SoftwareUpdate Preferences Modification

Identifies changes to the SoftwareUpdate preferences using the built-in defaults command. Adversaries may abuse this in an attempt to disable security updates.

Rule type: query

Rule indices:

auditbeat-*
logs-endpoint.events.*

Severity: medium

Risk score: 47

Runs every: 5 minutes

Searches indices from: now-9m (Date Math format, see also Additional look-back time)

Maximum alerts per execution: 100

References:

https://blog.checkpoint.com/2017/07/13/osxdok-refuses-go-away-money/

Tags:

Elastic
Host
macOS
Threat Detection
Defense Evasion

Version: 1

Added (Elastic Stack release): 7.12.0

Rule authors: Elastic

Rule license: Elastic License v2

Potential false positives

edit

Authorized SoftwareUpdate Settings Changes

Rule query

edit

event.category:process and event.type:(start or process_started) and
process.name:defaults and process.args:(write and "-bool" and
(com.apple.SoftwareUpdate or
/Library/Preferences/com.apple.SoftwareUpdate.plist) and not (TRUE or
true))

Threat mapping

edit

Framework: MITRE ATT&CK^TM

Tactic:
- Name: Defense Evasion
- ID: TA0005
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0005/
Technique:
- Name: Impair Defenses
- ID: T1562
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1562/

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