Impersonating CurrentUser from SYSTEM

Hey all,

I've been searching for a very long time an easy way to impersonate current user while running in a "SYSTEM" user credentials.
I haven't found any code that does it and actually works.
So I managed to combine pieces of code from several places, and added some of my own.
This helper class exposes 2 functions:
1. Get current user impersonated scope - in this scope you can do pretty much whatever you want in the current user credentials.
2. Start a process as current user.
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public static class ImpersonationUtils
{
    private const int SW_SHOW = 5;
    private const int TOKEN_QUERY = 0x0008;
    private const int TOKEN_DUPLICATE = 0x0002;
    private const int TOKEN_ASSIGN_PRIMARY = 0x0001;
    private const int STARTF_USESHOWWINDOW = 0x00000001;
    private const int STARTF_FORCEONFEEDBACK = 0x00000040;
    private const int CREATE_UNICODE_ENVIRONMENT = 0x00000400;
    private const int TOKEN_IMPERSONATE = 0x0004;
    private const int TOKEN_QUERY_SOURCE = 0x0010;
    private const int TOKEN_ADJUST_PRIVILEGES = 0x0020;
    private const int TOKEN_ADJUST_GROUPS = 0x0040;
    private const int TOKEN_ADJUST_DEFAULT = 0x0080;
    private const int TOKEN_ADJUST_SESSIONID = 0x0100;
    private const int STANDARD_RIGHTS_REQUIRED = 0x000F0000;
    private const int TOKEN_ALL_ACCESS =
        STANDARD_RIGHTS_REQUIRED |
        TOKEN_ASSIGN_PRIMARY |
        TOKEN_DUPLICATE |
        TOKEN_IMPERSONATE |
        TOKEN_QUERY |
        TOKEN_QUERY_SOURCE |
        TOKEN_ADJUST_PRIVILEGES |
        TOKEN_ADJUST_GROUPS |
        TOKEN_ADJUST_DEFAULT |
        TOKEN_ADJUST_SESSIONID;
 
    [StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
    private struct PROCESS_INFORMATION
    {
        public IntPtr hProcess;
        public IntPtr hThread;
        public int dwProcessId;
        public int dwThreadId;
    }
 
    [StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
    private struct SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES
    {
        public int nLength;
        public IntPtr lpSecurityDescriptor;
        public bool bInheritHandle;
    }
 
    [StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
    private struct STARTUPINFO
    {
        public int cb;
        public string lpReserved;
        public string lpDesktop;
        public string lpTitle;
        public int dwX;
        public int dwY;
        public int dwXSize;
        public int dwYSize;
        public int dwXCountChars;
        public int dwYCountChars;
        public int dwFillAttribute;
        public int dwFlags;
        public short wShowWindow;
        public short cbReserved2;
        public IntPtr lpReserved2;
        public IntPtr hStdInput;
        public IntPtr hStdOutput;
        public IntPtr hStdError;
    }
 
    private enum SECURITY_IMPERSONATION_LEVEL
    {
        SecurityAnonymous,
        SecurityIdentification,
        SecurityImpersonation,
        SecurityDelegation
    }
 
    private enum TOKEN_TYPE
    {
        TokenPrimary = 1,
        TokenImpersonation
    }
 
    [DllImport("advapi32.dll", SetLastError = true)]
    private static extern bool CreateProcessAsUser(
        IntPtr hToken,
        string lpApplicationName,
        string lpCommandLine,
        ref SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES lpProcessAttributes,
        ref SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES lpThreadAttributes,
        bool bInheritHandles,
        int dwCreationFlags,
        IntPtr lpEnvironment,
        string lpCurrentDirectory,
        ref STARTUPINFO lpStartupInfo,
        out PROCESS_INFORMATION lpProcessInformation);
 
    [DllImport("advapi32.dll", SetLastError = true)]
    private static extern bool DuplicateTokenEx(
        IntPtr hExistingToken,
        int dwDesiredAccess,
        ref SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES lpThreadAttributes,
        int ImpersonationLevel,
        int dwTokenType,
        ref IntPtr phNewToken);
 
    [DllImport("advapi32.dll", SetLastError = true)]
    private static extern bool OpenProcessToken(
        IntPtr ProcessHandle,
        int DesiredAccess,
        ref IntPtr TokenHandle);
 
    [DllImport("userenv.dll", SetLastError = true)]
    private static extern bool CreateEnvironmentBlock(
            ref IntPtr lpEnvironment,
            IntPtr hToken,
            bool bInherit);
 
    [DllImport("userenv.dll", SetLastError = true)]
    private static extern bool DestroyEnvironmentBlock(
            IntPtr lpEnvironment);
 
    [DllImport("kernel32.dll", SetLastError = true)]
    private static extern bool CloseHandle(
        IntPtr hObject);
 
    private static void LaunchProcessAsUser(string cmdLine, IntPtr token, IntPtr envBlock, int sessionId)
    {
        var pi = new PROCESS_INFORMATION();
        var saProcess = new SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES();
        var saThread = new SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES();
        saProcess.nLength = Marshal.SizeOf(saProcess);
        saThread.nLength = Marshal.SizeOf(saThread);
 
        var si = new STARTUPINFO();
        si.cb = Marshal.SizeOf(si);
        si.lpDesktop = @"WinSta0\Default";
        si.dwFlags = STARTF_USESHOWWINDOW | STARTF_FORCEONFEEDBACK;
        si.wShowWindow = SW_SHOW;
 
        if (!CreateProcessAsUser(
            token,
            null,
            cmdLine,
            ref saProcess,
            ref saThread,
            false,
            CREATE_UNICODE_ENVIRONMENT,
            envBlock,
            null,
            ref si,
            out pi))
        {
            throw new Win32Exception(Marshal.GetLastWin32Error(), "CreateProcessAsUser failed");
        }
    }
 
    private static IDisposable Impersonate(IntPtr token)
    {
        var identity = new WindowsIdentity(token);
        return identity.Impersonate();
    }
 
    private static IntPtr GetPrimaryToken(Process process)
    {
        var token = IntPtr.Zero;
        var primaryToken = IntPtr.Zero;
 
        if (OpenProcessToken(process.Handle, TOKEN_DUPLICATE, ref token))
        {
            var sa = new SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES();
            sa.nLength = Marshal.SizeOf(sa);
 
            if (!DuplicateTokenEx(
                token,
                TOKEN_ALL_ACCESS,
                ref sa,
                (int)SECURITY_IMPERSONATION_LEVEL.SecurityImpersonation,
                (int)TOKEN_TYPE.TokenPrimary,
                ref primaryToken))
            {
                throw new Win32Exception(Marshal.GetLastWin32Error(), "DuplicateTokenEx failed");
            }
 
            CloseHandle(token);
        }
        else
        {
            throw new Win32Exception(Marshal.GetLastWin32Error(), "OpenProcessToken failed");
        }
 
        return primaryToken;
    }
 
    private static IntPtr GetEnvironmentBlock(IntPtr token)
    {
        var envBlock = IntPtr.Zero;
        if (!CreateEnvironmentBlock(ref envBlock, token, false))
        {
            throw new Win32Exception(Marshal.GetLastWin32Error(), "CreateEnvironmentBlock failed");
        }
        return envBlock;
    }
 
    public static void LaunchAsCurrentUser(string cmdLine)
    {
        var process = Process.GetProcessesByName("explorer").FirstOrDefault();
        if (process != null)
        {
            var token = GetPrimaryToken(process);
            if (token != IntPtr.Zero)
            {
                var envBlock = GetEnvironmentBlock(token);
                if (envBlock != IntPtr.Zero)
                {
                    LaunchProcessAsUser(cmdLine, token, envBlock, process.SessionId);
                    if (!DestroyEnvironmentBlock(envBlock))
                    {
                        throw new Win32Exception(Marshal.GetLastWin32Error(), "DestroyEnvironmentBlock failed");
                    }
                }
 
                CloseHandle(token);
            }
        }
    }
 
    public static IDisposable ImpersonateCurrentUser()
    {
        var process = Process.GetProcessesByName("explorer").FirstOrDefault();
        if (process != null)
        {
            var token = GetPrimaryToken(process);
            if (token != IntPtr.Zero)
            {
                return Impersonate(token);
            }
        }
 
        throw new Exception("Could not find explorer.exe");
    }
}
And the usage is very easy:
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ImpersonationUtils.LaunchAsCurrentUser("notepad");
 
using (ImpersonationUtils.ImpersonateCurrentUser())
{
     
}
It's easy and it's fun!
I really hope this code will save you the hours I spend on writing it.

Comments

  1. You are a genius!!
    Thanks so much! Where can I donate for your efforts ?

    I had trouble listing networked drives in a service. Your solution solved this effortlessly.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi,
      How can did you use this? I need to copy files from a network share to a local path using a service. I have tried the using statement but it fails.

      Cheers

      Delete
  2. No problem :).
    No need to donate, ur appreciation is enough!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Your version works like a charm plus it is easy as pie :) I modified it though, to return a bool if the process was launched successfully.

    What do not work are :

    http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2313553/process-start-with-different-credentials-with-uac-on
    http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/35773/Subverting-Vista-UAC-in-Both-and-bit-Archite

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And I replaced '.FirstOrDefault()' with '[0]'

      Delete
    2. Thanks :)
      If you really want, you can upvote my response here:
      http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3891260/impersonation-the-current-user-using-windowsimpersonationcontext-to-access-netwo

      So other people might be able to get it.

      Delete
  4. Hi, Thank you for writing this, It is very helpful. I want to map a drive under current user but for some reason it is not working. Could you point me in the right direction. I'm using

    System.Diagnostics.Process.Start("net.exe", "use /persistent:NO H: " + path);

    any help will be much appreciated.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Try to combine my solution together with:
      https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3753758/creating-virtual-hard-drive
      (The first response)

      Other then that, I don't know

      Delete
  5. Sounds like there may be an issue with delegation. Is there a way to add delegation to the current class? virtual hdd link didn't work :(. Thank you for your reply on this.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Do I need to change any local policy for this to work?

    ReplyDelete

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