Intel-based macOS computers impacted by novel infostealer

BleepingComputer reports that macOS computers on the Intel x86_64 architecture have been subjected to attacks involving the new MetaStealer information-stealing malware. Threat actors have impersonated businesses' clients to send phishing emails containing disk image files that include executables masquerading as PDF files, which eventually result in the execution of MetaStealer, according to a SentinelOne report. Aside from targeting system files and saved passwords, MetaStealer also sets sights on the contents of the macOS keychain, enabling the exfiltration of website, app, and WiFi network credentials, as well as credit card data, encryption keys, and private notes. MetaStealer has been noted by researchers to be different from the previously reported META infostealer, which could bypass Apple's XProtect antivirus technology, and the Atomic Stealer malware, from which it shares some similarities. Despite limited targeting of the malware, attackers could develop an updated version of MetaStealer that could facilitate the compromise of macOS computers on Apple Silicon processors, said researchers.