hacktricks/macos-hardening/macos-security-and-privilege-escalation/macos-proces-abuse/README.md

# macOS Proces Abuse

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## MacOS Process Abuse

MacOS, like any other operating system, provides a variety of methods and mechanisms for **processes to interact, communicate, and share data**. While these techniques are essential for efficient system functioning, they can also be abused by threat actors to **perform malicious activities**.

### Library Injection

Library Injection is a technique wherein an attacker **forces a process to load a malicious library**. Once injected, the library runs in the context of the target process, providing the attacker with the same permissions and access as the process.

{% content-ref url="macos-library-injection/" %}
[macos-library-injection](macos-library-injection/)
{% endcontent-ref %}

### Function Hooking

Function Hooking involves **intercepting function calls** or messages within a software code. By hooking functions, an attacker can **modify the behavior** of a process, observe sensitive data, or even gain control over the execution flow.

{% content-ref url="../mac-os-architecture/macos-function-hooking.md" %}
[macos-function-hooking.md](../mac-os-architecture/macos-function-hooking.md)
{% endcontent-ref %}

### Inter Process Communication

Inter Process Communication (IPC) refers to different methods by which separate processes **share and exchange data**. While IPC is fundamental for many legitimate applications, it can also be misused to subvert process isolation, leak sensitive information, or perform unauthorized actions.

{% content-ref url="../mac-os-architecture/macos-ipc-inter-process-communication/" %}
[macos-ipc-inter-process-communication](../mac-os-architecture/macos-ipc-inter-process-communication/)
{% endcontent-ref %}

### Electron Applications Injection

Electron applications executed with specific env variables could be vulnerable to process injection:

{% content-ref url="macos-electron-applications-injection.md" %}
[macos-electron-applications-injection.md](macos-electron-applications-injection.md)
{% endcontent-ref %}

## Detection

### Shield

[**Shield**](https://theevilbit.github.io/shield/) ([**Github**](https://github.com/theevilbit/Shield)) is an open source application that can **detect and block process injection** actions:

* Using **Environmental Variables**: It will monitor the presence of any of the following environmental variables: **`DYLD_INSERT_LIBRARIES`**, **`CFNETWORK_LIBRARY_PATH`**, **`RAWCAMERA_BUNDLE_PATH`** and **`ELECTRON_RUN_AS_NODE`**
* Using **`task_for_pid`** calls: To find when one process wants to get the **task port of another** which allows to inject code in the process.
* **Electron apps params**: Someone can use **`--inspect`**, **`--inspect-brk`** and **`--remote-debugging-port`** command line argument to start an Electron app in debugging mode, and thus inject code to it.
* Using **symlinks** or **hardlinks**: Typically the most common abuse is to **place a link with our user privileges**, and **point it to a higher privilege** location. The detection is very simple for both hardlink and symlinks. If the process creating the link has a **different privilege level** than the target file, we create an **alert**. Unfortunately in the case of symlinks blocking is not possible, as we don’t have information about the destination of the link prior creation. This is a limitation of Apple’s EndpointSecuriy framework.

## References

* [https://theevilbit.github.io/shield/](https://theevilbit.github.io/shield/)
* [https://medium.com/@metnew/why-electron-apps-cant-store-your-secrets-confidentially-inspect-option-a49950d6d51f](https://medium.com/@metnew/why-electron-apps-cant-store-your-secrets-confidentially-inspect-option-a49950d6d51f)

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