MAUS 0.8.4

Older version / Ancienne version. The latest release is listed here / la dernière version est indiquée ici : https://github.com/TERMINATORmdel101/MAUS/releases (or / ou winget upgrade TERMINATORmdel101.MAUS).

MAUS (Maintenance · Audit · Updates · Security) is a free, open-source (GPL-3.0) Windows 11 utility: a read-only audit first, then fixes chosen by the user, each one explained and reversible. MAUS is designed and coded with Claude, an AI by Anthropic, under the direction of its author.

This is an alpha version in active development: some features may be incomplete and bugs may occur.

Download: MAUS-0.8.4-installation.exe (installs to Program Files, .NET included, uninstall from Settings > Apps).
SHA-256: 2bde6f393176e6468f7b511528791435067a672710d44382bd8046d3a256d399
Build provenance: this installer was built by GitHub Actions from this repository; anyone can check it with gh attestation verify MAUS-0.8.4-installation.exe -R TERMINATORmdel101/MAUS.

Not signed: this installer has no code signature yet, so Windows SmartScreen may show a warning ("More info", then "Run anyway"). Our application for free signing by the SignPath Foundation was declined for now (the project is still too new); we will apply again later.

What's new since 0.8.2

Simpler, prettier home page

• Simple home page by default: the score, "Why this score?", the next step with a single main button, the M·A·U·S families on one line (click to open the findings) and three tools; the rest is in a collapsible "More tools". The previous home page stays available: Settings > "Full home page". Nothing was removed.
• "Your PC at a glance": processor, graphics card, memory and drives, each with the colour of the related findings (only what the audit already read).
• The score fills up at the end of the audit (off when animations are off in MAUS or Windows); "What's new" is now a card on the home page.
• Optional Windows 11 Mica background (off automatically when Windows transparency is off, in high contrast or before Windows 11 22H2), small drawings for empty screens, Ctrl+1 to Ctrl+6 shortcuts and a clearly visible keyboard focus outline.

Clearer limited mode

• New opening window "How do you want to use MAUS?": limited mode (without administrator rights) or all features.
• In limited mode, every option that needs administrator rights is greyed out, and the "All features" banner enables them. The UAC prompt only comes from that button, the opening window or "Enable advanced sensors".

Security of the administrator engine

• Every request between the window and the engine is signed with a per-launch secret key and can be used only once (anti-replay); the engine stops itself after 3 refused connections and MAUS tells the user.
• For the most sensitive actions (closing a program, graphics driver actions, PawnIO, marking a finding as wanted), the engine itself asks for confirmation in its own window, which a program without administrator rights cannot answer.
• Windows process mitigations on MAUS (no DLLs from network shares or low-integrity files; for the engine and the weekly audit: System32 first, legacy extension points off, RedirectionGuard). The benchmark gets the same protections when it runs with administrator rights, and then compiles its shaders in memory.
• Warning before giving administrator rights to a MAUS that is not installed in a protected folder.
• "Open MAUS" after the weekly audit now opens a normal window without administrator rights; the battery report is always made without administrator rights; PresentMon stays locked between its SHA-256 check and its start.
• Windows tools are taken from System32 only; winget updates work again after an engine restart; the driver backup folder is protected by the engine itself.
• NuGet packages are locked by their hash (packages.lock.json); CodeQL analyses every change.

Full details: CHANGELOG.md (in French).