Unexpected Child Process of macOS Screensaver Engine
Identifies when a child process is spawned by the screensaver engine process, which is consistent with an attacker's malicious payload being executed after the screensaver activated on the endpoint. An adversary can…
Description
Identifies when a child process is spawned by the screensaver engine process, which is consistent with an attacker's malicious payload being executed after the screensaver activated on the endpoint. An adversary can maintain persistence on a macOS endpoint by creating a malicious screensaver (.saver) file and configuring the screensaver plist file to execute code each time the screensaver is activated.
Detection logic
Its licence does not clear it for publishing here
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Detection requirements
- Platform
- IaaSLinuxmacOSOffice SuiteSaaSWindows
The rule states no platform. This is derived from the ATT&CK technique it maps to.
- Log source category
- event_index
MITRE ATT&CK mappings
0 exclusive techniques.This is coverage no other published rule has; it is not this rule's total technique count.
References
| Reference | Cited by |
|---|---|
| github.com/D00MFist/PersistentJXA | 2 |
| posts.specterops.io/saving-your-access-d562bf5bf90b | 2 |
From the source
- At source
- Open at source
- Upstream identifier
- 48d7f54d-c29e-4430-93a9-9db6b5892270
- Tagged by the source as
- Data Source: Elastic DefendDomain: EndpointNoise: LowOS: macOSPerformance: NormalPlatform: macOSResources: Investigation GuideRule Type: Event Correlation (EQL)Tactic: PersistenceUse Case: Threat Detection
Licence
- Published under
- Elastic License 2.0Read the licence
- Attribution
- Required
Authorship
- Written by
- Published
- Sep 20, 2026
- Version
- 3