TA0004 · PRIVILEGE ESCALATION
Elevated Execution with Prompt
Adversaries may leverage the AuthorizationExecuteWithPrivileges API to escalate privileges by prompting the user for credentials.
Detect it with
Consider monitoring for /usr/libexec/security_authtrampoline executions which may indicate that AuthorizationExecuteWithPrivileges is being executed. MacOS system logs may also indicate when AuthorizationExecuteWithPrivileges is being called.
Why it matters on shift
Elevated Execution with Prompt is one of the concrete ways adversaries achieve privilege escalation. Recognising it in telemetry lets you name the technique in your ticket and pivot to what came before and after.
What to look for next
After privilege escalation, the next tactic is usually Defense Evasion. Search your telemetry for the transition before closing the ticket.
Kill-chain context