Client/server application and Windows Integrated Auth

J

Joubert

Hi,

I have a .NET WinForms application that needs to identify the user and
authenticate this against a datastore (could be Access, SQL Server, or
Oracle). Currently, our login process is forms based so whatever login the
user enters, together with the password, are matched against a table in the
datastore to determine what level of access they should receive.

We now want to support Windows Integrated auth so that the user does not
have to enter a login name and password. One way to do this is to identify
the user based on their domain\username. However, this can be spoofed, by
setting up another computer so that the application is run under the same
domain\username and then connecting to the datastore (since the user doesn't
actually have to login to the domain in order to access the datastore, e.g.
Access file on local drive or when connecting to SQL Server via TCP/IP).

The one solution I've come up with is to store the user's SID instead of
domain\username, since according to the article at
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/...03/standard/proddocs/en-us/sag_ADintro_12.asp
this is guaranteed to be unique and is in fact the method Windows uses to
refer to user accounts.

Is my assessment of how to implement Windows Integrated auth correct?

I have even written a short C# application that retrieves the SID for a user
account (I include the source below).

using System;
using System.Text;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.DirectoryServices;

namespace GetWindowsAuthName
{
/// <summary>
/// Summary description for Class1.
/// </summary>
class Application
{
/// <summary>
/// The main entry point for the application.
/// </summary>
[STAThread]
static void Main(string[] args)
{
PrintUsageInstructions();

System.Security.Principal.WindowsIdentity identity =
System.Security.Principal.WindowsIdentity.GetCurrent();
string username;

if (args.Length > 0)
{
username = args[0];
}
else
{

username = identity.Name;
}

PrintSidInformation(username);

Console.WriteLine();
Console.Write("Press <ENTER> to continue...");
Console.ReadLine();
}

private static void PrintSidInformation(string username)
{
Console.WriteLine("Getting SID for: " + username);
Console.WriteLine("SID = " + GetSid(username));
}

private static void PrintUsageInstructions()
{
Console.WriteLine("Usage instructions:");
Console.WriteLine(@"GetWinAuthDetails [username@domain] [domain\username]");
Console.WriteLine();
}

private static string GetSid(string strLogin)
{
string str = "";
// Parse the string to check if domain name is present.
int idx = strLogin.IndexOf('\\');
if (idx == -1)
{
idx = strLogin.IndexOf('@');
}

string strDomain;
string strName;

if (idx != -1)
{
strDomain = strLogin.Substring(0, idx);
strName = strLogin.Substring(idx+1);
}
else
{
strDomain = Environment.MachineName;
strName = strLogin;
}

Debug.WriteLine("Domain: " + strDomain);
Debug.WriteLine("Username: " + strName);


DirectoryEntry obDirEntry = null;
try
{
Int64 iBigVal = 5;
Byte[] bigArr = BitConverter.GetBytes(iBigVal);
obDirEntry = new DirectoryEntry("WinNT://" + strDomain + "/" + strName);
System.DirectoryServices.PropertyCollection coll = obDirEntry.Properties;
object obVal = coll["objectSid"].Value;
if (null != obVal)
{
str = ConvertByteToStringSid((Byte[])obVal);
}

}
catch (Exception ex)
{
str = "";
Debug.Write(ex.Message);
}
return str;
}

private static string ConvertByteToStringSid(Byte[] sidBytes)
{
short sSubAuthorityCount = 0;
StringBuilder strSid = new StringBuilder();
strSid.Append("S-");
try
{
// Add SID revision.
strSid.Append(sidBytes[0].ToString());

sSubAuthorityCount = Convert.ToInt16(sidBytes[1]);

// Next six bytes are SID authority value.
if (sidBytes[2] != 0 || sidBytes[3] != 0)
{
string strAuth = String.Format("0x{0:2x}{1:2x}{2:2x}{3:2x}{4:2x}{5:2x}",
(Int16)sidBytes[2],
(Int16)sidBytes[3],
(Int16)sidBytes[4],
(Int16)sidBytes[5],
(Int16)sidBytes[6],
(Int16)sidBytes[7]);
strSid.Append("-");
strSid.Append(strAuth);
}
else
{
Int64 iVal = (Int32)(sidBytes[7]) +
(Int32)(sidBytes[6] << 8) +
(Int32)(sidBytes[5] << 16) +
(Int32)(sidBytes[4] << 24);
strSid.Append("-");
strSid.Append(iVal.ToString());
}

// Get sub authority count...
int idxAuth = 0;
for (int i = 0; i < sSubAuthorityCount; i++)
{
idxAuth = 8 + i * 4;
UInt32 iSubAuth = BitConverter.ToUInt32(sidBytes, idxAuth);
strSid.Append("-");
strSid.Append(iSubAuth.ToString());
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
Trace.WriteLine(ex.Message);
return "";
}
return strSid.ToString();
}
}
}
 
K

Ken Schaefer

Joubert said:
Hi,

We now want to support Windows Integrated auth so that the user does not
have to enter a login name and password. One way to do this is to identify
the user based on their domain\username. However, this can be spoofed, by
setting up another computer so that the application is run under the same
domain\username and then connecting to the datastore (since the user
doesn't
actually have to login to the domain in order to access the datastore,
e.g.
Access file on local drive or when connecting to SQL Server via TCP/IP).
Click to expand...

This can only be "spoofed" if the person setting up the application has both
the username *and* the corresponding password. If you have users that know
other user's passwords, then you're going to have a security issue no matter
what you do (for example, someone can obtain the SID knowing the username
and password)

Cheers
Ken
The one solution I've come up with is to store the user's SID instead of
domain\username, since according to the article at
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/...03/standard/proddocs/en-us/sag_ADintro_12.asp
this is guaranteed to be unique and is in fact the method Windows uses to
refer to user accounts.

Is my assessment of how to implement Windows Integrated auth correct?

I have even written a short C# application that retrieves the SID for a
user
account (I include the source below).

using System;
using System.Text;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.DirectoryServices;

namespace GetWindowsAuthName
{
/// <summary>
/// Summary description for Class1.
/// </summary>
class Application
{
/// <summary>
/// The main entry point for the application.
/// </summary>
[STAThread]
static void Main(string[] args)
{
PrintUsageInstructions();

System.Security.Principal.WindowsIdentity identity =
System.Security.Principal.WindowsIdentity.GetCurrent();
string username;

if (args.Length > 0)
{
username = args[0];
}
else
{

username = identity.Name;
}

PrintSidInformation(username);

Console.WriteLine();
Console.Write("Press <ENTER> to continue...");
Console.ReadLine();
}

private static void PrintSidInformation(string username)
{
Console.WriteLine("Getting SID for: " + username);
Console.WriteLine("SID = " + GetSid(username));
}

private static void PrintUsageInstructions()
{
Console.WriteLine("Usage instructions:");
Console.WriteLine(@"GetWinAuthDetails [username@domain]
[domain\username]");
Console.WriteLine();
}

private static string GetSid(string strLogin)
{
string str = "";
// Parse the string to check if domain name is present.
int idx = strLogin.IndexOf('\\');
if (idx == -1)
{
idx = strLogin.IndexOf('@');
}

string strDomain;
string strName;

if (idx != -1)
{
strDomain = strLogin.Substring(0, idx);
strName = strLogin.Substring(idx+1);
}
else
{
strDomain = Environment.MachineName;
strName = strLogin;
}

Debug.WriteLine("Domain: " + strDomain);
Debug.WriteLine("Username: " + strName);


DirectoryEntry obDirEntry = null;
try
{
Int64 iBigVal = 5;
Byte[] bigArr = BitConverter.GetBytes(iBigVal);
obDirEntry = new DirectoryEntry("WinNT://" + strDomain + "/" + strName);
System.DirectoryServices.PropertyCollection coll = obDirEntry.Properties;
object obVal = coll["objectSid"].Value;
if (null != obVal)
{
str = ConvertByteToStringSid((Byte[])obVal);
}

}
catch (Exception ex)
{
str = "";
Debug.Write(ex.Message);
}
return str;
}

private static string ConvertByteToStringSid(Byte[] sidBytes)
{
short sSubAuthorityCount = 0;
StringBuilder strSid = new StringBuilder();
strSid.Append("S-");
try
{
// Add SID revision.
strSid.Append(sidBytes[0].ToString());

sSubAuthorityCount = Convert.ToInt16(sidBytes[1]);

// Next six bytes are SID authority value.
if (sidBytes[2] != 0 || sidBytes[3] != 0)
{
string strAuth = String.Format("0x{0:2x}{1:2x}{2:2x}{3:2x}{4:2x}{5:2x}",
(Int16)sidBytes[2],
(Int16)sidBytes[3],
(Int16)sidBytes[4],
(Int16)sidBytes[5],
(Int16)sidBytes[6],
(Int16)sidBytes[7]);
strSid.Append("-");
strSid.Append(strAuth);
}
else
{
Int64 iVal = (Int32)(sidBytes[7]) +
(Int32)(sidBytes[6] << 8) +
(Int32)(sidBytes[5] << 16) +
(Int32)(sidBytes[4] << 24);
strSid.Append("-");
strSid.Append(iVal.ToString());
}

// Get sub authority count...
int idxAuth = 0;
for (int i = 0; i < sSubAuthorityCount; i++)
{
idxAuth = 8 + i * 4;
UInt32 iSubAuth = BitConverter.ToUInt32(sidBytes, idxAuth);
strSid.Append("-");
strSid.Append(iSubAuth.ToString());
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
Trace.WriteLine(ex.Message);
return "";
}
return strSid.ToString();
}
}
}
Click to expand...
 
J

Joubert

Hi Ken,

Ken Schaefer said:
This can only be "spoofed" if the person setting up the application has both
the username *and* the corresponding password. If you have users that know
Click to expand...

No, you can spoof it without have the "real" password because you are not
using the "real" Windows user account to identify yourself. Here's a sketch
of the scenario:

Setup
=====
Let's say the datastore is an MS Access database and is on a fileshare
somewhere. In the authentication table the user George Smith is (literally)
identified as STDOM\gsmith
If George logs onto his network, Windows will return his domain\username as
STDOM\gsmith (assuming he logged into that account). His Windows password is
never stored in the application's datastore (the MS Access database).
Remember we want the user not have to bother to enter their username /
password - they've already done it in Windows.

Naughty person
===========
Now, let's say Jill Sander wants to impersonate George in order to get to
information stored in the application datastore which only George can see
because of his identity. She can setup a PC with the computer name "STDOM"
(or on PC setup a Windows domain called "STDOM"). Further, she can create a
user account called "gsmith" and choose whatever password she likes.
She now simply logs into that account (Windows will now ID her as
STDOM\gsmith) and launch the application. When she opens the datastore with
the application it will do a match against the authentication table in the
datastore and identify her has George Smith.

Avoid the spoof
==========
So, from the example above it appears as if simply using DOMAIN\username is
not an adequate solution. And now we're back at my original e-mail.
I am thinking of using the user's SID and store that in the authentication
table in the datastore instead of teh DOMAIN\username. This should ensure it
is in fact the SAME person and so avoid the possibility of impersonation.

Is this assessment accurate?

Regards
Joubert
other user's passwords, then you're going to have a security issue no matter
what you do (for example, someone can obtain the SID knowing the username
and password)

Cheers
Ken
The one solution I've come up with is to store the user's SID instead of
domain\username, since according to the article at
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/...03/standard/proddocs/en-us/sag_ADintro_12.asp
this is guaranteed to be unique and is in fact the method Windows uses to
refer to user accounts.

Is my assessment of how to implement Windows Integrated auth correct?

I have even written a short C# application that retrieves the SID for a
user
account (I include the source below).

using System;
using System.Text;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.DirectoryServices;

namespace GetWindowsAuthName
{
/// <summary>
/// Summary description for Class1.
/// </summary>
class Application
{
/// <summary>
/// The main entry point for the application.
/// </summary>
[STAThread]
static void Main(string[] args)
{
PrintUsageInstructions();

System.Security.Principal.WindowsIdentity identity =
System.Security.Principal.WindowsIdentity.GetCurrent();
string username;

if (args.Length > 0)
{
username = args[0];
}
else
{

username = identity.Name;
}

PrintSidInformation(username);

Console.WriteLine();
Console.Write("Press <ENTER> to continue...");
Console.ReadLine();
}

private static void PrintSidInformation(string username)
{
Console.WriteLine("Getting SID for: " + username);
Console.WriteLine("SID = " + GetSid(username));
}

private static void PrintUsageInstructions()
{
Console.WriteLine("Usage instructions:");
Console.WriteLine(@"GetWinAuthDetails [username@domain]
[domain\username]");
Console.WriteLine();
}

private static string GetSid(string strLogin)
{
string str = "";
// Parse the string to check if domain name is present.
int idx = strLogin.IndexOf('\\');
if (idx == -1)
{
idx = strLogin.IndexOf('@');
}

string strDomain;
string strName;

if (idx != -1)
{
strDomain = strLogin.Substring(0, idx);
strName = strLogin.Substring(idx+1);
}
else
{
strDomain = Environment.MachineName;
strName = strLogin;
}

Debug.WriteLine("Domain: " + strDomain);
Debug.WriteLine("Username: " + strName);


DirectoryEntry obDirEntry = null;
try
{
Int64 iBigVal = 5;
Byte[] bigArr = BitConverter.GetBytes(iBigVal);
obDirEntry = new DirectoryEntry("WinNT://" + strDomain + "/" + strName);
System.DirectoryServices.PropertyCollection coll = obDirEntry.Properties;
object obVal = coll["objectSid"].Value;
if (null != obVal)
{
str = ConvertByteToStringSid((Byte[])obVal);
}

}
catch (Exception ex)
{
str = "";
Debug.Write(ex.Message);
}
return str;
}

private static string ConvertByteToStringSid(Byte[] sidBytes)
{
short sSubAuthorityCount = 0;
StringBuilder strSid = new StringBuilder();
strSid.Append("S-");
try
{
// Add SID revision.
strSid.Append(sidBytes[0].ToString());

sSubAuthorityCount = Convert.ToInt16(sidBytes[1]);

// Next six bytes are SID authority value.
if (sidBytes[2] != 0 || sidBytes[3] != 0)
{
string strAuth = String.Format("0x{0:2x}{1:2x}{2:2x}{3:2x}{4:2x}{5:2x}",
(Int16)sidBytes[2],
(Int16)sidBytes[3],
(Int16)sidBytes[4],
(Int16)sidBytes[5],
(Int16)sidBytes[6],
(Int16)sidBytes[7]);
strSid.Append("-");
strSid.Append(strAuth);
}
else
{
Int64 iVal = (Int32)(sidBytes[7]) +
(Int32)(sidBytes[6] << 8) +
(Int32)(sidBytes[5] << 16) +
(Int32)(sidBytes[4] << 24);
strSid.Append("-");
strSid.Append(iVal.ToString());
}

// Get sub authority count...
int idxAuth = 0;
for (int i = 0; i < sSubAuthorityCount; i++)
{
idxAuth = 8 + i * 4;
UInt32 iSubAuth = BitConverter.ToUInt32(sidBytes, idxAuth);
strSid.Append("-");
strSid.Append(iSubAuth.ToString());
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
Trace.WriteLine(ex.Message);
return "";
}
return strSid.ToString();
}
}
}
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
J

Joubert

After further research, it seems that instead of using the SID of a user
account, I should in fact be using its NativeGuid (i.e.
DirectoryEntry.NativeGuid) - this is supposed to uniquely identify the
directory entry (which in my case is the user account).

Thoughts?

Joubert said:
Hi Ken,

Ken Schaefer said:
This can only be "spoofed" if the person setting up the application has both
the username *and* the corresponding password. If you have users that know
Click to expand...

No, you can spoof it without have the "real" password because you are not
using the "real" Windows user account to identify yourself. Here's a sketch
of the scenario:

Setup
=====
Let's say the datastore is an MS Access database and is on a fileshare
somewhere. In the authentication table the user George Smith is (literally)
identified as STDOM\gsmith
If George logs onto his network, Windows will return his domain\username as
STDOM\gsmith (assuming he logged into that account). His Windows password is
never stored in the application's datastore (the MS Access database).
Remember we want the user not have to bother to enter their username /
password - they've already done it in Windows.

Naughty person
===========
Now, let's say Jill Sander wants to impersonate George in order to get to
information stored in the application datastore which only George can see
because of his identity. She can setup a PC with the computer name "STDOM"
(or on PC setup a Windows domain called "STDOM"). Further, she can create a
user account called "gsmith" and choose whatever password she likes.
She now simply logs into that account (Windows will now ID her as
STDOM\gsmith) and launch the application. When she opens the datastore with
the application it will do a match against the authentication table in the
datastore and identify her has George Smith.

Avoid the spoof
==========
So, from the example above it appears as if simply using DOMAIN\username is
not an adequate solution. And now we're back at my original e-mail.
I am thinking of using the user's SID and store that in the authentication
table in the datastore instead of teh DOMAIN\username. This should ensure it
is in fact the SAME person and so avoid the possibility of impersonation.

Is this assessment accurate?

Regards
Joubert
other user's passwords, then you're going to have a security issue no matter
what you do (for example, someone can obtain the SID knowing the username
and password)

Cheers
Ken
The one solution I've come up with is to store the user's SID instead of
domain\username, since according to the article at
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/...03/standard/proddocs/en-us/sag_ADintro_12.asp
this is guaranteed to be unique and is in fact the method Windows uses to
refer to user accounts.

Is my assessment of how to implement Windows Integrated auth correct?

I have even written a short C# application that retrieves the SID for a
user
account (I include the source below).

using System;
using System.Text;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.DirectoryServices;

namespace GetWindowsAuthName
{
/// <summary>
/// Summary description for Class1.
/// </summary>
class Application
{
/// <summary>
/// The main entry point for the application.
/// </summary>
[STAThread]
static void Main(string[] args)
{
PrintUsageInstructions();

System.Security.Principal.WindowsIdentity identity =
System.Security.Principal.WindowsIdentity.GetCurrent();
string username;

if (args.Length > 0)
{
username = args[0];
}
else
{

username = identity.Name;
}

PrintSidInformation(username);

Console.WriteLine();
Console.Write("Press <ENTER> to continue...");
Console.ReadLine();
}

private static void PrintSidInformation(string username)
{
Console.WriteLine("Getting SID for: " + username);
Console.WriteLine("SID = " + GetSid(username));
}

private static void PrintUsageInstructions()
{
Console.WriteLine("Usage instructions:");
Console.WriteLine(@"GetWinAuthDetails [username@domain]
[domain\username]");
Console.WriteLine();
}

private static string GetSid(string strLogin)
{
string str = "";
// Parse the string to check if domain name is present.
int idx = strLogin.IndexOf('\\');
if (idx == -1)
{
idx = strLogin.IndexOf('@');
}

string strDomain;
string strName;

if (idx != -1)
{
strDomain = strLogin.Substring(0, idx);
strName = strLogin.Substring(idx+1);
}
else
{
strDomain = Environment.MachineName;
strName = strLogin;
}

Debug.WriteLine("Domain: " + strDomain);
Debug.WriteLine("Username: " + strName);


DirectoryEntry obDirEntry = null;
try
{
Int64 iBigVal = 5;
Byte[] bigArr = BitConverter.GetBytes(iBigVal);
obDirEntry = new DirectoryEntry("WinNT://" + strDomain + "/" + strName);
System.DirectoryServices.PropertyCollection coll = obDirEntry.Properties;
object obVal = coll["objectSid"].Value;
if (null != obVal)
{
str = ConvertByteToStringSid((Byte[])obVal);
}

}
catch (Exception ex)
{
str = "";
Debug.Write(ex.Message);
}
return str;
}

private static string ConvertByteToStringSid(Byte[] sidBytes)
{
short sSubAuthorityCount = 0;
StringBuilder strSid = new StringBuilder();
strSid.Append("S-");
try
{
// Add SID revision.
strSid.Append(sidBytes[0].ToString());

sSubAuthorityCount = Convert.ToInt16(sidBytes[1]);

// Next six bytes are SID authority value.
if (sidBytes[2] != 0 || sidBytes[3] != 0)
{
string strAuth = String.Format("0x{0:2x}{1:2x}{2:2x}{3:2x}{4:2x}{5:2x}",
(Int16)sidBytes[2],
(Int16)sidBytes[3],
(Int16)sidBytes[4],
(Int16)sidBytes[5],
(Int16)sidBytes[6],
(Int16)sidBytes[7]);
strSid.Append("-");
strSid.Append(strAuth);
}
else
{
Int64 iVal = (Int32)(sidBytes[7]) +
(Int32)(sidBytes[6] << 8) +
(Int32)(sidBytes[5] << 16) +
(Int32)(sidBytes[4] << 24);
strSid.Append("-");
strSid.Append(iVal.ToString());
}

// Get sub authority count...
int idxAuth = 0;
for (int i = 0; i < sSubAuthorityCount; i++)
{
idxAuth = 8 + i * 4;
UInt32 iSubAuth = BitConverter.ToUInt32(sidBytes, idxAuth);
strSid.Append("-");
strSid.Append(iSubAuth.ToString());
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
Trace.WriteLine(ex.Message);
return "";
}
return strSid.ToString();
}
}
}
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
K

Ken Schaefer

Joubert said:
Hi Ken,


No, you can spoof it without have the "real" password because you are not
using the "real" Windows user account to identify yourself. Here's a
sketch
of the scenario:

Setup
=====
Let's say the datastore is an MS Access database and is on a fileshare
somewhere. In the authentication table the user George Smith is
(literally)
identified as STDOM\gsmith
If George logs onto his network, Windows will return his domain\username
as
STDOM\gsmith (assuming he logged into that account). His Windows password
is
never stored in the application's datastore (the MS Access database).
Remember we want the user not have to bother to enter their username /
password - they've already done it in Windows.

Naughty person
===========
Now, let's say Jill Sander wants to impersonate George in order to get to
information stored in the application datastore which only George can see
because of his identity. She can setup a PC with the computer name "STDOM"
(or on PC setup a Windows domain called "STDOM"). Further, she can create
a
user account called "gsmith" and choose whatever password she likes.
She now simply logs into that account (Windows will now ID her as
STDOM\gsmith) and launch the application. When she opens the datastore
with
the application it will do a match against the authentication table in the
datastore and identify her has George Smith.

Avoid the spoof
==========
So, from the example above it appears as if simply using DOMAIN\username
is
not an adequate solution. And now we're back at my original e-mail.
I am thinking of using the user's SID and store that in the authentication
table in the datastore instead of teh DOMAIN\username. This should ensure
it
is in fact the SAME person and so avoid the possibility of impersonation.

Is this assessment accurate?
Click to expand...


No, it's not correct.

Jill Sanders sets up a PC called STDOM, and creates a user account gsmith
and assigns any password. She then attempts to connect to the webserver.
Webserver denies anonymous access, and requires the user/client to
authenticate.

The rogue user (Jill Sanders) sends the credentials STDOM\gsmith + arbitrary
password. The webserver then consults the STDOM domain controller and says
"are these credentials valid for STDOM\gsmith?". The Domain Controller will
say "no, that's not the real password for gsmith - require them to send a
different set of credentials"

This is assuming that you're using Basic, Digest, Integrated Windows Auth
(not anonymous access)

Cheers
Ken
 
J

Joubert

Ken Schaefer said:
No, it's not correct.

Jill Sanders sets up a PC called STDOM, and creates a user account gsmith
and assigns any password. She then attempts to connect to the webserver.
Webserver denies anonymous access, and requires the user/client to
authenticate.
Click to expand...

The setup I described does not involve a server component - i.e. there is no
webserver. There is only a client application (i.e. WinForms) than connects
directly to the datastore, i.e. the client application does the
authentication.

So my thinking is that since the application's execution environment cannot
be controlled you cannot merely rely on the fact that a "DOMAIN\username" is
authenticated since the application can be put in a domain with the same name
and run by a user with the same username.

Does this make more sense?

Cheers
Joubert
 
J

Joe Kaplan \(MVP - ADSI\)

Why not let the datastore authenticate the user and do the authorization
then? Like some others have pointed out on this thread, doing authorization
on the client might be potentially dangerous. If the user is an admin and
can attach a debugger, they can do whatever they want to your code. They
can't do this to the server though.

Hacking the kernel mode security stuff on the workstation is actually fairly
hard to do (overcoming file ACLs and stuff that is protected by kernel
objects), but all bets are still off if the local user is an admin.

It really depends on how important it is that your security can't be hacked
(what is the real threat) and what your deployment environment is like, but
remember that people put security on the server and try to keep others from
running debuggers on it for a reason.

Joe K.
 
P

Pavel Lebedinsky

Joe Kaplan (MVP - ADSI) said:
Like some others have pointed out on this thread, doing authorization on
the client might be potentially dangerous. If the user is an admin and
can attach a debugger, they can do whatever they want to your code.
Click to expand...

It's even worse than that - users don't need any special privileges
to debug their own processes. There's no need to be an admin, or to
have SeDebugPrivilege, etc.
 
J

Joubert

Hi Joe,

Joe Kaplan (MVP - ADSI) said:
Why not let the datastore authenticate the user and do the authorization
then? Like some others have pointed out on this thread, doing authorization
Click to expand...

Because the datastore may not have a server component, e.g. Access.
Although, perhaps what we should do then is to support Windows Integrated
Auth for server based datastores (in our case SQL Server and Oracle) but do
not allow it for MS Access databases.
on the client might be potentially dangerous. If the user is an admin and
can attach a debugger, they can do whatever they want to your code. They
can't do this to the server though.

Hacking the kernel mode security stuff on the workstation is actually fairly
hard to do (overcoming file ACLs and stuff that is protected by kernel
objects), but all bets are still off if the local user is an admin.

It really depends on how important it is that your security can't be hacked
(what is the real threat) and what your deployment environment is like, but
remember that people put security on the server and try to keep others from
running debuggers on it for a reason.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your remarks - useful comments.

Regards
Joubert
 
J

Joe Kaplan \(MVP - ADSI\)

Joubert said:
Hi Joe,



Because the datastore may not have a server component, e.g. Access.
Although, perhaps what we should do then is to support Windows Integrated
Auth for server based datastores (in our case SQL Server and Oracle) but
do
not allow it for MS Access databases.
Click to expand...

In this case I would just say that your ability to provide any true security
is going to be very limited based on all of the replies you've received from
me and other much smarter people. With a server-based data store, you have
a much better set of options. The real question is whether the risk
associated with the Access-based data store is acceptable or not.

Best of luck,

Joe
 

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