CODEWITHSUNDEEP
vb.net
afaque.khan1
afaque.khan1

Reputation: 79

How can I run VB.net command as Administrator from standard account?

Is there a way i can invoke a vb command on my system as admin user by login to system as standard user? Eg: run a program to delete files from the system that can only be done by admin account.

Upvotes: 0

Views: 1220

Answers (1)

Sam Makin
Sam Makin

Reputation: 1556

You can run processes as different users with something like this:

Function ConvertToSecureString(ByVal str As String)
        Dim password As New SecureString
        For Each c As Char In str.ToCharArray
            password.AppendChar(c)
        Next
        Return password
End Function
Sub Main()
       dim username as string = "Administrator"
       dim password as SecureString = ConvertToSecureString("my password")
       dim domain as string = Nothing
       dim filename as string = "notepad.exe" ' %SYSTEMROOT%\system32
        Try
            System.Diagnostics.Process.Start(filename,username, password, domain)
        Catch ex As Win32Exception
            MessageBox.Show("Wrong username or password.", _
        "Error logging in as administrator", MessageBoxButtons.OK, _
         MessageBoxIcon.Error)
        End Try
End Sub

Using this above pattern you can perform just about any operation under an assumed context. For example, if you wanted to delete a file, you could call 'cmd.exe /c del c:\somefile.exe'.

You can also use the lower level LogonUser P/Invoke / WindowsIdentity / WindowsImpersonationContext combo.

Imports System.Runtime.InteropServices
Imports System.Security.Principal


Module Module1

    Private Declare Auto Function LogonUser Lib "advapi32.dll" (ByVal un As String, ByVal domain As String, ByVal pw As String, ByVal LogonType As Integer, ByVal LogonProvider As Integer,  ByRef Token As IntPtr) As Boolean

    Public Declare Auto Function CloseHandle Lib "kernel32.dll" (ByVal handle As IntPtr) As Boolean

    Public Sub Main()
        Dim tokenHandle As New IntPtr(0)
        Try
            If LogonUser("un", "DOMAINNAME", "pw", 2, 0, tokenHandle) Then
                Dim newId As New WindowsIdentity(tokenHandle)
                Using impersonatedUser As WindowsImpersonationContext = newId.Impersonate()
                    'perform impersonated commands
                    System.IO.File.WriteAllText("C:ttestimp.txt", "test")
                End Using
                CloseHandle(tokenHandle)
            Else
                'logon failed
            End If
        Catch ex As Exception
            'exception
        End Try
    End Sub
End Module

More Info 1/2/3

Upvotes: 2

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