I have a service that runs as the "Local System" user. I would like to edit an entry in the registry from this service. This entry lives in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE. Everything goes find except that the entry is not updated. My service seems to have access to a virtual registry. When I execute regedit from this service I access a registry different from the "real" one (the one I access by executing regedit from the desktop for instance).
How can I access the "real" registry from my service?
Related
I have a windows vm and have created an Admin user, let's say - AdminUser. I have mounted an azure file share to that user to Z: drive. The share can be accessed by unc path or the drive path. I also have a c# utility that checks if path exists and it returns true when I run it. This is all good. Now when I created a windows service with that utility and with same user credential, it throws an error that the path doesn't exist.
Things to note -
The service user or the user I used to login is a local adminstrator user and while creating the service, I had provided as "./AdminUser" to CreateService. Also provided password to config.
The VM is also connected to a domain. So I have users from default-domain\* and connected-domain\*. The connected-domain linked to an azure active directory.
Is there any other type of user I need to set as log on to service?
I can see here it says the local user can't access network resources but I am wondering since I mounted the path with proper credentials, does this matter?
Update:
Got the same issue when using running as with the exe.
runas /user:USERNAME “C:\full\path\of\Program.exe”
We have to use cmdkey to store the credentials that can be used by SMB later. Launch a cmd.exe with the user that you want to use for the service using either context menu or command e.g.
runas /user:default-domain\domainServiceUser cmd
Then in the new command shell use cmdkey
cmdkey /add:<storagteAccountName>.file.core.windows.net\<shareName> /user:AZURE\<storageAccountName> /pass:<storageAccountKey>
Rerun the service and it should work.
If you want to also mount this as a persistent drive, you can use
Command Prompt
net use z: \\<storagteAccountName>.file.core.windows.net\<shareName> /persistent:yes
Powershell
New-PSDrive -Name Z -PSProvider FileSystem -Root "\\<storagteAccountName>.file.core.windows.net\<shareName>" -Persist
Make sure that the user is exactly the same that would be used for the windows service including the domain i.e. use default-domain\domainServiceUser or ./AdminUser for running the cmdkey.
Though the user account is same, when the windows service runs as a 'user' the logon session that it gets is different than the interactive user session (which has the Z drive). Unless you programmatically load the Azure fileshare as a network drive in your code that is part of the Windows service, you won't be able to access it.
I have a network path named P:\ and when I run PowerShell in standard mode I can access it just fine. But when I run PowerShell with Administrative Rights it says it can't find a drive named P:
How to access the path?
When you run PowerShell in standard mode, you say: run PowerShell with the current already authenticated credentials and session and context. This includes all drive mappings inside your current session.
When you run PowerShell as Administrator, the first question is: how do you verify that the Credentials are valid? You can't just look at the username and assume that you can re-use the existing session e.g. you have to explicitly check, exactly at this moment, to see that you are a member of the Administrators group. To validate the credentials, PowerShell performs an authentication check, and in turn, gets a new authentication ticket. This new authentication ticket creates the basis of a new context that your new PowerShell session is running from.
Since it's a new session, running under a completely new context, with new authentication ticket, it inherits no mapped drives because the current administrative session hasn't authenticated with any of your mapped drives. Only your other "non-administrative" or "normal" session has authenticated with any of your mapped drives.
This means that your administrative session starts by default without any mapped drives from your previous session, and it doesn't matter about access or rights, you simply haven't authenticated with your new authentication ticket. This means that, after launching as Administrator, you will have to manually re-map all your drives, as you will have to re-authenticate all the mappings with your new authentication ticket.
Basically, if you need access to mapped drives inside an administrative session, you will need to remap them.
EDIT:
But, as per #ErykSun's comments, #ErykSun brings up the only workaround by setting: EnableLinkedConnections. This is a very specific workaround that only works on GPO mapped drives at logon with the right UAC settings.
This "new session" issue is caused because of the new "feature" Microsoft introduced: UAC elevation (aka. stop running everything as Administrator). In order for certain legacy applications to work, Microsoft had to add this registry Key to create a workaround for mapped drives, e.g. most notably if you need to run something off a mapped drive as administrator (it's a poor user experience to run something off a mapped drive and promptly have it crash because it can't find itself or other files it needs).
How it works is pretty clever. On logon, it will create two sessions at the same time. Your regular non-elevated session, but also an elevated administrative session. At logon, when drive mappings are created, the system creates symbolic link objects that associate the drive letters to the UNC paths.
Note: This is only at logon, and so the caveats are that it only applies to GPO mapped drives.
Drives mapped via login scripts won't work because you have already "started" your session, and there is no link. Same with drives manually mapped during your session. Also when the UAC policy is configured to Prompt for credentials this won't implicitly create the second administrative session (you assume that the user is not an admin) and so running as administrator will create a new session, with the same above issues.
On that note, you can enable it through GPO:
In Local Group Policy Editor, locate the following Group Policy path:
Local Computer Policy\Windows Settings\Security Settings\Local Policies\Security Options
Configure the following policy to Prompt for consent:
User Account Control: Behaviour of the elevation prompt for administrators in Admin Approval Mode
Or via setting the registry key:
Open regedit
Locate and then right-click the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System
Select 'New' and click DWORD (32-bit) Value
Name it: EnableLinkedConnections
Right-click EnableLinkedConnections, and then click 'Modify'
In the 'Value data' box, type 1, and then click OK.
Exit Registry Editor, and then restart the computer
I'm writing a Windows Service that occasionally queries data in HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\NetworkList\Profiles, to detect if the system has changed network (e.g. it's a laptop and they connect to a new Wifi Hotspot).
The Service must run as a LocalService account, so has no administration privileges, however the read permissions on this particular key and its subkeys are for Administrators ony, so the LocalService account is not able to read them.
I'd like to manually add read permissions for my Service to the key, but ONLY for that one Service. I could grant the "Local Service" account read privileges, but this would allow all LocalService Services to read the key, which I do not want. Is there any way of doing this, maybe creating a user account for a single application?
Vista added Service Isolation and it can assign a service SID to the process. You can then add this SID to the ACL of the registry key.
I'm curious to know the order of Windows startup during a user login. Does anyone know?
Basically, my application was being invoked by login script that a GPO calls. While 3rd party EXE was being invoked, it was failing to start.
Then, through trial and error, I found that HKCU...\RunOnce keys execute after the login script. Same result, the EXE was being called, but failing to start.
What worked: updated the login script create a shortcut in the user's Startup folder. Now the EXE starts up as expected.
I know that AutoRuns can tell me all the locations where startup items can be placed, does anyone know the execution order as a whole? I was able to find that Run and RunOnce keys get called asynchronously. I can keep testing each startup item that AutoRuns states, but this could take days.
I'm mostly interested in Windows 2003 Server login startup flow, but I would suspect its very similar to other Windows flavors in use today.
Source: Understanding the Startup Process - Windows 7 Tutorial
The normal startup sequence for Windows 7 is:
Power-on self test (POST) phase
Initial startup phase
Windows Boot Manager phase
Windows Boot Loader phase
Kernel loading phase
Logon phase
Kernel Loading Phase The Windows Boot Loader is responsible for loading the Windows kernel (Ntoskrnl.exe) and the HAL into memory.
Together, the kernel and the HAL initialize a group of software
features that are called the Windows executive. The Windows executive
processes the configuration information stored in the registry in
HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet and starts services and drivers. The
following sections provide more detail about the kernel loading phase.
Logon Phase
The Windows subsystem starts Winlogon.exe, a system service that
enables you to log on and log off. Winlogon.exe then does the
following:
Starts the Services subsystem (Services.exe), also known as the SCM. The SCM initializes services that the registry entry Start
designates as Autoload in the registry subkey
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Servicename.
Starts the Local Security Authority (LSA) process (Lsass.exe).
Parses the Ctrl+Alt+Delete key combination at the Begin Logon prompt (if the computer is part of an
AD DS domain).
The logon user interface (LogonUI) feature and the credential provider
(which can be the standard credential provider or a third-party
credential provider) collect the user name and password (or other
credentials) and pass this information securely to the LSA for
authentication. If the user supplied valid credentials, access is
granted by using either the default Kerberos V 5 authentication
protocol or Windows NT LAN Manager (NTLM).
Winlogon initializes security and authentication features while PnP
initializes auto-load services and drivers. After the user logs on,
the control set referenced by the registry entry LastKnownGood
(located in HKLM\SYSTEM\Select) is updated with the contents in the
CurrentControlSet subkey. By default, Winlogon then starts
Userinit.exe and the Windows Explorer shell. Userinit may then start
other processes, including:
Group Policy settings take effect Group Policy settings that apply to the user and computer take effect.
Startup programs run When not overridden by Group Policy settings, Windows starts logon scripts, startup programs, and services
referenced in the following registry subkeys and file system folders:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Runonce
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer\Run
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows\Run
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
SystemDrive\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
SystemDrive\Documents and Settings\username\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
Several applications might be configured to start by default after you
install Windows, including Windows Defender. Computer manufacturers or
IT departments might configure other startup applications.
Windows startup is not complete until a user successfully logs on to
the computer. If startup fails during the logon phase, you have a
problem with a service or application configured to start
automatically.
If you want further information check the source link.
Here's what I want to do:
a program that listens in the network for a message, and when that message is received, if the user is not logged in (for example the computer just powered on and windows displays the classic login screen), it automatically logs in a certain user accordingly to the message. the username and password are known and stored safely inside the computer in a configuration for the program i'm talking about.
What I had in mind was a windows service that starts with the computer and also listens to those messages, and if one is received, then it does it's job
but I have no idea of where to start
(basically i'm trying to login a user without having to type the password, which I said is stored and known - need something mostly like the fingerprint software windows 7 comes with, and the ones that you had to install in vista/xp so that fingerprint login would work (fingerprint was only an example) )
There's two methods to pursue depending upon which operating system you're looking to run under.
For Windows XP, Windows 2000, and Windows Server 2003 you need to create a GINA.DLL. This is a replacement DLL which must follow specific rules which handles the authentication process. In your case your replacement DLL would be known by the service which was listening for your start signal, and it would make a call into the DLL with the username and password as appropriate.
MSDN Magazine article on customizing GINA.DLL
MSDN entry on GINA
For Windows Vista/7 and above you'll need to look into the Credential Provider API.
MSDN Magazine article on Credential Provider API in Vista.
MSDN entry on Credential Provider API
You can use windows auto logon feature to do this.
Create a service which waits for the required data on a network socket. Make sure this service is started after the network service (Tcpip). Modify winlogon service properties (manually) so that it depends on your service. By depends, I mean that winlogon service is started after your service.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\AutoAdminLogon to 1
Once you receive the data on your network socket, set the following registry keys:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\DefaultUserName
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\DefaultPassword
Once the registry settings are in place, then the winlogon service can read those values and proceed with the login process.
For more details on setting the registry values refer: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315231
I want clarify a little the suggestion of Vikram.exe.
Of cause the usage of AutoAdminLogon seems native for the problem, but saving of the password in registry as a clear text under HKLM\...\Winlogon\DefaultPassword is not good. Since Windows 2000 it is supported the usage of the secrets DefaultPassword which makes the same effect as the DefaultPassword registry value (see Protecting the Automatic Logon Password for the code example).
Another way to force user login or to do any other actions on the login screen is switching to the Winlogon desktop (full name WinSta0\Winlogon). You can use SwitchDesktop and SetProcessWindowStation to do this (see Window Stations and Desktops). If the service run under System account you will have all rights to do this. Depend on the configuration of your service it could be also needed to use SetTokenInformation with TokenSessionId to change the current session id. After the service process will run on the WinSta0\Winlogon desktop you can use functions like FindWindow and other GUI API to place any information in controls of the window (user name, password and so on) of other process. So you can implement more complex scenarios.
Firstly let me just say im not 100% sure how to fully complete such a application but I have a few tips.
you will need to create a Windows Service that starts during the Pre-Login, you can create a service in C#, An example of creating a C# Service is linked below:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/zt39148a(VS.80).aspx
Within your application you would set the property Startup Type to Automatic, This will automatically start your service on boot.
You should know that windows services run under a secure context by account so you will have to get your service to run with privs do do this.
In your Service Properties you can Click Log On and you can
To specify that the service uses the Local Service account, click This account, and then type the following NT AUTHORITY\LocalService.
To specify that the service uses the Network Service account, click This account, and then type the following NT AUTHORITY\NetworkService.
As your trying to do this remotly you will have to look at WMI (Windows Management Instrumentation) and you will be able to start/stop and send commands to your service.
Your service then would send a command to the Login Management (Not Sure of the name).
you may also wish to check this WOL class which will switch the computer on remotely as long as it supports Wake On LAN, If this is for a corporate environment then I advise you to check your network cards to make sure they are supported
http://www.codeproject.com/KB/IP/wolclass.aspx
I know of some education software that I use for schools that's called CC4 ( http://www.rm.com/shops/rmshop/story.aspx?cref=PS1026195 ) and we can do exactly what you need within this system, I'm not fully sure of how it works fully but i believe it takes the same principles described above.