How to create a process as a another user without a password in C#?

Question

I'm trying to create something in C# like sudo for Linux. I found a way to run the process as a different user using the password, but I want to do this without the password.

Also, my C# software is running as Administrator and has passed UAC.

My currently Code:

static void CreateProcessAsUser(string name, string path, SecureString password)
{
    Process proc = new Process();

    proc.StartInfo.UseShellExecute = false;
    proc.StartInfo.FileName = path;
    proc.StartInfo.UserName = name;
    proc.StartInfo.Password = password;

    proc.Start();
}

Thank you.

Answer 1

Windows is not Linux, so you cannot expect a feature just like sudo.

No matter which programming language (C# or C++) you use, deep down inside you need to call RunProcessAsUser (no, not your current code as yours is far too simple for the purpose) to initialize a process running as another user account. This API in turn wants a user token, which you either create with user credentials (aka password) via LogonUser , or clone from an existing token via DuplicateToken .

So the only way to avoid password is to find a valid user token already on this machine (once that user logs on).

You might wonder what applications use such a complex mechanism and why. One example is your antivirus software, whose main component is a Windows service running as administrator. This service detects who logs on to the machine and then launches a tray icon application. (That's the perfect time to duplicate a user token and create a process as that user.)

If your goal is not to cover similar scenarios, I wonder whether you should continue on this path.