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Upgrade to ProDetect TCC Manipulation in Sumo Logic CSE
This detection identifies adversary attempts to manipulate macOS Transparency, Consent, and Control (TCC) protections — either by directly modifying the TCC SQLite database to grant unauthorized permissions, by injecting into TCC-privileged applications such as Finder to inherit Full Disk Access, by abusing environment variables to load a rogue TCC database, or by exploiting SIP-disabled systems where TCC protections are bypassed entirely. Successful TCC abuse grants attackers access to protected resources including the camera, microphone, screen recording, Full Disk Access, and sensitive user directories without user prompts.
MITRE ATT&CK
- Technique
- T1548 Abuse Elevation Control Mechanism
- Sub-technique
- T1548.006 TCC Manipulation
- Canonical reference
- https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1548/006/
Sumo Detection Query
_sourceCategory=macos* OR _sourceCategory=endpoint/mac*
| where (
(cmdline contains "sqlite3" and cmdline contains "TCC.db")
or (cmdline contains "INSERT INTO access" and cmdline contains "TCC")
or (cmdline contains "SQLITE_TMPDIR" or cmdline contains "HOME_TCC_DB")
or (parent_process_name = "Finder" and process_name in ("osascript","bash","sh","zsh","python3","ruby","perl"))
or (file_path contains "/com.apple.TCC/TCC.db" and process_name != "tccd" and process_name != "syspolicyd" and process_name != "mdmclient")
)
| eval detection_category = if(cmdline contains "sqlite3" and cmdline contains "TCC.db", "SQLite TCC Injection",
if(cmdline contains "SQLITE_TMPDIR" or cmdline contains "HOME_TCC_DB", "Rogue TCC DB via Env Vars",
if(parent_process_name = "Finder", "Finder TCC Inheritance Abuse",
"TCC DB Direct Modification")))
| count by host, user, process_name, parent_process_name, detection_category, cmdline
| sort by _count desc
| fields host, user, process_name, parent_process_name, detection_category, cmdline, _countDetects macOS TCC manipulation via Sumo Logic by correlating process command lines and file paths associated with TCC database tampering, environment variable injection attacks, and Finder privilege inheritance abuse.
Data Sources
Required Tables
False Positives & Tuning
- MDM solutions performing legitimate TCC policy management via mdmclient or profiles daemon
- Security auditing tools that read (not write) TCC.db to inventory application permissions
- Finder-launched AppleScript automations created by end users for productivity workflows
Other platforms for T1548.006
Testing Methodology
Validate this detection against 3 adversary techniques from Atomic Red Team. Each test below lists the behaviour to exercise and the telemetry you should expect to see. Executable commands and cleanup steps are available with Pro.
- Test 1Direct SQLite Injection into System TCC Database
Expected signal: DeviceFileEvents with ActionType=FileModified on /Library/Application Support/com.apple.TCC/TCC.db, initiating process sqlite3. macOS Unified Log entries from com.apple.TCC subsystem recording database modification.
- Test 2Rogue TCC Database via Environment Variable
Expected signal: Process launch event for osascript with SQLITE_TMPDIR environment variable set to non-standard path. File creation events in /tmp/tcc_test/com.apple.TCC/. sqlite3 process execution with TCC.db path argument.
- Test 3Finder TCC Inheritance via AppleScript
Expected signal: Process launch event showing osascript spawned as child of Finder process. Subsequent shell command execution accessing ~/Library/Messages/ which is normally TCC-protected. File creation event at /tmp/tcc_finder_test.txt.
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