terencesong
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How can power users change IP address?
My organization is running on Windows XP with users only having Power User rights. I want to know if there's a way that the user's can change their IP address (dhcp-static, vice-versa) without using admin rights?
I know that netsh command is able to do that but it only works for admin users.
It'll be great if it's do-able with scripts that users can run anytime.
I know that netsh command is able to do that but it only works for admin users.
It'll be great if it's do-able with scripts that users can run anytime.
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This to be possible up to a few weeks ago. We used to run a netsh script for some of our power users at boot up so they could change their IP address per their location. Although I have not tested it yet, I believe the patch (Vulnerability in TCP/IP Could Allow Remote Code Execution (917953)) posted here: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/Bulletin/MS06-032.mspx is the culprit. I hope this helps…
> We used to run a netsh script for some of our power users at boot up so they could change their IP address per their location
really? i reckon that even your system haven't pacthed for this vulnerability, running a NETSH script at boot up still could NOT change the system's IP with non-admin's rights. because:
1. the vulnerability is caused by an unchecked buffer in the TCP/IP Protocol driver, it can be exploited by creating a specially crafted network PACKET and sending the packet to an affected system. NETSH can not send out such package or message.
2. you need a specialized attacking program to obtain admin rights, before running NETSH.
3. even you could obtain the admin rights by exploiting the vulnerability, it seemed that you still could not use NETSH to change system's IP because NETSH calls WIN32 APIs to switch networking settings, which is under security control. you should write a program to call the TCP/IP Protocol driver directly.
anyway, using a vulnerability to implement a function is NOT recommended.
i just got another idea. is it possible to call netsh from an user-customized system service? you know, a system service can be executed with admin rights, even a non-admin user has logged in.
hope it helps,
bbao
really? i reckon that even your system haven't pacthed for this vulnerability, running a NETSH script at boot up still could NOT change the system's IP with non-admin's rights. because:
1. the vulnerability is caused by an unchecked buffer in the TCP/IP Protocol driver, it can be exploited by creating a specially crafted network PACKET and sending the packet to an affected system. NETSH can not send out such package or message.
2. you need a specialized attacking program to obtain admin rights, before running NETSH.
3. even you could obtain the admin rights by exploiting the vulnerability, it seemed that you still could not use NETSH to change system's IP because NETSH calls WIN32 APIs to switch networking settings, which is under security control. you should write a program to call the TCP/IP Protocol driver directly.
anyway, using a vulnerability to implement a function is NOT recommended.
i just got another idea. is it possible to call netsh from an user-customized system service? you know, a system service can be executed with admin rights, even a non-admin user has logged in.
hope it helps,
bbao
Really!!! Our systems our continually patched and until recently we were using a batch file to execute selected netsh commands to change the ip address as a power user!!! It is possible and as I explained, I haven’t figure out which patch has broken this; I simply suggested one that I thought might be the culprit. Keep in mind the one small permissions change in the OS can keep something from working. This script has been working on several laptops in our organization. We aren’t exploiting any particular vulnerability; we are working within the confines of the OS. It might not be the perfect way to do it, but it worked. And when Microsoft doesn’t have options like this built into the OS, one must adapt and overcome… I am confident that we will find a work around once again! You are on the right track with the system service idea. A member of our staff is working on something like that...
hehe. anyway, i still reckon that the above mentioned particular vulnerability seems not related to the issue we are discussing. :) anyway, exploiting a vulnerability seems not feasible here, doesn't it? :)
Yes, you are correct. The particular vulnerability may not be the culprit, however knowing microsoft and how things are fixed, you never know where, when and why some things are changed. It does make sense that the vulnerability could have made them change certain permissions in certain areas. Just food for thought... :-)