Poisoned Pipeline / Techniques / T0224
Prompt the user with a spoofed system dialog for their password
A stealer that has already run as the logged-in user still cannot read
what the operating system protects with the login password: the macOS
keychain, the Linux keyring, and stored browser and wallet keys on some
platforms. The cheapest way past that boundary is to ask the human for
it, in a dialog that looks like it came from the operating system
rather than from the program that drew it. The malware shows a window
titled after a system component, explains in system-sounding language
that an update or a driver check needs authorisation, and waits. What
the user types is then used twice: to unlock the stores the process
could not open, and to authenticate the install that makes the implant
persistent.
The antd-img-crop campaign on 31 October 2026 is the reference case.
SafeDep found the macOS build showing a dialog titled "System
Preferences" that read "macOS needs your password to apply system
updates and verify drivers and security settings", and a Linux build
showing an equivalent "Authentication Required" prompt. The password
unlocked further stored secrets and installed the OverLord agent with
admin rights.
Distinct from T0184 and T0189, where the malware reads files itself and
the secret is one the target left on disk: here the secret exists only
in the user's head and is handed over voluntarily. Distinct from T0163,
which is a secret leaking through runtime output the operator did not
ask for. The prompt can be refused, and refusing it is the defence the
technique depends on — nothing in the chain forces the dialog to be
answered.
Where this idea came from
From SafeDep's antd-img-crop analysis (3 November 2026), where the OverLord stealer drew a macOS dialog titled "System Preferences" and a Linux "Authentication Required" prompt, then used the typed password to unlock further stored secrets and to install the agent with admin rights. The secret is not on disk; the user supplies it.
Mitigations
None linked yet.
Detections
None linked yet.