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wtf is uac-bypass-uiaccess?

daxcess/uac-bypass-uiaccess — explained in plain English

Analysis updated 2026-05-18

0RustAudience · developerComplexity · 5/5Setup · hard

TL;DR

A Rust security research tool that documents a technique for bypassing Windows UAC by exploiting a mismatch between a program's memory copy and its file on disk.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((UAC bypass research))
    What it does
      Exploits memory disk mismatch
      Gains UIAccess privilege
      Bypasses strict UAC setting
    Tech stack
      Rust
      Windows internals
      NtCreateSection
    Use cases
      Study Windows privilege escalation
      Security research on UAC
      Learn Windows memory mapping quirks
    Audience
      Security researchers
      Windows internals experts

Code map

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Why would anyone build with this?

REASON 1

Study a documented technique for bypassing Windows UAC as security research.

REASON 2

Learn how mismatched memory-mapped and on-disk file contents can be abused on Windows.

REASON 3

Understand how UIAccess privilege escalation can lead to a full UAC bypass.

What's in the stack?

RustWindows API

How it stacks up

daxcess/uac-bypass-uiaccess04amanrajj/netwatch0xr10t/pulsefi
Stars000
LanguageRustRustRust
Setup difficultyhardmoderatehard
Complexity5/53/54/5
Audiencedeveloperops devopsdeveloper

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you spin it up?

Difficulty · hard Time to first run · 1day+

Requires deep familiarity with Windows internals such as process memory mapping and privilege levels, no license or build instructions given.

No license information is provided in the README.

Wtf does this do

This project is a security research tool written in Rust that documents and demonstrates a specific way to bypass Windows User Account Control, commonly known as UAC, the popup that asks for permission before a program can make system level changes. The technique is aimed at security researchers studying how Windows handles elevated permissions, not general users. The README explains that Windows has a quirk in how it loads executable files into memory. When a program is loaded, Windows maps a copy of the file into memory through the operating system kernel. If a second copy of the same file is later loaded, Windows sometimes reuses the memory copy it already made instead of reading the file from disk again. The tool takes advantage of this by first loading a program into memory, then changing what is actually stored on disk, so that the version running in memory no longer matches the version sitting on the disk. Windows security checks, including the ones UAC relies on, can end up trusting the original, unmodified version while a different program actually runs. Specifically, the technique uses this mismatch to gain a Windows permission called UIAccess, which lets a program interact with higher privileged applications running under the same Windows user account. To pull this off, the tool needs to place its files in a folder that Windows treats as trusted and writable, and the README names a couple of Windows system folders that fit this description on typical machines. From there, it uses a Windows Task Scheduler trick combined with a technique called SetWindowsHookEx, which lets one program observe or react to events in another, to get an elevated command prompt to appear even when UAC is set to its strictest warning setting. The README is a detailed technical writeup explaining exactly how each step of this exploit works, aimed at people who already understand Windows internals such as process memory mapping and privilege levels. No license information is present in the README.

Yoink these prompts

Prompt 1
Explain how the memory versus disk mismatch in this exploit tricks Windows security checks.
Prompt 2
Walk me through how this project uses SetWindowsHookEx and Task Scheduler to gain UIAccess.
Prompt 3
Summarize the Windows internals concepts I'd need to understand this UAC bypass writeup.

Frequently asked questions

wtf is uac-bypass-uiaccess?

A Rust security research tool that documents a technique for bypassing Windows UAC by exploiting a mismatch between a program's memory copy and its file on disk.

What language is uac-bypass-uiaccess written in?

Mainly Rust. The stack also includes Rust, Windows API.

What license does uac-bypass-uiaccess use?

No license information is provided in the README.

How hard is uac-bypass-uiaccess to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated hard, with roughly 1day+ to a first successful run.

Who is uac-bypass-uiaccess for?

Mainly developer.

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