Is running code under a different user (impersonation) possible with a service account (domain) without a windows service?

Question

We want to run a process under the context of a service account. Can a method within a WPF application be executed (using Process.Start) impersonated with a service user account (domain) without a windows service?

If possible, how can this be achieved?

Answer 1

OP:

Can a method within a WPF application be executed (using Process.Start) impersonated with a service user account (domain) without a windows service?

You can impersonate a user regardless of what type the calling process is. ie WPF, Windows Service, Console App . It does not matter. However on Windows Vista and later the process must be running as an administrator .

Example courtesy of MSDN

string userName, domainName;
// Get the user token for the specified user, domain, and password using the
// unmanaged LogonUser method.
// The local machine name can be used for the domain name to impersonate a user on this machine.
Console.Write("Enter the name of the domain on which to log on: ");
domainName = Console.ReadLine();

Console.Write("Enter the login of a user on {0} that you wish to impersonate: ", domainName);
userName = Console.ReadLine();

Console.Write("Enter the password for {0}: ", userName);

...

// Call LogonUser to obtain a handle to an access token.
bool returnValue = LogonUser(userName, domainName, Console.ReadLine(),
                LOGON32_LOGON_INTERACTIVE, LOGON32_PROVIDER_DEFAULT,
                out safeTokenHandle);
...

using (safeTokenHandle)
{
...

    using (WindowsIdentity newId = new WindowsIdentity(safeTokenHandle.DangerousGetHandle()))
    {
        using (WindowsImpersonationContext impersonatedUser = newId.Impersonate())
        {
            // Check the identity.
            Console.WriteLine("After impersonation: "
                             + WindowsIdentity.GetCurrent().Name);
        }
    }
}
 

For more information and the complete example , I recommend viewing the link above as I didn't wish to quote the entire sample.

More

• WindowsImpersonationContext Class
• Impersonating and Reverting