Service Control Manager Security for non-admins

Allowing non-administrators rights for service control sounds deceptively simple, but unfortunately it’s not. After Windows Server 2003 SP1, the default rights are very focused on administrator-only access for service control.

This post describes how to view and modify the security descriptor for the Service Control Manager (SCM) and individual services as required.

Show the descriptor for SCM:
sc sdshow SCMANAGER

D:(A;;CC;;;AU)(A;;CCLCRPRC;;;IU)(A;;CCLCRPRC;;;SU)(A;;CCLCRPWPRC;;;SY)(A;;KA;;;BA)S:(AU;FA;KA;;;WD)(AU;OIIOFA;GA;;;WD)

In this case, the output shows that by default, Authenticated Users (AU) only have connect, but not enumerate (LC) for SCM.

If you want to allow a non-administrator to connect to the Service Control Manager and enumerate the services, you can modify the security descriptor by using something like the following command to add enumerate, read control and query lock status for Authenticated Users with SCM:
sc sdset SCMANAGER

D:(A;;CCLCRPRC;;;AU)(A;;CCLCRPRC;;;IU)(A;;CCLCRPRC;;;SU)(A;;CCLCRPWPRC;;;SY)(A;;KA;;;BA)S:(AU;FA;KA;;;WD)(AU;OIIOFA;GA;;;WD)

This allows connecting to the SCM and enumerating services. However, if the DACL on the individual services only allows administrators access to the services, then they still won’t be accessible. You’ll need to run specific 'sc sdset' commands against particular services, or use subinacl to change all services with one command.

Note that the sc.exe version with XP does not support this syntax – use the sc.exe on 2003 server.

For individual services, you could then allow query and interrogate with the following command:

subinacl /service \\server\* /grant=domain\user=QSI

Note that to map the ACE flags to the meaning with regards to service control, I went through the following process:

1. Find the access rights from the flag, eg CC = SDDL_CREATE_CHILD = ADS_RIGHT_DS_CREATE_CHILD (ACE Strings link below)
2. Find the constant matching this value, eg. 0x1 (ADS_RIGHTS_ENUM Enumeration link below)
3. Match this to the SCM access right for the hexadecimal value, eg. 0x1 = SC_MANAGER_CONNECT (Service Security and Access Rights link below)

Map between sdshow output, right, hex value and SC/service meaning:

"CC"  ADS_RIGHT_DS_CREATE_CHILD          = 0x1,    SC_MANAGER_CONNECT, SERVICE_QUERY_CONFIG
"DC"  ADS_RIGHT_DS_DELETE_CHILD          = 0x2,    SC_MANAGER_CREATE_SERVICE, SERVICE_CHANGE_CONFIG
"LC"  ADS_RIGHT_ACTRL_DS_LIST            = 0x4,    SC_MANAGER_ENUMERATE_SERVICE, SERVICE_QUERY_STATUS
"SW"  ADS_RIGHT_DS_SELF                  = 0x8,    SC_MANAGER_LOCK, SERVICE_ENUMERATE_DEPENDENTS
"RP"  ADS_RIGHT_DS_READ_PROP             = 0x10,   SC_MANAGER_QUERY_LOCK_STATUS, SERVICE_START, 
"WP"  ADS_RIGHT_DS_WRITE_PROP            = 0x20,   SC_MANAGER_MODIFY_BOOT_CONFIG, SERVICE_STOP
"DT"  ADS_RIGHT_DS_DELETE_TREE           = 0x40,   SERVICE_PAUSE_CONTINUE
"LO"  ADS_RIGHT_DS_LIST_OBJECT           = 0x80,   SERVICE_INTERROGATE
"CR"  ADS_RIGHT_DS_CONTROL_ACCESS        = 0x100   SERVICE_USER_DEFINED_CONTROL
"RC"  READ_CONTROL                       = 0x20000 READ_CONTROL

Access right Description for services and SCM:

SERVICE_QUERY_CONFIG (0x0001) Required to call the QueryServiceConfig and QueryServiceConfig2 functions to query the service configuration. 
SERVICE_CHANGE_CONFIG (0x0002) Required to call the ChangeServiceConfig or ChangeServiceConfig2 function to change the service configuration. Because this grants the caller the right to change the executable file that the system runs, it should be granted only to administrators.  
SERVICE_QUERY_STATUS (0x0004) Required to call the QueryServiceStatusEx function to ask the service control manager about the status of the service. 
SERVICE_ENUMERATE_DEPENDENTS (0x0008) Required to call the EnumDependentServices function to enumerate all the services dependent on the service. 
SERVICE_START (0x0010) Required to call the StartService function to start the service. 
SERVICE_STOP (0x0020) Required to call the ControlService function to stop the service. 
SERVICE_PAUSE_CONTINUE (0x0040) Required to call the ControlService function to pause or continue the service. 
SERVICE_INTERROGATE (0x0080) Required to call the ControlService function to ask the service to report its status immediately. 
SERVICE_USER_DEFINED_CONTROL(0x0100) Required to call the ControlService function to specify a user-defined control code. 
SERVICE_ALL_ACCESS (0xF01FF) Includes STANDARD_RIGHTS_REQUIRED in addition to all access rights in this table. 
READ_CONTROL Required to call the QueryServiceObjectSecurity function to query the security descriptor of the service object. 

SC_MANAGER_CONNECT (0x0001) Required to connect to the service control manager. 
SC_MANAGER_CREATE_SERVICE (0x0002) Required to call the CreateService function to create a service object and add it to the database. 
SC_MANAGER_ENUMERATE_SERVICE (0x0004) Required to call the EnumServicesStatusEx function to list the services that are in the database. 
SC_MANAGER_LOCK (0x0008) Required to call the LockServiceDatabase function to acquire a lock on the database. 
SC_MANAGER_QUERY_LOCK_STATUS (0x0010) 
SC_MANAGER_MODIFY_BOOT_CONFIG (0x0020) Required to call the NotifyBootConfigStatus function. 
SC_MANAGER_ALL_ACCESS (0xF003F) Includes STANDARD_RIGHTS_REQUIRED, in addition to all access rights in this table. 

Directory service object access rights

"RC"  SDDL_READ_CONTROL  READ_CONTROL 
"RP"  SDDL_READ_PROPERTY  ADS_RIGHT_DS_READ_PROP  
"WP"  SDDL_WRITE_PROPERTY  ADS_RIGHT_DS_WRITE_PROP  
"CC"  SDDL_CREATE_CHILD  ADS_RIGHT_DS_CREATE_CHILD  
"DC"  SDDL_DELETE_CHILD  ADS_RIGHT_DS_DELETE_CHILD  
"LC"  SDDL_LIST_CHILDREN  ADS_RIGHT_ACTRL_DS_LIST  
"SW"  SDDL_SELF_WRITE  ADS_RIGHT_DS_SELF  
"LO"  SDDL_LIST_OBJECT  ADS_RIGHT_DS_LIST_OBJECT  
"DT"  SDDL_DELETE_TREE  ADS_RIGHT_DS_DELETE_TREE  
"CR"  SDDL_CONTROL_ACCESS  ADS_RIGHT_DS_CONTROL_ACCESS  

ADS enum:

typedef enum  {
  ADS_RIGHT_DS_CREATE_CHILD          = 0x1,
  ADS_RIGHT_DS_DELETE_CHILD          = 0x2,
  ADS_RIGHT_ACTRL_DS_LIST            = 0x4,
  ADS_RIGHT_DS_SELF                  = 0x8,
  ADS_RIGHT_DS_READ_PROP             = 0x10,
  ADS_RIGHT_DS_WRITE_PROP            = 0x20,
  ADS_RIGHT_DS_DELETE_TREE           = 0x40,
  ADS_RIGHT_DS_LIST_OBJECT           = 0x80,
  ADS_RIGHT_DS_CONTROL_ACCESS        = 0x100 

} ADS_RIGHTS_ENUM;

READ_CONTROL = 0x20000;

References:

Applying Security Descriptors on the Device Object
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms793368.aspx

Non-administrators cannot remotely access the Service Control Manager after you install Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;907460

Securing a Remote WMI Connection
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa393266(VS.85).aspx

Configuring a Report Server for Remote Administration
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms365170(SQL.90).aspx

Service Security and Access Rights
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms685981(VS.85).aspx

How to grant users rights to manage services in Windows 2000
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/288129

How to troubleshoot WMI-related issues in Windows XP SP2
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/875605

ACE Strings
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa374928(VS.85).aspx

ADS_RIGHTS_ENUM Enumeration
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa772285(VS.85).aspx



Wayne's World of IT (WWoIT), Copyright 2009 Wayne Martin.