sigmamediumHunting

MacOS Scripting Interpreter AppleScript

Detects execution of AppleScript of the macOS scripting language AppleScript.

MITRE ATT&CK

execution

Detection Query

selection:
  Image|endswith: /osascript
  CommandLine|contains:
    - " -e "
    - .scpt
    - .js
filter_optional_opencode:
  ParentImage|endswith: opencode
  CommandLine|contains|all:
    - osascript
    - " -e "
    - set imageData to the clipboard
    - set fileRef
condition: selection and not 1 of filter_optional_*

Author

Alejandro Ortuno, oscd.community

Created

2020-10-21

Data Sources

macosProcess Creation Events

Platforms

macos

References

Tags

attack.executionattack.t1059.002

Raw Content

title: MacOS Scripting Interpreter AppleScript
id: 1bc2e6c5-0885-472b-bed6-be5ea8eace55
status: test
description: Detects execution of AppleScript of the macOS scripting language AppleScript.
references:
    - https://github.com/redcanaryco/atomic-red-team/blob/f339e7da7d05f6057fdfcdd3742bfcf365fee2a9/atomics/T1059.002/T1059.002.md
    - https://redcanary.com/blog/applescript/
author: Alejandro Ortuno, oscd.community
date: 2020-10-21
modified: 2026-05-21
tags:
    - attack.execution
    - attack.t1059.002
logsource:
    category: process_creation
    product: macos
detection:
    selection:
        Image|endswith: '/osascript'
        CommandLine|contains:
            - ' -e '
            - '.scpt'
            - '.js'
    filter_optional_opencode:
        # OpenCode uses osascript to handle copying text from the TUI on MacOS devices. See https://github.com/anomalyco/opencode/blob/ca723f1cbc6fc4244ae57e61e9de8c4e37380ed4/packages/opencode/src/cli/cmd/tui/util/clipboard.ts#L65 for reference.
        ParentImage|endswith: 'opencode'
        CommandLine|contains|all:
            - 'osascript'
            - ' -e '
            - 'set imageData to the clipboard'
            - 'set fileRef'
    condition: selection and not 1 of filter_optional_*
falsepositives:
    - Application installers might contain scripts as part of the installation process.
level: medium