MalChela – Baker Street Forensics

Enhancing Malware Analysis with REMnux and AI

Those familiar with my work know that I’m a big fan of the REMnux Linux distribution for malware analysis. When I developed MalChela, I included a custom configuration that can be invoked that not only includes the MalChela tool suite but also integrates many of the CLI tools installed in REMnux, providing an easy-to-use GUI.

Recently, a new REMnux release was released on Ubuntu 24.04. This was a welcome upgrade because REMnux was previously locked to 20.04, which was becoming outdated. As soon as I noticed the release announcement, I downloaded the latest version and installed the MalChela suite. Everything ran smoothly, and the GUI interface even appeared slightly sharper without any changes on my part.

While reviewing the release notes for the new version, I discovered that REMnux now includes integration with Opencode AI. In REMnux, several models are preconfigured to recognize the tools included in the distribution and their capabilities and syntax. You can use natural language prompts, and the system will interpret the request, execute the appropriate tools against the file, and provide a summary of the results. As mentioned in the documentation:

The AI uses the REMnux MCP server to run the appropriate REMnux tools automatically. The MCP server offers guidance regarding the tools that the AI should consider, but it’s up to the AI agent to decide on the analysis workflow. And, of course, your interactions, requests, and observations can also direct the AI regarding the analysis steps.

Key capabilities available to AI assistants through the REMnux MCP server:

Analyze files based on detected type (PE, PDF, Office docs, scripts, ELF, etc.)

Get tool recommendations for a specific file without running them

Run specific REMnux tools directly, including piped commands

Extract indicators of compromise (IOCs) from text

Get usage help for any installed REMnux tool

I experimented with a few of the usual suspects in my corpus and provided pretty generic prompts like “analyze (file-xyz)” and “what are the IOCs?” The results were very positive – but I’ve only scratched the surface in testing.

Then I decided to see how adaptive this AI was and how easy it would be to make it aware of new tools and syntax. I provided the following:


MalChela tool suite is  installed in /home/remnux/Tools/MalChela
All are rust based tools so cd to the MalChela directory, and then ./target/release/fileanalyzer (path to executable) would be the syntax. 
The 4 tools below are the primary tools for static analysis.
  File Analyzer       |  Get the hash, entropy, packing, PE info, YARA and VT match status for a file  
  mStrings            |  Analyzes files with Sigma rules (YAML), extracts strings, matches ReGex. 
  NSRL Hash Lookup    |  Query an MD5 or SHA1 hash against NSRL
  Malware Hash Lookup |  Query a hash value against VirusTotal & Malware Bazaar

Immediately it began running the tools in MalChela against the malware file I was previously analyzing and provided a summary of the different tool results.

I plan to do a lot more testing but so far things are looking very promising.

So what do you think? Are you using AI in your malware analysis workflows? What capabilities of AI do you think are most useful when it comes to malware analysis? Let me know in the comments.

Cross-Platform DFIR Tools: MalChelaGUI on Windows

Forensics, Malware, Rust

It’s a Trick and a Treat

Sometimes the best breakthroughs are the ones you don’t plan for. After a routine Windows update this week, I launched MalChelaGUI from the Ubuntu terminal on an Ubuntu WSL2 instance — and it simply opened. No X-server, no environment tweaks, no extra packages.

🎉 😱 A Rust native GUI app on Windows, via Ubuntu WSL terminal!

The latest WSL 2.5 + WSLg 1.0.66 update from Microsoft quietly unlocked full Wayland and GPU acceleration for Linux GUI apps on Windows 11 24H2. (Note the latest WSL at the time of this post is 2.61)

The result? MalChelaGUI now runs as a true desktop app on Windows, powered entirely by Ubuntu WSL.

Why This Matters

🧰 No configuration needed — just follow the default instructions at GItHub, and build MalChela as usual. (WSL, Ubuntu 24.04 or later)
🪟 Native windowing — Clipboard, display scaling, and GPU acceleration all handled automatically.
🦀 Cross-platform parity — macOS, Linux, and now Windows (via WSL) all run the same GUI experience.

It’s a small but meaningful proof of concept: cross-platform DFIR tooling can now live comfortably in every environment analysts work in — even Windows, without compromise.

Call for Testers

If you’re running Windows 11 24H2 or newer, update WSL and give it a try:

```powershell
wsl --update

Then from Ubuntu WSL

./target/release/MalChelaGUI

If it launches successfully, drop me a note or tag me — I’d love to hear how it behaves across different hardware and GPU setups.

Enhance Threat Hunting with MITRE Lookup in MalChela 3.0.2

DFIR, Forensics, Malware, MITRE ATT&CK, Rust

Understanding adversary behavior is core to modern forensics and threat hunting. With the release of MalChela 3.0.2, I’ve added a new tool to your investigative belt: MITRE Lookup — a fast, offline way to search the MITRE ATT&CK framework directly from your MalChela workspace.

Whether you’re triaging suspicious strings, analyzing IOCs, or pivoting off YARA hits, MalChela can now help you decode tactics, techniques, and procedures without ever leaving your terminal or GUI. MITRE Lookup is powered by a local JSON snapshot of the ATT&CK framework (Enterprise Matrix), parsed at runtime with support for fuzzy searching and clean terminal formatting. No internet required.

What It Does

The MITRE_lookup tool lets you:

Search by Technique ID (e.g., T1027, T1566.001)
Search by topic or keyword (e.g., ‘RDP’, ‘Wizard Spider’)
Get tactic category, platforms, and detection guidance
Optionally include expanded content with the –full flag
Use from the CLI, MalChela launcher, or GUI modal

Example:

$ ./target/release/MITRE_lookup -- T1059.003

T1059.003 - Windows Command Shell

Tactic(s): execution

Platforms: Windows

Detection: Usage of the Windows command shell may be common on administrator, developer, or power user systems depending on job function. If scripting is restricted for normal users, then any attempt to enable scripts running on a system would be considered suspicious. If scripts are not commonly used on a system, but enabled, scripts running out of cycle from patching or other administrator functions are suspicious. Scripts should be captured from the file system when possible to determine their actions and intent...

GUI Integration

Select MITRE Lookup in the left-hand Toolbox menu
Use the input field at the top of the modal to enter a keyword or technique ID (e.g., `T1059` or `registry`)
Use the “Full” checkbox for un-truncated output
“Save to Case” option

Saving for Later

You can save MITRE Lookup results directly from the GUI, either as a standalone markdown file to a designated folder, or into the active Case Notes panel for later reference. This makes it easy to preserve investigative context, cite specific TTPs in reports, or build a threat narrative across multiple tools. The saved output uses clean Markdown formatting — readable in any editor or compatible with case management platforms. This feature is already live in v3.0.2 and will evolve further with upcoming case linkage support.

*Markdown view of a **MITRE_lookup** report*

Why MITRE ATT&CK in MalChela?

MalChela already focuses on contextual forensics — understanding not just what an artifact is, but why it matters. By embedding MITRE ATT&CK into your daily toolchain:

You reduce pivot fatigue from switching between tools/web tabs
You boost investigation speed during triage and reporting
You enable a more threat-informed analysis process

Whether you’re tagging findings, crafting YARA rules, or writing case notes, the MITRE integration helps turn technical output into meaningful insight — all from within the MalChela environment.

Sharper Strings and Smarter Signals: MalChela 3.0.1

DFIR, Forensics, Malware, Rust, Triage

It’s a strange but satisfying feeling to hit version 3.0, then realize soon after you’re already back in the weeds fixing, refining, and optimizing. That’s what this 3.0.1 release is all about — a tight round of updates aimed at boosting clarity and cutting noise, especially when running mStrings or working within the FileMiner panel. Additionally, a number of optimizations came about in getting MalChela to run smoothly on Toby, and to minimize any unnecessary re-building of the binaries. This post walks through what’s new and improved.

🧠 Smarter Detections in mStrings

The mstrings tool — one of the most feature-rich in the toolkit — got a round of refinements:

Generic Executable detection removed: This was too noisy and matched a lot of clean files. It’s been replaced by more focused patterns.
Suspicious DLLs now detected more precisely: Legit Windows DLLs like ole32.dll and gdiplus.dll are now excluded unless they’re paired with indicators like GetProcAddress, LoadLibrary, or manual syscall patterns.
Rule cleanup and expansion: Several detections were removed, refined, or added (like packer stubs and dropper markers) to better target actual malicious behavior.
Tighter MITRE mapping: Each detection is now carefully aligned to a corresponding MITRE ATT&CK technique, often down to the sub-technique level.

If you’ve ever run mstrings and felt unsure which hits mattered most — or got buried in generic noise — this update should feel much cleaner.

Reminder: You can easily update the detection criteria by modifying detections.yaml.

Have a detection to contribute to the project? Submit a pull request.

🔍 Built-In MITRE Lookup (GUI)

If a detection shows a MITRE ID like T1082, you can now look it up directly inside the GUI. The new MITRE Lookup Bar sits at the top of the config panel (only when running mstrings). Paste a technique ID, hit Lookup, and it’ll open the official MITRE ATT&CK page in your browser.

🗂️ FileMiner Improvements

The FileMiner GUI panel saw some polish too:

“Select All” functionality: You can now batch-run tools across multiple matching files in a case — a huge time-saver during triage.

🧰 Build and Setup Updates

Two quick notes for folks cloning the repo for the first time:

The release.sh script now builds all binaries in release mode — one command to build everything cleanly.
Docs and README were updated to recommend building in –release mode from the start, especially for smoother GUI usage.

🧪 Platform Testing

Confirmed functional on:

macOS (Silicon)
Ubuntu (Desktop and minimal)
REMnux (custom REMnux tools.yaml)
Raspberry Pi (Zero 2W and 4B)
Windows via WSL (CLI)

Still some quirks with native Windows support due to YARA compatibility and pathing, but if you’re a Windows power user and want to pitch in, I’d love your help.

💭 Final Thoughts

MalChela isn’t trying to replace your favorite tools — it’s trying to bundle them in ways that save time, reveal context, and give you clarity during analysis. The 3.0.1 release doesn’t bring sweeping new features, but it does make the experience tighter, more predictable, and more useful where it counts.

As always, thanks to those who’ve tested it, given feedback, or just watched quietly from the shadows. 🕵️‍♂️ If you want to contribute — whether it’s rules, regex, docs, or bugs — you’ll find me at dwmetz/MalChela.

Happy hunting.