Tag: malwareanalysis

2025 Year in Review: Open Source DFIR Tools and Malware Analysis Projects

DFIR, Forensics, Mac, Malware, MITRE ATT&CK, PowerShell, Python, Raspberry Pi, Rust, SIgma, Triage, USB, yara

As 2025 draws to a close, I’m taking a moment to reflect on what turned out to be one of my most productive years in code. From major releases to entirely new projects, this year saw significant evolution across my DFIR toolkit—driven by real-world incident response needs, classroom teaching experiences, and late-night tinkering sessions fueled by good bourbon and better puzzles.

What started as continuing work on CyberPipe evolved into a year of substantial innovation: creating MalChela for YARA and malware analysis, building a portable Raspberry Pi forensics platform, developing automated timeline generation workflows, and crafting specialized utilities that solve specific problems I encountered in the field. Each tool represents not just lines of code, but practical solutions to challenges that digital forensics and incident response professionals face daily.

Whether you’re a seasoned forensic analyst, an incident responder building your toolkit, or a student just getting started in DFIR, my hope is that these open-source projects make your work a little easier and a lot more efficient. All tools remain freely available on GitHub, because I believe the best way to advance our field is to share knowledge and capabilities openly.

Here’s what kept me busy in 2025:

MalChela – YARA & Malware Analysis Toolkit (Rust)

My flagship project that evolved significantly throughout 2025:

  • March: Initial release – Combined 10 programs into one Rust workspace for YARA and malware analysis
  • May: v2.1 – Added smoother workflows, better third-party tool integration, and enhanced argument handling
  • May: v2.2 “REMnux Release” – Native support for REMnux, integrations with Volatility3, Tshark, YARA-X
  • June: v3.0 – Major update introducing Case Management system, FileMiner (replacing MismatchMiner), and tool suggestion capabilities based on file characteristics
  • July: v3.0.1 – Refinements to mStrings, improved MITRE mappings, “Select All” functionality, optimizations for running on Toby
  • August: v3.0.2 – Enhanced threat hunting with MITRE ATT&CK technique lookup

MalChela at a Glance

  • Rust-based malware analysis toolkit combining YARA scanning, file analysis, hash generation, string extraction with MITRE ATT&CK mapping, and automated malware sample extraction from password-protected archives 
  • Multiple specialized utilities including mzhash/xmzhash for corpus generation, file type mismatch detection, entropy analysis, PE structure examination, and fuzzy hashing capabilities 
  • Integrated threat intelligence with VirusTotal and Malware Bazaar API support, NSRL database queries for known-good file filtering, and Sigma rule application for IOC identification 
  • Case management system (v3.0) featuring unified tracking of files, tools, and notes in case.yaml format with auto-saved outputs, tagging, search functionality, and VS Code integration 
  • Extensible architecture supporting custom tool integration via tools.yamlconfiguration, enhanced support for Volatility 3, TShark, and YARA-X, with both GUI and CLI modes (WSL2-compatible on Windows)
  • Complete documentation embedded as PDF or online
MalChela v3.0: Case Management, FileMiner, and Smarter Triage

https://github.com/dwmetz/MalChela

CyberPipe – Incident Response Collection Tool (PowerShell)

Continued evolution of the enterprise digital evidence collection script:

  • May: v5.1 – Streamlined profiles with better flexibility, customizable collection profiles
  • October: v5.2 – Improved collection methods with dual disk space validation, SHA-256 hashing of artifacts, single-file reporting, network collection simplification
  • November: v5.3 – Critical PowerShell 5.1 compatibility fixes, dual validation logic, enhanced reliability across all PowerShell environments
CyberPipe v5.3: Enhanced PowerShell Compatibility and Reliability

https://github.com/dwmetz/CyberPipe

CyberPipe-Timeliner ✱New✱ (PowerShell)

  • November: CyberPipe-Timeliner – New companion project to CyberPipe that automates the workflow from Magnet Response collections to unified forensic timelines using Eric Zimmerman’s EZ Tools and ForensicTimeliner
CyberPipe-Timeliner: From Collection to Timeline in One Script

https://github.com/dwmetz/CyberPipe-Timeliner

Toby – Portable Raspberry Pi Forensics Toolkit

  • July: Released Toby – A compact forensics toolkit built on Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W running customized Kali Linux, designed for headless operation via SSH/VNC, perfect for field analysis and malware triage
Portable Forensics with Toby: A Raspberry Pi Toolkit

Toby-Find

  • July: Toby-Find – Terminal-based command-line helper tool for discovering CLI forensics tools in KALI and REMnux environments, created initially for university teaching
Toby-Find: Simplifying Command-Line Forensics Tools

https://github.com/dwmetz/Toby

Crabwise – USB Device Benchmark Utility (Rust)

  • August: Released Crabwise – A lightweight USB benchmarking tool that measures true read/write speeds of USB devices for forensic workflows. Tests write throughput with pseudo-random data and read performance under uncached conditions. Includes logging functionality to track performance across different cables, hubs, and connection paths, helping forensic investigators optimize their hardware setups.
Is your USB device slowing down your forensic investigation?

https://github.com/dwmetz/Crabwise

Toolbox Utilities – Specialized Python and Bash Scripts

Standalone tools maintained in the Toolbox repository:

  • October: CoreBreaker.py – Breaks large yara-rules-core files into smaller .yar files for tool ingestion
  • October: EtTu.py – Caesar cipher brute force decoder (created for Murdle puzzle solving); After all, All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
  • November: cloudtrail_timeline.py – Parses AWS CloudTrail JSON logs and outputs CSV format for Timeline Explorer
  • November: mac_triage_timeline.sh – Processes Mac-Triage ZIP files and generates timeline for Timeline Explorer
  • November: uac_timeline.sh – Processes UAC tar.gz files and generates timeline for Timeline Explorer (Linux/macOS)

https://github.com/dwmetz/Toolbox

All projects are available on my GitHub at github.com/dwmetz, with detailed documentation on bakerstreetforensics.com. My goal is making DFIR and malware analysis more accessible, automated, and efficient for incident responders and forensic analysts.

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.

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.

MalChela v3.0: Case Management, FileMiner, and Smarter Triage

DFIR, Forensics, hashing, Malware, Memory Analysis, Rust, Triage, yara

With the release of MalChela v3.0, I’m introducing features that shift the focus from tool-by-tool execution to a more structured investigative workflow. While the core philosophy of lightweight, file-first analysis remains unchanged, this version introduces smarter ways to manage investigations, track findings, and automate common analysis patterns, all with minimal fuss.

In this post, I’ll walk through the new Case Management system, the replacement of MismatchMiner with FileMiner, and the ability to identify and launch suggested tools — even in batch — based on file characteristics. These changes aim to reduce friction in multi-tool workflows and help analysts move faster without losing visibility or control.

Cases: A Lightweight Way to Stay Organized

Until now, MalChela has operated in an ephemeral mode. You selected a tool, pointed it at a file or folder, and reviewed the output. Any saved results would be grouped by tool, but without much context.

Cases change that. In v3.0, you can start a new case from a file or folder — and everything from that point forward is grouped under that case. Tool outputs are saved to a dedicated case folder, file hashes are tracked, and metadata is preserved for review or reanalysis.

Case Management

You don’t need to create a case for every run — MalChela still supports standalone tool execution. But when you’re working with a malware sample set, an incident directory, or a disk image extract, cases give you the ability to:

  • Save tool results in a consistent location
  • Track analysis history per file
  • Reopen previous sessions with full context
  • Add notes, tags, and categorization (e.g., “suspicious”, “clean”, “needs review”)

Hello FileMiner: Goodbye MismatchMiner

The MismatchMiner tool was originally designed to surface anomalies between file names and actual content — a common trick in malicious attachments or script dropper chains. It worked well, but its scope was narrow.

FileMiner replaces it, expanding the logic to support full file-type classification and metadata inspection across an entire folder. It still flags mismatches, but now it also:

  • Detects embedded file types using magic bytes
  • Groups files by class (e.g., images, documents, executables, archives)
  • Calculates hashes for correlation and NSRL comparison
  • Extracts size, extension, and other key metadata
  • Saves both a human-readable .txt summary and a structured .json report

The output is designed to be used both manually and programmatically — which brings us to one of v3.0’s most important additions: tool suggestions.

The new FileMiner app

Suggested Tools and Batch Execution

Once FileMiner runs, it doesn’t just stop at reporting. Based on each file’s type and characteristics, it can now suggest one or more appropriate tools from the MalChela suite.  These suggestions are surfaced right in the GUI — or in the CLI if you’re running FileMiner interactively. From there, you can choose to launch the recommended tool(s) on a per-file basis or queue up several for batch execution.

This makes it much faster to pivot from triage to deeper inspection. No more switching tools manually or copying paths. You stay within the flow — and more importantly, you reduce the risk of skipping important analysis steps.

CLI and GUI Improvements Aligned

These features are available in both the CLI and GUI editions of MalChela. In the CLI, FileMiner presents an interactive table of results. You can pick a file, see its suggested tools, and choose which one to run. When you’re done, you can return to the table and continue with the next file.

The GUI extends this even further, allowing you to:

  • View and scroll through full case history
  • Run tools with live output streaming
  • Reopen previous FileMiner runs from saved reports
  • Run all suggested tools on all files with one click (if desired)

These features let you treat MalChela more like a toolbox with memory, not just a launcher.

CLI Enhancements:

The command-line interface has also received a quiet but meaningful upgrade. Tool menus are now organized with clear numeric indexes and shortcodes, making it faster to navigate and launch tools without needing to retype full names. This small change goes a long way during repetitive tasks or when working in a time-constrained triage setting.

FileMiner supports an interactive loop: after running a tool on a selected file, you’re returned to the main results table — no need to restart the scan or re-navigate the menu. This allows you to run additional tools on different files within the same dataset, making FileMiner feel more like a lightweight control center for follow-up actions. It’s a subtle shift, but one that significantly reduces friction in batch-style or exploratory workflows.

Closing Thoughts

MalChela 3.0 reflects a steady evolution — not a revolution. It’s built on real-world feedback and a desire to make forensic and malware analysis a little less scattered. Whether you’re a one-person IR team or just trying to stay organized during a reverse engineering exercise, the new case features and smarter triage capabilities should save you time.

If you’ve been using MalChela already, I think this update will feel like a natural (and welcome) extension. And if you haven’t tried it yet, there’s never been a better time to start.

Download: https://github.com/dwmetz/MalChela/releases

User Guide: https://dwmetz.github.io/MalChela/