JavaScript implements Vista script elevation

Recently, I discussed several techniques for how users with administrator privileges in Windows Vista can elevate process permissions. All of these technologies, including the one I'm about to introduce, require the user to pass through a UAC session during process elevation. This is how process elevation works in Windows Vista.

In this article, I'm going to teach you a technique that gives you a clear idea of the inside of Windows about privilege elevation and least privilege issues. This technology comes from one of my most trusted--aaron margosis.

As a member of Microsoft Consulting Services, Aaron created a utility called "LUA buglight." This tool can help administrators (and programmers) identify potential problems with the application because it does not work when the application runs in limited user accounts (LUA) and not administrator accounts.

Aaron presented a scripting technique that allows you to elevate process permissions and manage any particular process through command lines or scripts. The trick involves writing a JavaScript script, putting the script under the user's path variable (for example, any path depicted in the path variable), and then being invoked from the command line, like a regular command. When you activate a command with this script, a UAC prompt also appears, as if the administrator started the program manually.

One advantage of using Aaron's Elevate.js script is that because it's a script, not a compiled executable, you can modify it to suit a particular environment. After the modification, there is no need to recreate the difficult compilation, the modified part can be detected immediately.