Potential Persistence via Login Hook

[metadata]
creation_date = "2021/01/21"
integration = ["endpoint"]
maturity = "production"
updated_date = "2026/03/24"

[rule]
author = ["Elastic"]
description = """
Identifies the creation or modification of the login window property list (plist). Adversaries may modify plist files to
run a program during system boot or user login for persistence.
"""
from = "now-9m"
index = ["logs-endpoint.events.*"]
language = "kuery"
license = "Elastic License v2"
name = "Potential Persistence via Login Hook"
note = """## Triage and analysis

Starting in Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion), users can specify certain applications to be re-opened when a user reboots their machine. This can be abused to establish or maintain persistence on a compromised system."""
references = ["https://github.com/D00MFist/PersistentJXA/blob/master/LoginScript.js"]
risk_score = 47
rule_id = "ac412404-57a5-476f-858f-4e8fbb4f48d8"
setup = """## Setup

This rule requires data coming in from Elastic Defend.

### Elastic Defend Integration Setup
Elastic Defend is integrated into the Elastic Agent using Fleet. Upon configuration, the integration allows the Elastic Agent to monitor events on your host and send data to the Elastic Security app.

#### Prerequisite Requirements:
- Fleet is required for Elastic Defend.
- To configure Fleet Server refer to the [documentation](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/fleet/current/fleet-server.html).

#### The following steps should be executed in order to add the Elastic Defend integration on a macOS System:
- Go to the Kibana home page and click "Add integrations".
- In the query bar, search for "Elastic Defend" and select the integration to see more details about it.
- Click "Add Elastic Defend".
- Configure the integration name and optionally add a description.
- Select the type of environment you want to protect, for MacOS it is recommended to select "Traditional Endpoints".
- Select a configuration preset. Each preset comes with different default settings for Elastic Agent, you can further customize these later by configuring the Elastic Defend integration policy. [Helper guide](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/security/current/configure-endpoint-integration-policy.html).
- We suggest selecting "Complete EDR (Endpoint Detection and Response)" as a configuration setting, that provides "All events; all preventions"
- Enter a name for the agent policy in "New agent policy name". If other agent policies already exist, you can click the "Existing hosts" tab and select an existing policy instead.
For more details on Elastic Agent configuration settings, refer to the [helper guide](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/fleet/current/agent-policy.html).
- Click "Save and Continue".
- To complete the integration, select "Add Elastic Agent to your hosts" and continue to the next section to install the Elastic Agent on your hosts.
For more details on Elastic Defend refer to the [helper guide](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/security/current/install-endpoint.html).
"""
severity = "medium"
tags = [
    "Domain: Endpoint",
    "OS: macOS",
    "Use Case: Threat Detection",
    "Tactic: Persistence",
    "Data Source: Elastic Defend",
    "Resources: Investigation Guide",
]
timestamp_override = "event.ingested"
type = "query"

query = '''
event.category:file and host.os.type:macos and not event.type:"deletion" and
 file.name:"com.apple.loginwindow.plist" and
 not process.name: (systemmigrationd or DesktopServicesHelper or diskmanagementd or rsync or launchd or cfprefsd or xpcproxy or ManagedClient or MCXCompositor or backupd or "iMazing Profile Editor" or storagekitd or CloneKitService)
'''


[[rule.threat]]
framework = "MITRE ATT&CK"

[[rule.threat.technique]]
id = "T1037"
name = "Boot or Logon Initialization Scripts"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1037/"

[[rule.threat.technique.subtechnique]]
id = "T1037.002"
name = "Login Hook"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1037/002/"

[[rule.threat.technique]]
id = "T1547"
name = "Boot or Logon Autostart Execution"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1547/"

[rule.threat.tactic]
id = "TA0003"
name = "Persistence"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0003/"

[[rule.threat]]
framework = "MITRE ATT&CK"

[[rule.threat.technique]]
id = "T1647"
name = "Plist File Modification"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1647/"

[rule.threat.tactic]
id = "TA0005"
name = "Defense Evasion"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0005/"