NOTE

Can a WIKI page be renamed? I typed "LSA" instead of "Lsa"

C# Signature:

[DllImport("advapi32.dll", SetLastError = true, PreserveSig = true)]
    private static extern uint LsaRetrievePrivateData(
                IntPtr PolicyHandle,
                ref LSA_UNICODE_STRING KeyName,
                out IntPtr PrivateData
    );

VB Signature:

Private Declare Function LsaRetrievePrivateData Lib "ADVAPI32.dll" (ByVal PolicyHandle As Long, ByRef KeyName As LSA_UNICODE_STRING, ByVal PrivateData As Long) As Long

User-Defined Types:

Private Type LSA_UNICODE_STRING
   Length          As Integer  ' WORD
   MaximumLength   As Integer  ' WORD
   Buffer          As Long     ' PWCHAR - pointer
End Type

Alternative Managed API:

Do you know one? Please contribute it!

Notes:

See LsaOpenPolicy for the custom marshaler and some more info on it.

Tips & Tricks:

Do not use the LSA private data functions. Instead, use the CryptProtectData and CryptUnprotectData functions.

(However, these won't do when you need to modify COM runas Passwords ...)

Sample Code:

using System;

using System.Text;

using System.Runtime.InteropServices;

namespace pinvoke.lsautil.lsautil

{

    public class LSAutil
    {

    [StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
    private struct LSA_UNICODE_STRING
    {
        public UInt16 Length;
        public UInt16 MaximumLength;
        public IntPtr Buffer;
    }

    [StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
    private struct LSA_OBJECT_ATTRIBUTES
    {
        public int Length;
        public IntPtr RootDirectory;
        public LSA_UNICODE_STRING ObjectName;
        public uint Attributes;
        public IntPtr SecurityDescriptor;
        public IntPtr SecurityQualityOfService;
    }

    private enum LSA_AccessPolicy : long
    {
        POLICY_VIEW_LOCAL_INFORMATION = 0x00000001L,
        POLICY_VIEW_AUDIT_INFORMATION = 0x00000002L,
        POLICY_GET_PRIVATE_INFORMATION = 0x00000004L,
        POLICY_TRUST_ADMIN = 0x00000008L,
        POLICY_CREATE_ACCOUNT = 0x00000010L,
        POLICY_CREATE_SECRET = 0x00000020L,
        POLICY_CREATE_PRIVILEGE = 0x00000040L,
        POLICY_SET_DEFAULT_QUOTA_LIMITS = 0x00000080L,
        POLICY_SET_AUDIT_REQUIREMENTS = 0x00000100L,
        POLICY_AUDIT_LOG_ADMIN = 0x00000200L,
        POLICY_SERVER_ADMIN = 0x00000400L,
        POLICY_LOOKUP_NAMES = 0x00000800L,
        POLICY_NOTIFICATION = 0x00001000L
    }

    [DllImport("advapi32.dll", SetLastError = true, PreserveSig = true)]
    private static extern uint LsaRetrievePrivateData(
                IntPtr PolicyHandle,
                ref LSA_UNICODE_STRING KeyName,
                out IntPtr PrivateData
    );

    [DllImport("advapi32.dll", SetLastError = true, PreserveSig = true)]
    private static extern uint LsaStorePrivateData(
         IntPtr policyHandle,
         ref LSA_UNICODE_STRING KeyName,
         ref LSA_UNICODE_STRING PrivateData
    );

    [DllImport("advapi32.dll", SetLastError = true, PreserveSig = true)]
    private static extern uint LsaOpenPolicy(
       ref LSA_UNICODE_STRING SystemName,
       ref LSA_OBJECT_ATTRIBUTES ObjectAttributes,
       uint DesiredAccess,
       out IntPtr PolicyHandle
    );

    [DllImport("advapi32.dll", SetLastError = true, PreserveSig = true)]
    private static extern uint LsaNtStatusToWinError(
        uint status
    );

    [DllImport("advapi32.dll", SetLastError = true, PreserveSig = true)]
    private static extern uint LsaClose(
        IntPtr policyHandle
    );

    [DllImport("advapi32.dll", SetLastError = true, PreserveSig = true)]
    private static extern uint LsaFreeMemory(
        IntPtr buffer
    );

    private LSA_OBJECT_ATTRIBUTES objectAttributes;
    private LSA_UNICODE_STRING localsystem;
    private LSA_UNICODE_STRING secretName;

    public LSAutil(string key)
    {
        if (key.Length == 0)
        {
        throw new Exception("Key lenght zero");
        }

        objectAttributes = new LSA_OBJECT_ATTRIBUTES();
        objectAttributes.Length = 0;
        objectAttributes.RootDirectory = IntPtr.Zero;
        objectAttributes.Attributes = 0;
        objectAttributes.SecurityDescriptor = IntPtr.Zero;
        objectAttributes.SecurityQualityOfService = IntPtr.Zero;

        localsystem = new LSA_UNICODE_STRING();
        localsystem.Buffer = IntPtr.Zero;
        localsystem.Length = 0;
        localsystem.MaximumLength = 0;

        secretName = new LSA_UNICODE_STRING();
        secretName.Buffer = Marshal.StringToHGlobalUni(key);
        secretName.Length = (UInt16)(key.Length * UnicodeEncoding.CharSize);
        secretName.MaximumLength = (UInt16)((key.Length + 1) * UnicodeEncoding.CharSize);

    }

    private IntPtr GetLsaPolicy(LSA_AccessPolicy access)
    {
        IntPtr LsaPolicyHandle;

        uint ntsResult = LsaOpenPolicy(ref this.localsystem, ref this.objectAttributes, (uint)access, out LsaPolicyHandle);

        uint winErrorCode = LsaNtStatusToWinError(ntsResult);
        if (winErrorCode != 0)
        {
        throw new Exception("LsaOpenPolicy failed: " + winErrorCode);
        }

        return LsaPolicyHandle;
    }

    private static void ReleaseLsaPolicy(IntPtr LsaPolicyHandle)
    {
        uint ntsResult = LsaClose(LsaPolicyHandle);
        uint winErrorCode = LsaNtStatusToWinError(ntsResult);
        if (winErrorCode != 0)
        {
        throw new Exception("LsaClose failed: " + winErrorCode);
        }
    }

    private static void  FreeMemory(IntPtr Buffer)
    {
        uint ntsResult = LsaFreeMemory(Buffer);
        uint winErrorCode = LsaNtStatusToWinError(ntsResult);
        if (winErrorCode != 0)
        {
        throw new Exception("LsaFreeMemory failed: " + winErrorCode);
        }
    }

    public  void SetSecret(string value)
    {
        LSA_UNICODE_STRING lusSecretData = new LSA_UNICODE_STRING();

        if (value.Length > 0)
        {
        //Create data and key
        lusSecretData.Buffer = Marshal.StringToHGlobalUni(value);
        lusSecretData.Length = (UInt16)(value.Length * UnicodeEncoding.CharSize);
        lusSecretData.MaximumLength = (UInt16)((value.Length + 1) * UnicodeEncoding.CharSize);
        }
        else
        {
        //Delete data and key
        lusSecretData.Buffer = IntPtr.Zero;
        lusSecretData.Length = 0;
        lusSecretData.MaximumLength = 0;
        }

        IntPtr LsaPolicyHandle = GetLsaPolicy(LSA_AccessPolicy.POLICY_CREATE_SECRET);
        uint result = LsaStorePrivateData(LsaPolicyHandle, ref secretName, ref lusSecretData);
        ReleaseLsaPolicy(LsaPolicyHandle);

        uint winErrorCode = LsaNtStatusToWinError(result);
        if (winErrorCode != 0)
        {
        throw new Exception("StorePrivateData failed: " + winErrorCode);
        }
    }

    public string GetSecret()
    {
        IntPtr PrivateData = IntPtr.Zero;

        IntPtr LsaPolicyHandle = GetLsaPolicy(LSA_AccessPolicy.POLICY_GET_PRIVATE_INFORMATION);
        uint ntsResult = LsaRetrievePrivateData(LsaPolicyHandle, ref secretName, out PrivateData);
        ReleaseLsaPolicy(LsaPolicyHandle);

        uint winErrorCode = LsaNtStatusToWinError(ntsResult);
        if (winErrorCode != 0)
        {
        throw new Exception("RetreivePrivateData failed: " + winErrorCode);
        }

        LSA_UNICODE_STRING lusSecretData =
        (LSA_UNICODE_STRING)Marshal.PtrToStructure(PrivateData, typeof(LSA_UNICODE_STRING));
        string value = Marshal.PtrToStringAuto(lusSecretData.Buffer).Substring(0, lusSecretData.Length / 2);

        FreeMemory(PrivateData);

        return value;
    }

    }

}

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