Uncommon macOS shell command execution

Cortex XSIAM Analytics Alert Reference by Alert name

Product
Cortex XSIAM
Last date published
2025-06-24
Category
Analytics Alert Reference
Index by
Alert name

Synopsis

Activation Period

14 Days

Training Period

30 Days

Test Period

N/A (single event)

Deduplication Period

1 Day

Required Data

  • Requires:
    • XDR Agent

Detection Modules

Detector Tags

Shell Analytics

ATT&CK Tactic

Execution (TA0002)

ATT&CK Technique

Severity

Informational

Description

An unusual process execution of a shell command on macOS. This action may indicate possible exploitation or shell command execution via a backdoor.

Attacker's Goals

An attacker may attempt to execute a malicious shell command on the system.

Investigative actions

  • Check whether the executing process is benign, and if this was a desired behavior as part of its normal execution flow.
  • Check the executed shell command (and possible child processes) for malicious actions.

Variations

Uncommon macOS shell command execution by a BAS solution

Synopsis

ATT&CK Tactic

Execution (TA0002)

ATT&CK Technique

Severity

High

Description

An unusual process execution of a shell command on macOS. This action may indicate possible exploitation or shell command execution via a backdoor.

Attacker's Goals

An attacker may attempt to execute a malicious shell command on the system.

Investigative actions

  • Check whether the executing process is benign, and if this was a desired behavior as part of its normal execution flow.
  • Check the executed shell command (and possible child processes) for malicious actions.


Uncommon macOS shell command execution running a curl / wget in an uncommon way

Synopsis

ATT&CK Tactic

Execution (TA0002)

ATT&CK Technique

Severity

High

Description

An unusual process execution of a shell command on macOS. This action may indicate possible exploitation or shell command execution via a backdoor.

Attacker's Goals

An attacker may attempt to execute a malicious shell command on the system.

Investigative actions

  • Check whether the executing process is benign, and if this was a desired behavior as part of its normal execution flow.
  • Check the executed shell command (and possible child processes) for malicious actions.


Uncommon macOS shell command execution taking a screenshot

Synopsis

ATT&CK Tactic

ATT&CK Technique

Severity

Low

Description

An unusual process execution of a shell command on macOS. This action may indicate possible exploitation or shell command execution via a backdoor.

Attacker's Goals

An attacker may attempt to execute a malicious shell command on the system.

Investigative actions

  • Check whether the executing process is benign, and if this was a desired behavior as part of its normal execution flow.
  • Check the executed shell command (and possible child processes) for malicious actions.


Uncommon macOS shell command execution trying to gather information about the system

Synopsis

ATT&CK Tactic

ATT&CK Technique

Severity

Low

Description

An unusual process execution of a shell command on macOS. This action may indicate possible exploitation or shell command execution via a backdoor.

Attacker's Goals

An attacker may attempt to execute a malicious shell command on the system.

Investigative actions

  • Check whether the executing process is benign, and if this was a desired behavior as part of its normal execution flow.
  • Check the executed shell command (and possible child processes) for malicious actions.


Uncommon macOS shell command execution loading a kernel extension

Synopsis

ATT&CK Tactic

ATT&CK Technique

Severity

Low

Description

An unusual process execution of a shell command on macOS. This action may indicate possible exploitation or shell command execution via a backdoor.

Attacker's Goals

An attacker may attempt to execute a malicious shell command on the system.

Investigative actions

  • Check whether the executing process is benign, and if this was a desired behavior as part of its normal execution flow.
  • Check the executed shell command (and possible child processes) for malicious actions.


Uncommon macOS shell command execution, possibly granting file execution permissions

Synopsis

ATT&CK Tactic

ATT&CK Technique

Severity

Low

Description

An unusual process execution of a shell command on macOS. This action may indicate possible exploitation or shell command execution via a backdoor.

Attacker's Goals

An attacker may attempt to execute a malicious shell command on the system.

Investigative actions

  • Check whether the executing process is benign, and if this was a desired behavior as part of its normal execution flow.
  • Check the executed shell command (and possible child processes) for malicious actions.


Uncommon macOS shell command execution running a process kill command

Synopsis

ATT&CK Tactic

Execution (TA0002)

ATT&CK Technique

Severity

Low

Description

An unusual process execution of a shell command on macOS. This action may indicate possible exploitation or shell command execution via a backdoor.

Attacker's Goals

An attacker may attempt to execute a malicious shell command on the system.

Investigative actions

  • Check whether the executing process is benign, and if this was a desired behavior as part of its normal execution flow.
  • Check the executed shell command (and possible child processes) for malicious actions.


Uncommon macOS shell command execution executed an AppleScript

Synopsis

ATT&CK Tactic

Execution (TA0002)

ATT&CK Technique

Severity

Low

Description

An unusual process execution of a shell command on macOS. This action may indicate possible exploitation or shell command execution via a backdoor.

Attacker's Goals

An attacker may attempt to execute a malicious shell command on the system.

Investigative actions

  • Check whether the executing process is benign, and if this was a desired behavior as part of its normal execution flow.
  • Check the executed shell command (and possible child processes) for malicious actions.


Uncommon macOS shell command execution from an unsigned process

Synopsis

ATT&CK Tactic

ATT&CK Technique

Severity

Low

Description

An unusual process execution of a shell command on macOS. This action may indicate possible exploitation or shell command execution via a backdoor.

Attacker's Goals

An attacker may attempt to execute a malicious shell command on the system.

Investigative actions

  • Check whether the executing process is benign, and if this was a desired behavior as part of its normal execution flow.
  • Check the executed shell command (and possible child processes) for malicious actions.


Uncommon macOS shell command execution of an exceedingly rare process

Synopsis

ATT&CK Tactic

ATT&CK Technique

Severity

Low

Description

An unusual process execution of a shell command on macOS. This action may indicate possible exploitation or shell command execution via a backdoor.

Attacker's Goals

An attacker may attempt to execute a malicious shell command on the system.

Investigative actions

  • Check whether the executing process is benign, and if this was a desired behavior as part of its normal execution flow.
  • Check the executed shell command (and possible child processes) for malicious actions.