MacOS Keychains Dumped

name: MacOS Keychains Dumped
id: dcb45a09-5e6f-441e-b2f8-cbbf923e36d9
version: 4
creation_date: '2026-04-14'
modification_date: '2026-05-13'
author: Raven Tait, Jamie Windley, Splunk
status: production
type: TTP
description: |-
    Detects command-line attempts to access or dump macOS Keychain data using native utilities or direct file access.
    This includes credential dumping via the `security` utility (e.g. `dump-keychain -d`), bulk certificate export using `security find-certificate`, and direct file copying of Keychain database files using utilities such as `cat`.
    Keychain files are located in `~/Library/Keychains/`, `/Library/Keychains/`, and `/Network/Library/Keychains/`.
    This technique is commonly associated with post-exploitation credential harvesting, where an attacker with local access seeks to escalate privileges or move laterally by obtaining stored credentials for applications, Wi-Fi networks, system services, and certificates.
data_source:
    - Osquery Results
search: |-
    | tstats `security_content_summariesonly`
      count min(_time) as firstTime
            max(_time) as lastTime
            values(Processes.parent_process) AS parent_process
            values(Processes.parent_process_exec) AS parent_process_exec
            values(Processes.parent_process_id) AS parent_process_id
            values(Processes.parent_process_name) AS parent_process_name
            values(Processes.parent_process_path) AS parent_process_path
    
    FROM datamodel=Endpoint.Processes WHERE
    (
        Processes.process_path="/usr/bin/security"
        AND
        (
            (
                Processes.process="*dump-keychain*"
                Processes.process="*-d*"
            )
            OR
            (
                Processes.process="*find-certificate*"
                Processes.process="*-p*"
            )
        )
    )
    OR
    Processes.process="*keychaindump*"
    OR
    (
        Processes.process_name IN (
            "cat",
            "cp",
            "dd",
            "mv"
        )
        Processes.process="*Library/Keychains/*"
        Processes.process="*.keychain*"
    )
    by Processes.action Processes.dest Processes.process Processes.process_hash
    Processes.process_id Processes.process_name Processes.process_path
    Processes.user Processes.vendor_product
    
    | `drop_dm_object_name(Processes)`
    | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
    | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
    | `macos_keychains_dumped_filter`
how_to_implement: |-
    This detection uses osquery and endpoint security on MacOS. Follow the link in references, which describes how to setup process auditing in MacOS with endpoint security and osquery.
    Also the [TA-OSquery](https://splunkbase.splunk.com/app/8574) must be deployed across your indexers and universal forwarders in order to have the osquery data populate the data models.
known_false_positives: |-
    Administrators accessing keychain files for troubleshooting or endpoint management.
references:
    - https://osquery.readthedocs.io/en/stable/deployment/process-auditing/
    - https://gist.github.com/hfeeki/88c12f01d00534e09a84
    - https://ss64.com/mac/security-keychain-settings.html
    - https://github.com/redcanaryco/atomic-red-team/blob/master/atomics/T1555.001/T1555.001.md
drilldown_searches:
    - name: View the detection results for - "$user$" and "$dest$"
      search: '%original_detection_search% | search  user = "$user$" dest = "$dest$"'
      earliest_offset: $info_min_time$
      latest_offset: $info_max_time$
    - name: View risk events for the last 7 days for - "$user$" and "$dest$"
      search: '| from datamodel Risk.All_Risk | search normalized_risk_object IN ("$user$", "$dest$") | stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime values(search_name) as "Search Name" values(risk_message) as "Risk Message" values(analyticstories) as "Analytic Stories" values(annotations._all) as "Annotations" values(annotations.mitre_attack.mitre_tactic) as "ATT&CK Tactics" by normalized_risk_object | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`'
      earliest_offset: 7d
      latest_offset: "0"
finding:
    title: Keychains dumped on $dest$ by $user$ via $process$
    entity:
        field: user
        type: user
        score: 50
intermediate_findings:
    entities:
        - field: dest
          type: system
          score: 50
          message: Keychains dumped on $dest$ by $user$ via $process$
analytic_story:
    - MacOS Privilege Escalation
asset_type: Endpoint
mitre_attack_id:
    - T1555.001
product:
    - Splunk Enterprise
    - Splunk Enterprise Security
    - Splunk Cloud
category: endpoint
security_domain: endpoint
tests:
    - name: True Positive Test
      attack_data:
        - data: https://media.githubusercontent.com/media/splunk/attack_data/master/datasets/attack_techniques/T1555.001/osquery_keychains/osquery.log
          source: osquery
          sourcetype: osquery:results
      test_type: unit