process started from service with CreateProcessWithLogonW terminates right away

In a test framework process A has to start process B under different user credentials (say, _limited_user) using CreateProcessWithLogonW API. lpStartupInfo->lpDesktop is NULL, so process B is supposed to run in the same desktop and window station as process A.

Everything works fine when process A is started manually (as _glagolig). But when process A is started by the test framework service (running under designated test framework’s user account _test_framework) that does not work. CreateProcessWithLogonW returns success but process B is unable to do any work. It terminates right away apparently because its conhost.exe fails to initialize user32.dll and returns 0xC0000142 (I got that from SysInternals’ procmon.exe logs). So it looks like the problem is with desktop/window station access.

I would like to understand the root cause. It is not clear what makes test framework service’s desktop/window station objects different from those of a user that logged in manually.

Also I would like to find a workaround while keeping the overall scheme the same (test framework’s service under account _test_framework has to start process B under _limited_user).

Addendum: according to the documentation, it should be possible to use CreateProcessAsUser without going through these steps, provided you don't want the new process to interact with the user. I haven't tested this yet, but assuming it is true, that would be a much simpler solution for many scenarios.

It turns out that Microsoft has already provided sample code to manipulate window station and desktop access rights, under the title Starting an Interactive Client Process in C++. As of Windows Vista, starting a subprocess in the default window station is no longer enough to allow the subprocess to interact with the user, but it does allow the subprocess to run with alternate user credentials.

I should note that Microsoft's code uses LogonUser and CreateProcessAsUser rather than CreateProcessWithLogonW. This does mean that the service will need SE_INCREASE_QUOTA_NAME privilege and possibly SE_ASSIGNPRIMARYTOKEN_NAME. It may be preferable to substitute CreateProcessWithTokenW which only requires SE_IMPERSONATE_NAME. I don't recommend the use of CreateProcessWithLogonW in this context because it doesn't allow you to access the logon SID prior to launching the subprocess.

I wrote a minimal service to demonstrate using Microsoft's sample code:

/*******************************************************************/

#define _WIN32_WINNT 0x0501

#include <windows.h>

/*******************************************************************/

// See http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa379608%28v=vs.85%29.aspx
// "Starting an Interactive Client Process in C++"

BOOL AddAceToWindowStation(HWINSTA hwinsta, PSID psid);
BOOL AddAceToDesktop(HDESK hdesk, PSID psid);
BOOL GetLogonSID (HANDLE hToken, PSID *ppsid);
VOID FreeLogonSID (PSID *ppsid);
BOOL StartInteractiveClientProcess (
    LPTSTR lpszUsername,    // client to log on
    LPTSTR lpszDomain,      // domain of client's account
    LPTSTR lpszPassword,    // client's password
    LPTSTR lpCommandLine    // command line to execute
);

/*******************************************************************/

const wchar_t displayname[] = L"Demo service for CreateProcessWithLogonW";
const wchar_t servicename[] = L"demosvc-createprocesswithlogonw";

DWORD dwWin32ExitCode = 0, dwServiceSpecificExitCode = 0;

/*******************************************************************/

#define EXCEPTION_USER 0xE0000000
#define FACILITY_USER_DEMOSVC 0x0001
#define EXCEPTION_USER_LINENUMBER (EXCEPTION_USER | (FACILITY_USER_DEMOSVC << 16))

HANDLE eventloghandle;

/*******************************************************************/

wchar_t subprocess_username[] = L"harry-test1";
wchar_t subprocess_domain[] = L"scms";
wchar_t subprocess_password[] = L"xyzzy916";
wchar_t subprocess_command[] = L"cmd.exe /c dir";

void demo(void) 
{
    if (!StartInteractiveClientProcess(subprocess_username, subprocess_domain, subprocess_password, subprocess_command))
    {
        const wchar_t * strings[] = {L"Creating subprocess failed."};
        DWORD err = GetLastError();
        ReportEventW(eventloghandle,
                    EVENTLOG_ERROR_TYPE,
                    0,
                    2,
                    NULL,
                    _countof(strings),
                    sizeof(err),
                    strings,
                    &err);
        return;
    }

    {
        const wchar_t * strings[] = {L"Creating subprocess succeeded!"};
        ReportEventW(eventloghandle,
                    EVENTLOG_INFORMATION_TYPE,
                    0,
                    1,
                    NULL,
                    _countof(strings),
                    0,
                    strings,
                    NULL);
    }

    return;
}

/*******************************************************************/

CRITICAL_SECTION service_section;

SERVICE_STATUS service_status;                     // Protected by service_section

SERVICE_STATUS_HANDLE service_handle = 0;          // Constant once set, so can be used from any thread

static DWORD WINAPI ServiceHandlerEx(DWORD control, DWORD eventtype, LPVOID lpEventData, LPVOID lpContext) 
{
    if (control == SERVICE_CONTROL_INTERROGATE)
    {
        EnterCriticalSection(&service_section);
        if (service_status.dwCurrentState != SERVICE_STOPPED)
        {
        SetServiceStatus(service_handle, &service_status);
        }
        LeaveCriticalSection(&service_section);
        return NO_ERROR;
    }

    return ERROR_CALL_NOT_IMPLEMENTED;
}

static VOID WINAPI ServiceMain(DWORD argc, LPTSTR * argv)
{
    SERVICE_STATUS status;

    EnterCriticalSection(&service_section);

    service_handle = RegisterServiceCtrlHandlerEx(argv[0], ServiceHandlerEx, NULL);
    if (!service_handle) RaiseException(EXCEPTION_USER_LINENUMBER | __LINE__, EXCEPTION_NONCONTINUABLE, 0, NULL);

    service_status.dwServiceType = SERVICE_WIN32_OWN_PROCESS;
    service_status.dwCurrentState = SERVICE_RUNNING;
    service_status.dwControlsAccepted = 0;
    service_status.dwWin32ExitCode = STILL_ACTIVE;
    service_status.dwServiceSpecificExitCode = 0;
    service_status.dwCheckPoint = 0;
    service_status.dwWaitHint = 500;

    SetServiceStatus(service_handle, &service_status);

    LeaveCriticalSection(&service_section);

    /************** service main function **************/

    {
        const wchar_t * strings[] = {L"Service started!"};
        ReportEventW(eventloghandle,
                    EVENTLOG_INFORMATION_TYPE,
                    0,
                    2,
                    NULL,
                    _countof(strings),
                    0,
                    strings,
                    NULL);
    }

    demo();

    /************** service shutdown **************/

    EnterCriticalSection(&service_section);     

    status.dwServiceType = SERVICE_WIN32_OWN_PROCESS;
    status.dwCurrentState = service_status.dwCurrentState = SERVICE_STOPPED;
    status.dwControlsAccepted = 0;
    status.dwCheckPoint = 0;
    status.dwWaitHint = 500;
    status.dwWin32ExitCode = dwWin32ExitCode;
    status.dwServiceSpecificExitCode = dwServiceSpecificExitCode;

    LeaveCriticalSection(&service_section);

    SetServiceStatus(service_handle, &status);       /* NB: SetServiceStatus does not return here if successful,
                                                    so any code after this point will not normally run. */
    return;
}

int wmain(int argc, wchar_t * argv[]) 
{
    const static SERVICE_TABLE_ENTRY servicetable[2] = {
        {(wchar_t *)servicename, ServiceMain},
        {NULL, NULL}
    };

    InitializeCriticalSection(&service_section);

    eventloghandle = RegisterEventSource(NULL, displayname);
    if (!eventloghandle) return GetLastError();

    {
        const wchar_t * strings[] = {L"Executable started!"};
        ReportEventW(eventloghandle,
                    EVENTLOG_INFORMATION_TYPE,
                    0,
                    2,
                    NULL,
                    _countof(strings),
                    0,
                    strings,
                    NULL);
    }

    if (StartServiceCtrlDispatcher(servicetable)) return 0;
    return GetLastError();
}

This must be linked with Microsoft's sample code. You can then install the service using the sc command:

sc create demosvc-createprocesswithlogonw binPath= c:\path\demosvc.exe DisplayName= "Demo service for CreateProcessWithLogonW"