Detection: MacOS plutil

Updated Date: 2026-05-13 ID: c11f2b57-92c1-4cd2-b46c-064eafb833ac Author: Patrick Bareiss, Splunk Type: TTP Product: Splunk Enterprise Security

Description

The following analytic detects the usage of the plutil command to modify plist files on macOS systems. It leverages osquery to monitor process events, specifically looking for executions of /usr/bin/plutil. This activity is significant because adversaries can use plutil to alter plist files, potentially adding malicious binaries or command-line arguments that execute upon user logon or system startup. If confirmed malicious, this could allow attackers to achieve persistence, execute arbitrary code, or escalate privileges, posing a significant threat to the system's security.

Search

 1`osquery_macro` name=es_process_events columns.path=/usr/bin/plutil
 2  
 3| rename columns.* as *
 4  
 5| stats count  min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime
 6    BY username host cmdline
 7       pid path parent
 8       signing_id
 9  
10| rename username as user, cmdline as process, path as process_path, host as dest
11  
12| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
13  
14| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
15  
16| `macos_plutil_filter`

Data Source

Name	Platform	Sourcetype	Source
Osquery Results	Other	`'osquery:results'`	`'osquery'`

Macros Used

Name	Value
security_content_ctime	`convert timeformat="%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S" ctime($field$)`
macos_plutil_filter	`search *`

macos_plutil_filter is an empty macro by default. It allows the user to filter out any results (false positives) without editing the SPL.

Annotations

- MITRE ATT&CK

+ Kill Chain Phases

+ NIST

+ CIS

- Threat Actors

ID	Technique	Tactic
T1647	Plist File Modification	Defense Impairment

Exploitation

DE.CM

CIS 10

Default Configuration

This detection is configured by default in Splunk Enterprise Security to run with the following settings:

Setting	Value
Disabled	true
Cron Schedule	`0 * * * *`
Earliest Time	`-70m@m`
Latest Time	`-10m@m`
Schedule Window	`auto`
Creates Finding (Notable)	Yes
Rule Title	`%name%`
Rule Description	`%description%`
Notable Event Fields	user, dest
Creates Intermediate Finding (Risk Event)	Yes

TTP detections generate a Finding (Notable) and may generate Intermediate Findings (Risk Events) for associated entities.

Implementation

This detection uses osquery and endpoint security on MacOS. Follow the link in references, which describes how to setup process auditing in MacOS with endpoint security and osquery.

Known False Positives

Administrators using plutil to change plist files.

Associated Analytic Story

Living Off The Land

Finding

Title	Entity Field	Entity Type	Risk Score
plutil are executed on $dest$ from $user$	user	user	50

Intermediate Findings

Message	Entity Field	Entity Type	Risk Score
plutil are executed on $dest$ from $user$	dest	system	50

References

https://osquery.readthedocs.io/en/stable/deployment/process-auditing/

Detection Testing

Test Type	Status	Dataset	Source	Sourcetype
Validation	✅ Passing	N/A	N/A	N/A
Unit	✅ Passing	Dataset	`osquery`	`osquery:results`
Integration	✅ Passing	Dataset	`osquery`	`osquery:results`

Replay any dataset to Splunk Enterprise by using our replay.py tool or the UI. Alternatively you can replay a dataset into a Splunk Attack Range

Source: GitHub | Version: 11