaded from the internet.

Tags

Domain: EndpointOS: macOSUse Case: Threat DetectionTactic: Defense EvasionData Source: Elastic DefendLanguage: eql

Severity

high

Risk Score

MITRE ATT&CK™

Defense Evasion (TA0005)(external, opens in a new tab or window)

↳ Impair Defenses (T1562)(external, opens in a new tab or window)

↳ Subvert Trust Controls (T1553)(external, opens in a new tab or window)

License

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

✄𐘗text code block:
✄𐘗configuration where host.os.type == "macos" and event.action == "gatekeeper_override" and
  file.path like ("/Volumes/*", "/Users/*/Applications/*", "/Applications/*",
                  "/tmp/*", "/private/tmp/*", "/var/tmp/*", "/private/var/tmp/*", "/Users/Shared/*",
                  "/Users/*/Downloads/*", "/Users/*/Desktop/*", "/Users/*/Documents/*")

Install detection rules in Elastic Security

Detect Gatekeeper Override and Execution 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(external, opens in a new tab or window).