CODEWITHSUNDEEP
asp.netiiswindows-authentication
Lieven Cardoen
Lieven Cardoen

Reputation: 25959

HttpContext.Current.User.Principal vs WindowsIdentity.GetCurrent()

What's the difference in an asp.NET environment with Windows Authentication and Identity Impersonation turned on, between HttpContext.Current.User.Principal and WindowsIdentity.GetCurrent()?

Upvotes: 12

Views: 22257

Answers (1)

KyleMit
KyleMit

Reputation: 29977

According to this forum on WindowsIdentity.GetCurrent().Name vs. User.Identity.Name:

  • User.Identity.Name represents the identity passed from IIS.
  • WindowsIdentity.GetCurrent().Name is the identity under which the thread is running.

Depending on your app's authentication settings in IIS, they will return different values:

| Anonymous | Impersonate | User.Identity.Name | WindowsIndentiy.GetCurrent()  |
|-----------|-------------|--------------------|-------------------------------|
| Yes       | True        | Empty String       | IUSR_<machineName>            |
| Yes       | False       | Empty String       | NT Authority\Network Service  |
| No        | True        | domain\user        | domain\user                   |
| No        | False       | domain\user        | NT Authority\Network Service  |

Legend:

  • Where domain\user will show up as:
    • domain\user for Active Directory
    • machineName\userName for local account
  • Where NT Authority\Network Service will show up as:
    • NT Authority\Network Service for Windows Server or ASP.NET
    • machineName\ASPNET_WP for Windows XP

Upvotes: 16

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