metaforge-forensics 1.0.0

Digital Forensics CLI Tool — Metadata, Steganography, OSINT & Section 65B PDF Reports

MetaForge 🔍

Digital Forensics CLI Tool — Metadata Extraction · Steganography Detection · SHA/MD5 Hashing · Section 65B PDF Reports

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What is MetaForge?

MetaForge is a Python CLI tool built for digital forensics analysts, cybersecurity professionals, and Indian law enforcement. It performs:

• Metadata Extraction — EXIF, GPS, file timestamps, MIME type from images, audio, and video
• Cryptographic Hashing — MD5, SHA-1, SHA-256 computation and verification
• Steganography Detection — LSB entropy analysis, Chi-square statistical test, appended data detection, embedded string extraction
• Section 65B Reports — Generates PDF forensic reports compliant with Section 65B of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 — a legal requirement for submitting electronic evidence in Indian courts

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Installation

From PyPI (recommended)

pip install metaforge

From source

git clone https://github.com/tanishsareen/metaforge.git
cd metaforge
pip install -r requirements.txt
pip install -e .

Kali Linux

sudo apt install metaforge

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Usage

Full forensic scan (recommended)

metaforge scan evidence.jpg \
  --case "FIR-2026-001" \
  --examiner "Tanish Sareen" \
  --desc "Forensic analysis of photographic evidence"

Metadata only

metaforge meta photo.jpg
metaforge meta audio.mp3 --json

Steganography analysis

metaforge steg suspicious_image.png

Hash computation & verification

metaforge hash evidence.jpg
metaforge hash evidence.jpg --verify abc123... --algo sha256

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Example Output

  __  __      _        _____
 |  \/  | ___| |_ __ _|  ___|__  _ __ __ _  ___
 | |\/| |/ _ \ __/ _` | |_ / _ \| '__/ _` |/ _ \
 | |  | |  __/ || (_| |  _| (_) | | | (_| |  __/
 |_|  |_|\___|\__\__,_|_|  \___/|_|  \__, |\___|
                                       |___/
  Digital Forensics CLI Tool  v1.0.0
  Author: Tanish Sareen  |  Section 65B Report Generation

────────────── Forensic Scan Started ──────────────
Target: evidence.jpg

╭──────────────────────────────────────────╮
│           CLEAN                          │
│       Steganography Verdict              │
╰──────────────────────────────────────────╯
✔ Report saved: evidence_metaforge_report.pdf

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Section 65B Compliance

Section 65B of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 mandates that electronic records submitted as evidence must be accompanied by a certificate verifying:

• The computer was in regular use during the relevant period
• The electronic record was produced in the ordinary course of activities
• The computer was functioning properly
• The information in the record is derived from the computer's activities

MetaForge generates this certificate automatically in every PDF report.

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Architecture

metaforge/
├── __init__.py        # Version, author metadata
├── extractor.py       # Metadata extraction engine (EXIF, AV, file info)
├── steg_detector.py   # Steganography detection (LSB, chi-square, appended data)
├── reporter.py        # Section 65B PDF report generator (ReportLab)
└── cli.py             # Click-based CLI interface

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Steganography Detection Methods

Method	Description
LSB Entropy Analysis	Measures entropy of least significant bits per RGB channel. Near-1.0 entropy indicates possible LSB embedding
Chi-Square Test	Statistical test on pixel value pair frequencies. Equalised pairs suggest LSB steganography
Appended Data Detection	Checks for bytes after JPEG FFD9 / PNG IEND EOF markers
String Extraction	Extracts printable ASCII strings from binary content (like Unix strings)

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Requirements

• Python 3.8+
• Linux (Kali, Ubuntu, Debian)
• Dependencies: click, rich, Pillow, python-magic, mutagen, exifread, reportlab, numpy

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Author

Tanish Sareen

• BCA (Cyber Security & Forensics), CT University, Punjab
• Member, Institutional Innovation Cell (IIC)
• GitHub: @tanishsareen

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License

MIT License — see LICENSE

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Contributing

Pull requests are welcome. For major changes, open an issue first.

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Built for Indian law enforcement and cybersecurity professionals. Submitted to IIC YUKTI Innovation 2025.