atomic-red-team/atomics/T1569.001/T1569.001.md

T1569.001 - System Services: Launchctl

Description from ATT&CK

Adversaries may abuse launchctl to execute commands or programs. Launchctl interfaces with launchd, the service management framework for macOS. Launchctl supports taking subcommands on the command-line, interactively, or even redirected from standard input.(Citation: Launchctl Man)

Adversaries use launchctl to execute commands and programs as Launch Agents or Launch Daemons. Common subcommands include: launchctl load,launchctl unload, and launchctl start. Adversaries can use scripts or manually run the commands launchctl load -w "%s/Library/LaunchAgents/%s" or /bin/launchctl load to execute Launch Agents or Launch Daemons.(Citation: Sofacy Komplex Trojan)(Citation: 20 macOS Common Tools and Techniques)

Source

Atomic Tests

• Atomic Test #1: Launchctl

Atomic Test #1: Launchctl

Utilize launchctl

Supported Platforms: macOS

auto_generated_guid: 6fb61988-724e-4755-a595-07743749d4e2

Inputs

Name	Description	Type	Default Value
executable_path	Path of the executable to run.	path	/System/Applications/Calculator.app/Contents/MacOS/Calculator
label_name	Unique label to assign this job to launchd.	string	evil

Attack Commands: Run with bash!

launchctl submit -l #{label_name} -- #{executable_path}

Cleanup Commands

launchctl remove #{label_name}