S0297: XcodeGhost
XcodeGhost is iOS malware that infected at least 39 iOS apps in 2015 and potentially affected millions of users. [1] [2]
Security context for executives and security teams
S0297: XcodeGhost describes [XcodeGhost](https://attack.mitre.org/software/S0297) is iOS malware that infected at least 39 iOS apps in 2015 and potentially affected millions of users. (Citation: PaloAlto-XcodeGhost1) (Citation: PaloAlto-XcodeGhost)
Executive priority
S0297: XcodeGhost is an official MITRE ATT&CK software. Glexia treats it as defensive behavior context for prioritizing monitoring, control validation, and response planning without using the object by itself as an attribution claim.
Technical view
Security teams should validate S0297: XcodeGhost by reviewing the official ATT&CK relationships, mapped tactics (the mapped ATT&CK tactic context), supported platforms (the platforms named in the official object), and available local telemetry before making detection or mitigation decisions.
Likely telemetry
- Official ATT&CK relationships and object metadata
Detection direction
- Validate whether S0297: XcodeGhost appears in your detection coverage and tabletop scenarios.
- Use the object to align executive risk language with SOC, incident response, and detection engineering work.
- Do not treat ATT&CK relationship context as attribution without corroborating evidence.
Mitigation priorities
- Map the object to existing controls and identify missing telemetry or response ownership.
- Prioritize mitigations that reduce exposure on the listed platforms and tactics.
- Review adjacent ATT&CK relationships before changing policy, detections, or reporting language.
Additional notes and limits
Baseline Glexia take generated from the official MITRE ATT&CK STIX object, source hash, tactics, platforms, and detection fields. It is safe to replace with a richer model-generated take for the same source hash later.
This baseline take is source-grounded and schema-validated, but it does not include environment-specific telemetry, incident evidence, or threat-intelligence corroboration.
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
XcodeGhost
XcodeGhost is iOS malware that infected at least 39 iOS apps in 2015 and potentially affected millions of users. [1] [2]
How security teams should use this page
Treat this object as behavior context, not an attribution claim. Validate the related groups, software, data sources, and mitigations against official ATT&CK relationships and your own telemetry before making control-coverage decisions.
Techniques used
This mirrors the MITRE pattern of making group, software, campaign, and technique relationships scannable. Relationship notes come from mirrored ATT&CK relationship text when available.
| Domain | ID | Name | Relationship / procedure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mobile | T1417.002 | GUI Input CaptureSub-technique | XcodeGhost can prompt a fake alert dialog to phish user credentials.[2] |
| Mobile | T1414 | Clipboard Data | XcodeGhost can read and write data in the user’s clipboard.[2] |
| Mobile | T1474.001 | Compromise Software Dependencies and Development ToolsSub-technique | XcodeGhost was injected into apps by a modified version of Xcode (Apple's software development tool).[1][2] |
All related ATT&CK context
Object version and sync metadata
The fields below describe the current mirrored snapshot. When Glexia retains multiple ATT&CK source imports, you can open the table to compare the same object across releases (hashes and MITRE timestamps). For MITRE’s own release notes and roadmap, see ATT&CK resources — Updates.
Imported snapshots across ATT&CK releases(2)
| Release | Bundle imported | Object version | Modified | Status | Raw hash |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19.2 | 1.0 | Current bundle | 3949130369fc… | ||
| 19.1 | 1.0 | Older bundle | 3949130369fc… |
Mirrored ATT&CK source object
The raw object is retained through the mirrored ATT&CK source bundle and object hash. The raw endpoint returns the exact object from the mirrored bundle when available.
External references and citations
MITRE external references are preserved separately from Glexia analysis so citations remain traceable to their original source records.
- [1]PaloAlto-XcodeGhost1
Claud Xiao. (2015, September 17). Novel Malware XcodeGhost Modifies Xcode, Infects Apple iOS Apps and Hits App Store. Retrieved December 21, 2016.
- [2]PaloAlto-XcodeGhost
Claud Xiao. (2015, September 18). Update: XcodeGhost Attacker Can Phish Passwords and Open URLs through Infected Apps. Retrieved December 21, 2016.
- [3]XcodeGhost
(Citation: PaloAlto-XcodeGhost1) (Citation: PaloAlto-XcodeGhost)
- [4]mitre-attackS0297Open source URL
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