I need to use the pywin32 method of creating a process as a different user and then get the stdout, the stderr and the error code from the spawned process as well as feed input into the process while it is running. The problem is, I can't seem to find a very good example of this for the createprocess function. This problem is further complicated by the fact that I need to run the subprocess as a different user and then get the stderr, stdout, feed in the stdin and retrieve the errorcode when it is done.
Here are the ctypes definitions for the CreateProcess family of functions. I've written them to accompany the subsequent create_process wrapper function that uses CREATIONINFO and STARTUPINFO instances to control how the process is created and started, including which API is used.
I've integrated this into a subclass of subprocess.Popen that should work in both Python 2 and 3. Users of Python 2 will appreciate that it's Unicode as opposed to the legacy ANSI API that's used by 2.x subprocess. I also added the ability to create a process suspended and start it later. This is useful when you need to add a process to a Job object before it executes.
CreateProcessAsUser is normally called from a service that's running under the SYSTEM account, which has the required privilege SeAssignPrimaryTokenPrivilege. You can use this process creation type with a local S4U (service for user) or Kerberos S4U logon token in Vista and later (see this question), which is similar to how the Task Scheduler executes a scheduled task as a user without storing a password. An S4U logon via LsaLogonUser needs to be requested from an account with SeTcbPrivilege (trusted computer base), such as SYSTEM. Otherwise LsaLogonUser will return only an identification token that can't be used to create processes.
If the current user doesn't have SeAssignPrimaryTokenPrivilege, then you can call CreateProcessWithTokenW, which instead requires SeImpersonatePrivilege. Administrators should have this privilege. Otherwise you can call CreateProcessWithLogonW, which doesn't require any privileges. The token and logon creation types also provide the option to automatically load the user's profile in the system registry.
The example that I've included below uses the logon creation type to run whoami.exe. It creates the process suspended with stdout as a pipe; starts it when you press enter; reads from stdout; and gets the exit code.
ctypes definitions
import os
import sys
import types
import ctypes
import subprocess
from ctypes import wintypes
from subprocess import PIPE
kernel32 = ctypes.WinDLL('kernel32', use_last_error=True)
advapi32 = ctypes.WinDLL('advapi32', use_last_error=True)
ERROR_INVALID_HANDLE = 0x0006
INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE = wintypes.HANDLE(-1).value
INVALID_DWORD_VALUE = wintypes.DWORD(-1).value
DEBUG_PROCESS = 0x00000001
DEBUG_ONLY_THIS_PROCESS = 0x00000002
CREATE_SUSPENDED = 0x00000004
DETACHED_PROCESS = 0x00000008
CREATE_NEW_CONSOLE = 0x00000010
CREATE_NEW_PROCESS_GROUP = 0x00000200
CREATE_UNICODE_ENVIRONMENT = 0x00000400
CREATE_SEPARATE_WOW_VDM = 0x00000800
CREATE_SHARED_WOW_VDM = 0x00001000
INHERIT_PARENT_AFFINITY = 0x00010000
CREATE_PROTECTED_PROCESS = 0x00040000
EXTENDED_STARTUPINFO_PRESENT = 0x00080000
CREATE_BREAKAWAY_FROM_JOB = 0x01000000
CREATE_PRESERVE_CODE_AUTHZ_LEVEL = 0x02000000
CREATE_DEFAULT_ERROR_MODE = 0x04000000
CREATE_NO_WINDOW = 0x08000000
STARTF_USESHOWWINDOW = 0x00000001
STARTF_USESIZE = 0x00000002
STARTF_USEPOSITION = 0x00000004
STARTF_USECOUNTCHARS = 0x00000008
STARTF_USEFILLATTRIBUTE = 0x00000010
STARTF_RUNFULLSCREEN = 0x00000020
STARTF_FORCEONFEEDBACK = 0x00000040
STARTF_FORCEOFFFEEDBACK = 0x00000080
STARTF_USESTDHANDLES = 0x00000100
STARTF_USEHOTKEY = 0x00000200
STARTF_TITLEISLINKNAME = 0x00000800
STARTF_TITLEISAPPID = 0x00001000
STARTF_PREVENTPINNING = 0x00002000
SW_HIDE = 0
SW_SHOWNORMAL = 1
SW_SHOWMINIMIZED = 2
SW_SHOWMAXIMIZED = 3
SW_SHOWNOACTIVATE = 4
SW_SHOW = 5
SW_MINIMIZE = 6
SW_SHOWMINNOACTIVE = 7
SW_SHOWNA = 8
SW_RESTORE = 9
SW_SHOWDEFAULT = 10 # ~STARTUPINFO
SW_FORCEMINIMIZE = 11
LOGON_WITH_PROFILE = 0x00000001
LOGON_NETCREDENTIALS_ONLY = 0x00000002
STD_INPUT_HANDLE = wintypes.DWORD(-10).value
STD_OUTPUT_HANDLE = wintypes.DWORD(-11).value
STD_ERROR_HANDLE = wintypes.DWORD(-12).value
class HANDLE(wintypes.HANDLE):
__slots__ = 'closed',
def __int__(self):
return self.value or 0
def Detach(self):
if not getattr(self, 'closed', False):
self.closed = True
value = int(self)
self.value = None
return value
raise ValueError("already closed")
def Close(self, CloseHandle=kernel32.CloseHandle):
if self and not getattr(self, 'closed', False):
CloseHandle(self.Detach())
__del__ = Close
def __repr__(self):
return "%s(%d)" % (self.__class__.__name__, int(self))
class PROCESS_INFORMATION(ctypes.Structure):
"""https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms684873"""
__slots__ = '_cached_hProcess', '_cached_hThread'
_fields_ = (('_hProcess', HANDLE),
('_hThread', HANDLE),
('dwProcessId', wintypes.DWORD),
('dwThreadId', wintypes.DWORD))
@property
def hProcess(self):
if not hasattr(self, '_cached_hProcess'):
self._cached_hProcess = self._hProcess
return self._cached_hProcess
@property
def hThread(self):
if not hasattr(self, '_cached_hThread'):
self._cached_hThread = self._hThread
return self._cached_hThread
def __del__(self):
try:
self.hProcess.Close()
finally:
self.hThread.Close()
LPPROCESS_INFORMATION = ctypes.POINTER(PROCESS_INFORMATION)
LPBYTE = ctypes.POINTER(wintypes.BYTE)
class STARTUPINFO(ctypes.Structure):
"""https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms686331"""
_fields_ = (('cb', wintypes.DWORD),
('lpReserved', wintypes.LPWSTR),
('lpDesktop', wintypes.LPWSTR),
('lpTitle', wintypes.LPWSTR),
('dwX', wintypes.DWORD),
('dwY', wintypes.DWORD),
('dwXSize', wintypes.DWORD),
('dwYSize', wintypes.DWORD),
('dwXCountChars', wintypes.DWORD),
('dwYCountChars', wintypes.DWORD),
('dwFillAttribute', wintypes.DWORD),
('dwFlags', wintypes.DWORD),
('wShowWindow', wintypes.WORD),
('cbReserved2', wintypes.WORD),
('lpReserved2', LPBYTE),
('hStdInput', wintypes.HANDLE),
('hStdOutput', wintypes.HANDLE),
('hStdError', wintypes.HANDLE))
def __init__(self, **kwds):
self.cb = ctypes.sizeof(self)
super(STARTUPINFO, self).__init__(**kwds)
class PROC_THREAD_ATTRIBUTE_LIST(ctypes.Structure):
pass
PPROC_THREAD_ATTRIBUTE_LIST = ctypes.POINTER(PROC_THREAD_ATTRIBUTE_LIST)
class STARTUPINFOEX(STARTUPINFO):
_fields_ = (('lpAttributeList', PPROC_THREAD_ATTRIBUTE_LIST),)
LPSTARTUPINFO = ctypes.POINTER(STARTUPINFO)
LPSTARTUPINFOEX = ctypes.POINTER(STARTUPINFOEX)
class SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES(ctypes.Structure):
_fields_ = (('nLength', wintypes.DWORD),
('lpSecurityDescriptor', wintypes.LPVOID),
('bInheritHandle', wintypes.BOOL))
def __init__(self, **kwds):
self.nLength = ctypes.sizeof(self)
super(SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES, self).__init__(**kwds)
LPSECURITY_ATTRIBUTES = ctypes.POINTER(SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES)
class HANDLE_IHV(HANDLE):
pass
class DWORD_IDV(wintypes.DWORD):
pass
def _check_ihv(result, func, args):
if result.value == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE:
raise ctypes.WinError(ctypes.get_last_error())
return result.value
def _check_idv(result, func, args):
if result.value == INVALID_DWORD_VALUE:
raise ctypes.WinError(ctypes.get_last_error())
return result.value
def _check_bool(result, func, args):
if not result:
raise ctypes.WinError(ctypes.get_last_error())
return args
def WIN(func, restype, *argtypes):
func.restype = restype
func.argtypes = argtypes
if issubclass(restype, HANDLE_IHV):
func.errcheck = _check_ihv
elif issubclass(restype, DWORD_IDV):
func.errcheck = _check_idv
else:
func.errcheck = _check_bool
# https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms724211
WIN(kernel32.CloseHandle, wintypes.BOOL,
wintypes.HANDLE,) # _In_ HANDLE hObject
# https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms685086
WIN(kernel32.ResumeThread, DWORD_IDV,
wintypes.HANDLE,) # _In_ hThread
# https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms682425
WIN(kernel32.CreateProcessW, wintypes.BOOL,
wintypes.LPCWSTR, # _In_opt_ lpApplicationName
wintypes.LPWSTR, # _Inout_opt_ lpCommandLine
LPSECURITY_ATTRIBUTES, # _In_opt_ lpProcessAttributes
LPSECURITY_ATTRIBUTES, # _In_opt_ lpThreadAttributes
wintypes.BOOL, # _In_ bInheritHandles
wintypes.DWORD, # _In_ dwCreationFlags
wintypes.LPCWSTR, # _In_opt_ lpEnvironment
wintypes.LPCWSTR, # _In_opt_ lpCurrentDirectory
LPSTARTUPINFO, # _In_ lpStartupInfo
LPPROCESS_INFORMATION) # _Out_ lpProcessInformation
# https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms682429
WIN(advapi32.CreateProcessAsUserW, wintypes.BOOL,
wintypes.HANDLE, # _In_opt_ hToken
wintypes.LPCWSTR, # _In_opt_ lpApplicationName
wintypes.LPWSTR, # _Inout_opt_ lpCommandLine
LPSECURITY_ATTRIBUTES, # _In_opt_ lpProcessAttributes
LPSECURITY_ATTRIBUTES, # _In_opt_ lpThreadAttributes
wintypes.BOOL, # _In_ bInheritHandles
wintypes.DWORD, # _In_ dwCreationFlags
wintypes.LPCWSTR, # _In_opt_ lpEnvironment
wintypes.LPCWSTR, # _In_opt_ lpCurrentDirectory
LPSTARTUPINFO, # _In_ lpStartupInfo
LPPROCESS_INFORMATION) # _Out_ lpProcessInformation
# https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms682434
WIN(advapi32.CreateProcessWithTokenW, wintypes.BOOL,
wintypes.HANDLE, # _In_ hToken
wintypes.DWORD, # _In_ dwLogonFlags
wintypes.LPCWSTR, # _In_opt_ lpApplicationName
wintypes.LPWSTR, # _Inout_opt_ lpCommandLine
wintypes.DWORD, # _In_ dwCreationFlags
wintypes.LPCWSTR, # _In_opt_ lpEnvironment
wintypes.LPCWSTR, # _In_opt_ lpCurrentDirectory
LPSTARTUPINFO, # _In_ lpStartupInfo
LPPROCESS_INFORMATION) # _Out_ lpProcessInformation
# https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms682431
WIN(advapi32.CreateProcessWithLogonW, wintypes.BOOL,
wintypes.LPCWSTR, # _In_ lpUsername
wintypes.LPCWSTR, # _In_opt_ lpDomain
wintypes.LPCWSTR, # _In_ lpPassword
wintypes.DWORD, # _In_ dwLogonFlags
wintypes.LPCWSTR, # _In_opt_ lpApplicationName
wintypes.LPWSTR, # _Inout_opt_ lpCommandLine
wintypes.DWORD, # _In_ dwCreationFlags
wintypes.LPCWSTR, # _In_opt_ lpEnvironment
wintypes.LPCWSTR, # _In_opt_ lpCurrentDirectory
LPSTARTUPINFO, # _In_ lpStartupInfo
LPPROCESS_INFORMATION) # _Out_ lpProcessInformation
High-level wrapper
CREATION_TYPE_NORMAL = 0
CREATION_TYPE_LOGON = 1
CREATION_TYPE_TOKEN = 2
CREATION_TYPE_USER = 3
class CREATIONINFO(object):
__slots__ = ('dwCreationType',
'lpApplicationName', 'lpCommandLine', 'bUseShell',
'lpProcessAttributes', 'lpThreadAttributes', 'bInheritHandles',
'dwCreationFlags', 'lpEnvironment', 'lpCurrentDirectory',
'hToken', 'lpUsername', 'lpDomain', 'lpPassword', 'dwLogonFlags')
def __init__(self, dwCreationType=CREATION_TYPE_NORMAL,
lpApplicationName=None, lpCommandLine=None, bUseShell=False,
lpProcessAttributes=None, lpThreadAttributes=None,
bInheritHandles=False, dwCreationFlags=0, lpEnvironment=None,
lpCurrentDirectory=None, hToken=None, dwLogonFlags=0,
lpUsername=None, lpDomain=None, lpPassword=None):
self.dwCreationType = dwCreationType
self.lpApplicationName = lpApplicationName
self.lpCommandLine = lpCommandLine
self.bUseShell = bUseShell
self.lpProcessAttributes = lpProcessAttributes
self.lpThreadAttributes = lpThreadAttributes
self.bInheritHandles = bInheritHandles
self.dwCreationFlags = dwCreationFlags
self.lpEnvironment = lpEnvironment
self.lpCurrentDirectory = lpCurrentDirectory
self.hToken = hToken
self.lpUsername = lpUsername
self.lpDomain = lpDomain
self.lpPassword = lpPassword
self.dwLogonFlags = dwLogonFlags
def create_environment(environ):
if environ is not None:
items = ['%s=%s' % (k, environ[k]) for k in sorted(environ)]
buf = '\x00'.join(items)
length = len(buf) + 2 if buf else 1
return ctypes.create_unicode_buffer(buf, length)
def create_process(commandline=None, creationinfo=None, startupinfo=None):
if creationinfo is None:
creationinfo = CREATIONINFO()
if startupinfo is None:
startupinfo = STARTUPINFO()
elif isinstance(startupinfo, subprocess.STARTUPINFO):
startupinfo = STARTUPINFO(dwFlags=startupinfo.dwFlags,
hStdInput=startupinfo.hStdInput,
hStdOutput=startupinfo.hStdOutput,
hStdError=startupinfo.hStdError,
wShowWindow=startupinfo.wShowWindow)
si, ci, pi = startupinfo, creationinfo, PROCESS_INFORMATION()
if commandline is None:
commandline = ci.lpCommandLine
if commandline is not None:
if ci.bUseShell:
si.dwFlags |= STARTF_USESHOWWINDOW
si.wShowWindow = SW_HIDE
comspec = os.environ.get("ComSpec", os.path.join(
os.environ["SystemRoot"], "System32", "cmd.exe"))
commandline = '"{}" /c "{}"'.format(comspec, commandline)
commandline = ctypes.create_unicode_buffer(commandline)
dwCreationFlags = ci.dwCreationFlags | CREATE_UNICODE_ENVIRONMENT
lpEnvironment = create_environment(ci.lpEnvironment)
if (dwCreationFlags & DETACHED_PROCESS and
((dwCreationFlags & CREATE_NEW_CONSOLE) or
(ci.dwCreationType == CREATION_TYPE_LOGON) or
(ci.dwCreationType == CREATION_TYPE_TOKEN))):
raise RuntimeError('DETACHED_PROCESS is incompatible with '
'CREATE_NEW_CONSOLE, which is implied for '
'the logon and token creation types')
if ci.dwCreationType == CREATION_TYPE_NORMAL:
kernel32.CreateProcessW(
ci.lpApplicationName, commandline,
ci.lpProcessAttributes, ci.lpThreadAttributes, ci.bInheritHandles,
dwCreationFlags, lpEnvironment, ci.lpCurrentDirectory,
ctypes.byref(si), ctypes.byref(pi))
elif ci.dwCreationType == CREATION_TYPE_LOGON:
advapi32.CreateProcessWithLogonW(
ci.lpUsername, ci.lpDomain, ci.lpPassword, ci.dwLogonFlags,
ci.lpApplicationName, commandline,
dwCreationFlags, lpEnvironment, ci.lpCurrentDirectory,
ctypes.byref(si), ctypes.byref(pi))
elif ci.dwCreationType == CREATION_TYPE_TOKEN:
advapi32.CreateProcessWithTokenW(
ci.hToken, ci.dwLogonFlags,
ci.lpApplicationName, commandline,
dwCreationFlags, lpEnvironment, ci.lpCurrentDirectory,
ctypes.byref(si), ctypes.byref(pi))
elif ci.dwCreationType == CREATION_TYPE_USER:
advapi32.CreateProcessAsUserW(
ci.hToken,
ci.lpApplicationName, commandline,
ci.lpProcessAttributes, ci.lpThreadAttributes, ci.bInheritHandles,
dwCreationFlags, lpEnvironment, ci.lpCurrentDirectory,
ctypes.byref(si), ctypes.byref(pi))
else:
raise ValueError('invalid process creation type')
return pi
Extend subprocess.Popen
class Popen(subprocess.Popen):
def __init__(self, *args, **kwds):
ci = self._creationinfo = kwds.pop('creationinfo', CREATIONINFO())
if kwds.pop('suspended', False):
ci.dwCreationFlags |= CREATE_SUSPENDED
self._child_started = False
super(Popen, self).__init__(*args, **kwds)
if sys.version_info[0] == 2:
def _execute_child(self, args, executable, preexec_fn, close_fds,
cwd, env, universal_newlines, startupinfo,
creationflags, shell, to_close, p2cread, p2cwrite,
c2pread, c2pwrite, errread, errwrite):
"""Execute program (MS Windows version)"""
commandline = (args if isinstance(args, types.StringTypes) else
subprocess.list2cmdline(args))
self._common_execute_child(executable, commandline, shell,
close_fds, creationflags, env, cwd,
startupinfo, p2cread, c2pwrite, errwrite, to_close)
else:
def _execute_child(self, args, executable, preexec_fn, close_fds,
pass_fds, cwd, env, startupinfo, creationflags,
shell, p2cread, p2cwrite, c2pread, c2pwrite, errread,
errwrite, restore_signals, start_new_session):
"""Execute program (MS Windows version)"""
assert not pass_fds, "pass_fds not supported on Windows."
commandline = (args if isinstance(args, str) else
subprocess.list2cmdline(args))
self._common_execute_child(executable, commandline, shell,
close_fds, creationflags, env, cwd,
startupinfo, p2cread, c2pwrite, errwrite)
def _common_execute_child(self, executable, commandline, shell,
close_fds, creationflags, env, cwd,
startupinfo, p2cread, c2pwrite, errwrite,
to_close=()):
ci = self._creationinfo
if executable is not None:
ci.lpApplicationName = executable
if commandline:
ci.lpCommandLine = commandline
if shell:
ci.bUseShell = shell
if not close_fds:
ci.bInheritHandles = int(not close_fds)
if creationflags:
ci.dwCreationFlags |= creationflags
if env is not None:
ci.lpEnvironment = env
if cwd is not None:
ci.lpCurrentDirectory = cwd
if startupinfo is None:
startupinfo = STARTUPINFO()
si = self._startupinfo = startupinfo
default = None if sys.version_info[0] == 2 else -1
if default not in (p2cread, c2pwrite, errwrite):
si.dwFlags |= STARTF_USESTDHANDLES
si.hStdInput = int( p2cread)
si.hStdOutput = int(c2pwrite)
si.hStdError = int(errwrite)
try:
pi = create_process(creationinfo=ci, startupinfo=si)
finally:
if sys.version_info[0] == 2:
if p2cread is not None:
p2cread.Close()
to_close.remove(p2cread)
if c2pwrite is not None:
c2pwrite.Close()
to_close.remove(c2pwrite)
if errwrite is not None:
errwrite.Close()
to_close.remove(errwrite)
else:
if p2cread != -1:
p2cread.Close()
if c2pwrite != -1:
c2pwrite.Close()
if errwrite != -1:
errwrite.Close()
if hasattr(self, '_devnull'):
os.close(self._devnull)
if not ci.dwCreationFlags & CREATE_SUSPENDED:
self._child_started = True
# Retain the process handle, but close the thread handle
# if it's no longer needed.
self._processinfo = pi
self._handle = pi.hProcess.Detach()
self.pid = pi.dwProcessId
if self._child_started:
pi.hThread.Close()
def start(self):
if self._child_started:
raise RuntimeError("processes can only be started once")
hThread = self._processinfo.hThread
prev_count = kernel32.ResumeThread(hThread)
if prev_count > 1:
for i in range(1, prev_count):
if kernel32.ResumeThread(hThread) <= 1:
break
else:
raise RuntimeError('cannot start the main thread')
# The thread's previous suspend count was 0 or 1,
# so it should be running now.
self._child_started = True
hThread.Close()
def __del__(self):
if not self._child_started:
try:
if hasattr(self, '_processinfo'):
self._processinfo.hThread.Close()
finally:
if hasattr(self, '_handle'):
self.terminate()
super(Popen, self).__del__()
Example
if __name__ == '__main__':
if sys.version_info[0] == 2:
input = raw_input
cmd = 'whoami.exe'
ci = CREATIONINFO(CREATION_TYPE_LOGON,
lpUsername='test',
lpPassword='password')
p = Popen(cmd, suspended=True, creationinfo=ci,
stdout=PIPE, universal_newlines=True)
print('Process Id: %d' % p.pid)
print('Thread Id: %d' % p._processinfo.dwThreadId)
assert not p._child_started
input('Press enter to start')
p.start()
assert p._child_started
print('\nOutput:')
print(p.stdout.read())
print('Exit Code: %d' % p.wait())
Output
Process Id: 6104
Thread Id: 1492
Press enter to start
Output:
domain\test
Exit Code: 0