Ok. You’ll just need some basic tools (probably a screwdriver, though a small socket set would come in handy), a can of electronics cleaner, and probably some safety glasses.
Attached to the air filter box is that large black accordion-looking ridged tube. It heads to the engine and where it attaches on the engine is the throttle body. That intake tube is probably held on at either end by a big silver hose clamp. Those are probably designed to be loosened by a large flathead screwdriver or small socket (8mm is pretty common).
I keep saying “probably” because I’ve never specifically been under the hood of an '06 Malibu, but the general stuff is pretty generic. It’s possible that the engine side is held on otherwise.
First just look up and down the whole thing carefully and inspect both ends of that tube. Look for anything wrong with it. Any splits or tears or holes? Then check each end for attachment. Is it all tight and held in place well?
If you don’t see anything obvious, just look carefully at either end to see how to loosen it all up and remove it. (It normally is just loosening both hose clamps - no need to remove the clamps). With the hose off, now inspect it even more carefully for anything wrong. Bend those accordion ridges back and forth and look for splits or other damage. These can be razor thin and you should not be able to damage it just by bending and around and stuff so have at it. You can be tough on it.
If you don’t find anything there, go over to the air filter box. I THINK that mounted right there at the corner of the box where the intake hose attaches you should see a little black box mounted on top by a couple of screws with an electrical plug and a bunch of wires going into it. That is your MAF sensor. Inspect. Is it tight? How does the electrical plug look? The wires?
If it all looks good, unplug it and inspect there - at the pins inside the MAF and the wires in the plug. Put on the safety glasses. Wrap a rag around the plug so the you’re looking at the end of it and spray it down with electronics cleaner. Now remove the MAF. Be careful with it - somewhere inside of it are two tiny little wires and you don’t want to damage those. What you want to do is spray it down liberally with electronics cleaner - the target is those two little wires inside. Afterwards shake it out and leave it sit for a few minutes to thoroughly dry. (Electronics cleaner - you’ll see evaporates very quickly).
Now go to the engine side of where the tube attaches - over at the throttle body. I THINK that right behind there you’ll see you MAP sensor. For the MAP sensor, I would just look to see if it’s loose, inspect the plug and wiring, and probably pull its plug and clean things up with the electronics cleaner as you did with the MAF. Let that all dry, put it all back together - then stop and double check that everything is all back together. Note that it all needs to be where the whole thing from the air box on forward is sealed - if air leaks anywhere it causes problems. Go for a drive.
Don’t get your hopes up. You might have just done all of that for nothing. But sometimes its just the simplest stuff. I’m still haunted by a time when I was young and dumb and had my car towed to a shop because my lug nuts were loose. Duh…weird noise from the wheels - maybe I should check the lug nuts before assuming something really complicated and dumping a ton of money on a two truck and service charge at the shop.
thanks!