microsoft / microsoft/terminal

New tabs open as administrator without UAC prompt/consent

Open
#20,444 5 comments 1 reaction 0 assignees View on GitHub
Issue-Bug Tracking-External
Dominant language
C++
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Avg merge
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Merged PRs (30d)
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Description

### Windows Terminal version

1.24.11911.0

### Windows build number

10.0.26200.0

### Other Software

_No response_

### Steps to reproduce

_I only noticed this issue today. Last night my system updated to the new Windows Terminal version per the previous field_

Control:
1. Win+A (Open PowerShell as administrator)
2. UAC prompt occurs on secure desktop under default out-of-box Windows settings. User consents (Yes).
3. Windows Terminal as administrator opens like normal

Experiment:
1. Win+R (Run)
2. `powershell` (Enter)
1. Powershell opens in Terminal without admin privs and _without UAC prompt_
3. `net session`
1. Should output "Access is denied".
4. Ctrl+Shift+1 (or via GUI, open new tab for powershell)
1. **Unexpected**: New tab/shell opens with admin privs and _without UAC prompt_
5. `net session`
1. Outputs any SMB sessions (this command is really just a poor-man's test if admin privileges are working)

### Expected Behavior

MS terminal opened without admin token/UAC prompt _should not_ be able to open new shells/tabs with admin token/privileges on Windows.

### Actual Behavior

MS terminal opened without admin token/UAC prompt _was able_ to open new shells/tabs with admin token/privileges on Windows.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

Research direction

Start by reproducing the issue with the listed Windows Terminal version and build: launch PowerShell through Win+R, run `net session`, then open a new PowerShell tab and compare its privileges. Done means a non-elevated Terminal cannot create an elevated tab without a UAC prompt, while the documented administrator flow still works.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
cpp, powershell
Domain
cli, operating-systems, security
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
48/100

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