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Question:

SFX archives requires admin privileges when running in IE's Protected Mode

Aug 27 '13 at 11:31

Hello!

I have a simple servlet allowing to download files from the server.

The problem occurs when non-administrator Windows user downloads and runs SFX archive through Internet Explorer browser running in protected mode. In this case IE asks for administrator credentials to execute SFX archive. In detail, the problem occurs when non-administrator Windows user performs the following steps:

  1. Opens IE version > 7
  2. Accesses download web page and clicks a special link to download SFX archive
  3. In IE's "File Download" dialog clicks "Run" button
  4. After downloading is complete, IE asks for admin credentials to execute SFX archive

It should be noticed that the problem does not occur when IE's Protected Mode is turned off or when a user clicks "Save" button on "File Download" dialog, selects destination folder and executes SFX archive after downloading is complete.

thanks in advance, Ruslan.

Answer

From Internet Explorer's point of view (and from the Windows OS), the self-extracting EXE is a Windows EXE just like any other. If you download an EXE from an untrusted source, and attempt to run it, especially in a more secure environment/setting, then certainly it should ask for admin privilege. I don't see how Chilkat could modify the self-extracting EXE to get around this problem. If this were possible, then any EXE could be downloaded and run without admin privilege in this scenario.