Execution with Explicit Credentials via Scripting

Last updated 5 months ago on 2025-03-18
Created 5 years ago on 2020-12-07

About

Identifies execution of the security_authtrampoline process via a scripting interpreter. This occurs when programs use AuthorizationExecute-WithPrivileges from the Security.framework to run another program with root privileges. It should not be run by itself, as this is a sign of execution with explicit logon credentials.
Tags
Domain: EndpointOS: macOSUse Case: Threat DetectionTactic: ExecutionTactic: Privilege EscalationData Source: Elastic DefendLanguage: eql
Severity
medium
Risk Score
47
MITRE ATT&CK™

Privilege Escalation (TA0004)(opens in a new tab or window)

Execution (TA0002)(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 == "security_authtrampoline" and
 process.parent.name like~ ("osascript", "com.apple.automator.runner", "sh", "bash", "dash", "zsh", "python*", "perl*", "php*", "ruby", "pwsh")

Install detection rules in Elastic Security

Detect Execution with Explicit Credentials via Scripting 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).