JAMF MDM Execution

Status: test
Severity: low
Log source: product macos, category process_creation
Author: Jay Pandit
Source: github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma

Detects execution of the "jamf" binary to create user accounts and run commands. For example, the binary can be abused by attackers on the system in order to bypass security controls or remove application control polices.

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Tactic	Techniques
Execution	No specific technique

Event coverage

Provider	Event	Title
ESF	exec	Process Execution (Notify)

Rule body yaml

title: JAMF MDM Execution
id: be2e3a5c-9cc7-4d02-842a-68e9cb26ec49
status: test
description: |
    Detects execution of the "jamf" binary to create user accounts and run commands. For example, the binary can be abused by attackers on the system in order to bypass security controls or remove application control polices.
references:
    - https://github.com/MythicAgents/typhon/
    - https://www.zoocoup.org/casper/jamf_cheatsheet.pdf
    - https://docs.jamf.com/10.30.0/jamf-pro/administrator-guide/Components_Installed_on_Managed_Computers.html
author: Jay Pandit
date: 2023-08-22
tags:
    - attack.execution
logsource:
    category: process_creation
    product: macos
detection:
    selection:
        Image|endswith: '/jamf'
        CommandLine|contains:
            # Note: add or remove commands according to your policy
            - 'createAccount'
            - 'manage'
            - 'removeFramework'
            - 'removeMdmProfile'
            - 'resetPassword'
            - 'setComputerName'
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate use of the JAMF CLI tool by IT support and administrators
level: low

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: `condition`

selection

Stage 1: `selection`

selection:
    Image|endswith: '/jamf'
    CommandLine|contains:
        - 'createAccount'
        - 'manage'
        - 'removeFramework'
        - 'removeMdmProfile'
        - 'resetPassword'
        - 'setComputerName'

Indicators

Each row is a field, operator, and value that the rule matches. The corpus column counts how many other rules in the catalog look for the same combination: high numbers point to widely-used, community-vetted indicators. Blank or 1 shows that the indicator is specific to this rule.

Field	Kind	Values
`CommandLine`	match	`createAccount` `manage` `removeFramework` `removeMdmProfile` `resetPassword` `setComputerName`
`Image`	ends_with	`/jamf`

`j` / `k`	Scroll down / up
`d` / `u`	Half-page down / up
`gg` / `G`	Top / bottom
`h` / `l`	History back / forward
`f`	Follow link (`Shift` = new tab)
`/`	Focus search
`?`	Toggle this help
`↑` / `↓`	Navigate search results
`Enter`	Open highlighted result
`Esc`	Close results / dialog

`type:`	`events` / `rules` / `providers`
`vendor:`	`sigma` / `elastic` / `splunk` / `kusto` / `chronicle` (vendor name alone also works: `sigma:`, `kql:`, `secops:`…)
`tactic:`	TA-id, slug, or name: `credential_access`, `TA0006`
`technique:`	technique or sub-technique ID: `T1003`, `T1003.001` (alias `tech:`)
`severity:`	`critical` / `high` / `medium` / `low` / `informational` (alias `sev:`)
`risk_score`	Numeric comparison on the Elastic risk score (0 to 100): `risk_score>50`, `risk_score<=20`, `risk_score=99` (alias `risk`; Elastic rules only)
`stages:`	Rules with exactly N pipeline stages
`correlation:`	`single_event` / `sequence` / `alternatives` / `alternatives_cross_log` / `all_required` / `correlated`
`with:`	Co-occurrence event-id; stacks (`with:4624 with:4769`) to require all, while a comma list in one occurrence (`with:4624,4769`) is an either-or group. Implies multi-event
`like:`	Structural neighbors of a rule slug (equivalents + subsumption stricter / broader): `like:comsvcs_lsass_memory_dump-splunk-sysmon`
`groupby:`	Entity-grouping substring match against `group_by_keys`: `groupby:user`, `groupby:host`
`uses:`	Rules whose predicate tree touches the field (any kind, any value): `uses:CommandLine`
`excludes:`	Rules with top-level `not()` clauses on the field (FP whitelists): `excludes:ParentImage`
`field:` / `value:`	Predicate search; narrows rule cards to those with a matching leaf and drives the indicator tier. Unquoted = substring, wildcards allowed (`value:mimikatz`)
`indicator:`	Shorthand for `field:F value:V`: `indicator:Image=*\powershell.exe`
`kind:`	Filter by predicate kind. Narrows rule cards to those carrying a matching predicate leaf (`vendor:elastic kind:cidr_match`) and drives the indicator tier: `contains` / `starts_with` / `ends_with` / `regex` / `cidr` / `eq` / `in` … (operator aliases `op:`/`match:`)
`has:` / `no:`	`sample`, `field`, `notes`, `refs`, `trace`, `thirdparty`, `rule`, `pattern`, `timewindow`, `threshold`, `newterms`, `sigma`/`elastic`/`splunk`/`kusto`/`chronicle`
`-op:val`	Exclude matches; works on most operators but not `type:`/`like:`/`has:`/`no:` (use `no:<flag>` to exclude a rule flag): `tactic:execution -vendor:splunk`. Standalone `-kind:`/`-field:`/`-value:` drop every rule carrying a matching predicate leaf (`type:rules -kind:is_null`)
`field:"…"` / `value:"…"`	Quoted value = anchored exact match (also allows spaces): `value:"net user"`
`a,b`	Comma = OR inside one operator (`vendor:sigma,elastic`, `severity:high,critical`); repeating a facet merges the same way. `field:`/`value:` never split (literal commas)
`vendors:` / `stage:`	Singular and plural spellings fold to the canonical operator and value: `tactics:` = `tactic:`, `type:event` = `type:events`, `correlation:sequences` = `correlation:sequence`, `has:thresholds` = `has:threshold`
`"quoted phrase"`	Exact-match a multi-word phrase (free text)

JAMF MDM Execution

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rule body yaml

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: `condition`

Stage 1: `selection`

Indicators

Keyboard shortcuts

Search operators

JAMF MDM Execution

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rule body yaml

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: condition

Stage 1: selection

Indicators

Stage 0: `condition`

Stage 1: `selection`