MAUS 0.8.5

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-0.8.5-installation.exe (installs to Program Files, .NET included, uninstall from Settings > Apps).
SHA-256: 18bc9597f753cc4b20afe896db7564018e1a424b509c3397ff84ea2c9cde50b9
Build provenance: this installer was built by GitHub Actions from this repository; anyone can check it with gh attestation verify MAUS-0.8.5-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 0.8.4

Complete code review. The whole MAUS code (88,000 lines) was reviewed subsystem by subsystem and from four attack angles: no critical or high-severity vulnerability was found. The administrator engine and the security design document (docs/store-security-design.md, written for the Microsoft Store review) were made exact with respect to each other.

Stricter administrator engine

• The battery report is no longer an engine operation: the non-elevated window always runs it itself.
• A "forced" undo coming from the window is ignored: a value changed since the fix is always left as it is (only the command-line tool, started by an administrator, offers --force).
• Every graphics-driver action is confirmed by the engine itself, in its own window (restart and back up included).
• The restore-point description and the verification notes are bounded; an undefined day of the week is refused; undo and verification share the same lock as applying fixes.
• A hung schtasks is stopped after one minute instead of blocking the engine.

Window

• Installing or removing PawnIO no longer freezes the window while the engine shows its confirmation.
• "Run the audit" is unavailable while fixes are being applied, and an audit can no longer overlap another one.
• The memory sheet no longer asks for administrator rights by itself when the engine has stopped meanwhile: it says so.
• Unexpected errors of the audit, the fixes, the undo, the hardware sheet and the CPU test are written to %LOCALAPPDATA%\MAUS\logs.

Other fixes

• Startup (M12): a Run entry with an oversized name or control characters is reported but no longer offered as a fix.
• Languages: fix profiles are translated every time they are shown ("Gamer" was never translated), the active power mode is found in Spanish, visual-effect titles follow the current language, the "domain only" firewall mitigation works in all three languages.
• Restore point: system protection is now checked on the requested drive, not on any protected volume.
• The automated security guard also recognises new Process, CreateProcess* and ShellExecute*.
• Outdated comments in the Store manifest, the installer script and the code were corrected.