Potential Privacy Control Bypass via TCCDB Modification

Identifies the use of sqlite3 to directly modify the Transparency, Consent, and Control (TCC) SQLite database. This may indicate an attempt to bypass macOS privacy controls, including access to sensitive resources like the system camera, microphone, address book, and calendar.

Elastic rule (View on GitHub)

 1[metadata]
 2creation_date = "2020/12/23"
 3integration = ["endpoint"]
 4maturity = "production"
 5updated_date = "2024/05/21"
 6
 7[rule]
 8author = ["Elastic"]
 9description = """
10Identifies the use of sqlite3 to directly modify the Transparency, Consent, and Control (TCC) SQLite database. This may
11indicate an attempt to bypass macOS privacy controls, including access to sensitive resources like the system camera,
12microphone, address book, and calendar.
13"""
14from = "now-9m"
15index = ["logs-endpoint.events.*"]
16language = "eql"
17license = "Elastic License v2"
18name = "Potential Privacy Control Bypass via TCCDB Modification"
19references = [
20    "https://applehelpwriter.com/2016/08/29/discovering-how-dropbox-hacks-your-mac/",
21    "https://github.com/bp88/JSS-Scripts/blob/master/TCC.db%20Modifier.sh",
22    "https://medium.com/@mattshockl/cve-2020-9934-bypassing-the-os-x-transparency-consent-and-control-tcc-framework-for-4e14806f1de8",
23]
24risk_score = 47
25rule_id = "eea82229-b002-470e-a9e1-00be38b14d32"
26setup = """## Setup
27
28This rule requires data coming in from Elastic Defend.
29
30### Elastic Defend Integration Setup
31Elastic 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.
32
33#### Prerequisite Requirements:
34- Fleet is required for Elastic Defend.
35- To configure Fleet Server refer to the [documentation](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/fleet/current/fleet-server.html).
36
37#### The following steps should be executed in order to add the Elastic Defend integration on a macOS System:
38- Go to the Kibana home page and click "Add integrations".
39- In the query bar, search for "Elastic Defend" and select the integration to see more details about it.
40- Click "Add Elastic Defend".
41- Configure the integration name and optionally add a description.
42- Select the type of environment you want to protect, for MacOS it is recommended to select "Traditional Endpoints".
43- 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).
44- We suggest selecting "Complete EDR (Endpoint Detection and Response)" as a configuration setting, that provides "All events; all preventions"
45- 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.
46For more details on Elastic Agent configuration settings, refer to the [helper guide](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/fleet/current/agent-policy.html).
47- Click "Save and Continue".
48- 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.
49For more details on Elastic Defend refer to the [helper guide](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/security/current/install-endpoint.html).
50"""
51severity = "medium"
52tags = [
53    "Domain: Endpoint",
54    "OS: macOS",
55    "Use Case: Threat Detection",
56    "Tactic: Defense Evasion",
57    "Data Source: Elastic Defend",
58]
59timestamp_override = "event.ingested"
60type = "eql"
61
62query = '''
63process where host.os.type == "macos" and event.type in ("start", "process_started") and process.name : "sqlite*" and
64 process.args : "/*/Application Support/com.apple.TCC/TCC.db" and
65 not process.parent.executable : "/Library/Bitdefender/AVP/product/bin/*"
66'''
67
68
69[[rule.threat]]
70framework = "MITRE ATT&CK"
71[[rule.threat.technique]]
72id = "T1562"
73name = "Impair Defenses"
74reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1562/"
75[[rule.threat.technique.subtechnique]]
76id = "T1562.001"
77name = "Disable or Modify Tools"
78reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1562/001/"
79
80
81
82[rule.threat.tactic]
83id = "TA0005"
84name = "Defense Evasion"
85reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0005/"

References

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