How Can I Distinguish Between Administrator and Elevated Administrator Privileges in .NET?

Discerning Elevation Levels in .NET Applications

This article addresses the challenge of differentiating between running with standard administrator privileges and elevated administrator privileges within a .NET application.

Existing Methods and Limitations

While existing methods can confirm administrator status, they fall short in distinguishing between standard and elevated administrator access.

Enhanced Approach Using UacHelper

A more robust solution utilizes the UacHelper class:

using System;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
using System.Security.Principal;
using Microsoft.Win32;

public static class UacHelper
{
    ... // (Implementation details omitted for brevity)

    public static bool IsProcessElevated
    {
        get
        {
            if (IsUacEnabled)
            {
                // ... (Implementation details omitted for brevity)
                return elevationResult == TOKEN_ELEVATION_TYPE.TokenElevationTypeFull;
            }
            else
            {
                // ... (Implementation details omitted for brevity)
                return result;
            }
        }
    }
}

This class efficiently determines the elevation level by checking for UAC (User Account Control) and employing the GetTokenInformation function for precise elevation type identification. When UAC is inactive, it defaults to a WindowsPrincipal based check.

Implementation

To verify the application's elevation status, simply use:

bool isElevated = UacHelper.IsProcessElevated;

This refined method offers a reliable way to ascertain the precise elevation level of your .NET application, differentiating between standard administrator and fully elevated administrator privileges.

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