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RUNAS

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by jcmiller

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I've been reading alot of the old post and have seen this question asked but never an answer.

this is in WinXP
I'm looking for a way to run an .exe with admin rights, RunAS will do it but the user would then have to have Admin PW (and we dont want to give that out). Is there any way to use RunAS without promting for PW or passing the PW, or is there another way to run an .exe with admin rights.

Thanks
JC

9 replies

by timwalsh

Sorry, if there was a way to use admin rights without somehow providing credentials for an account with admin rights, it wouldn't be a very secure system, would it.

Make the user a member of the Power Users group. This allows a user to use many rights normally restricted to administrators (like using specific apps, installing apps, installing printers).

by jcmiller

Tim I agree with first para, 2nd wont work cause were trying to lock the system down so users can't install software, but can run updates to inhouse apps and such.
I've try'd turning on software restriction policies (turning on enforcment properties so only admin can run). Then went in and added a new path rule to run a .exe unrestrited that's not working or atleast not working the way the docs and Technet say they should.

Since above wasnt working I was hoping there was a way to run RUNAS and hide/pass the password with out user intervention.

Any Ideas? thanks JC

by shadowofthefallen

sure. find a system-level process with an unchecked buffer and write code to exploit that hole and cause the process to run the .exe you wish to run. Then, by working around windows security, you will be able to run executeable files as administrator whenever you would like.

Or you could just patch the entire OS.

by beermonster

Hi,
theres a couple of ways around this...

1) apply the updates on a per machine, rather than per user basis. You can package your updates into an msi and assign them via software gpo policies, or have the update applied via a batch file and use that as the computer startup script.

2) investigate precisely which registry \ file areas are updated by the app (i've a tried and tested method for doing this, let me know if you need it). Apps tend to fail on one of two things. Firstly the app can make an actual check on the group membership of the account running it to see if it is admin \ poweruser etc. Secondly (and more commonly) the app will pick up any access denied returns and flag an installation error if and when it gets one. If you open up the file \ registry areas that the app is modifying \ writing to then the installation will not recieve any access denied's and will succeed.

3) Use my patented (not really, but it ought to be) method for automating runas. -

by beermonster

This uses some vbscripting, but I've got a sample (one i made earlier ; ) you can have if you need it. vbscript has a function called vbsendkeys, which works a lot like the old scriptit util from the nt4reskit. basically, your vbscript starts runas in a command window, then passes the password to that window via the sendkeys method. the vbscript can be encrypted so anyone editing it won't be able to see the password. You can use all this via a login script, or give your users a batch file \ shortcut to a batch file so they can kick it off themselves.

Hope this helps...

by jcmiller

BeerMonster thanks sounds like the VBScript will do the trick could you EMail me a copy of the one you set up jim.miller@hubbardfeeds.com

Thanks again
JC

by jcmiller

BeerMonster thanks sounds like the VBScript will do the trick could you EMail me a copy of the one you set up jim.miller@hubbardfeeds.com

Thanks again
JC

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