GhostClaw/GhostLoader macOS Multi-Stage Install and C2 Detection

Daniel Jeremiah@daniyyell

•updated Mar 31, 2026•3•0•123

This rule detects the multi-stage installation and command-and-control (C2) activities associated with GhostClaw or GhostLoader malware on macOS systems. It correlates suspicious process executions, such as curl-based bootstrap, install.sh execution, user-space Node.js setup, and outbound network traffic to 'trackpipe.dev' with UUID-like pathing or specific NODE_CHANNEL values. The rule looks for a combination of at least three of these indicators within a two-hour window to reduce false positives.