Ensure System Integrity Protection Status (SIP) Is Enabled

HighLevel 1Automatedmacos

Description

System Integrity Protection is a security feature introduced in OS X 10.11 El Capitan. System Integrity Protection restricts access to System domain locations and restricts runtime attachment to system processes. Any attempt to inspect or attach to a system process will fail. Kernel Extensions are now restricted to /Library/Extensions and are required to be signed with a Developer ID.

How it is checked

Audit method: Shell command

shell

out=$(/usr/bin/csrutil status 2>/dev/null) || exit 1
printf '%s\n' "$out" | /usr/bin/grep -q "System Integrity Protection status: enabled" && echo compliant

Expected output: compliant

How it is fixed

Fix method: Guidance or infrastructure patch

Boot into macOS Recovery (Apple silicon: hold the power button at startup; Intel: hold Command-R), open Utilities > Terminal and run /usr/bin/csrutil enable, then restart the Mac. SIP cannot be re-enabled from the running OS.

Properties

Operating systems: macos-15
Tags: macossystem-access
Reference: CIS Apple macOS 15.0 Sequoia Benchmark v2.1.0 - 5.1.2 Ensure System Integrity Protection Status (SIP) Is Enabled

Check this host

Run this on a machine you are allowed to audit. The scan is read-only.

shell

tmaegis scan --target macos