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Guidelines for Authoring Secure Installations

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Adherence to the following guidelines when authoring a Windows Installer package helps maintain a secure environment during installation:

  • Administrators should install managed applications into a target installation folder for which non-admin users do not have change or modify privileges.
  • Make any property set by the user a public property. Private properties cannot be changed by the user interacting with the user interface. For information, see About Properties.
  • Do not use properties for passwords or other information that must remain secure. The installer may write the value of a property authored into the Property table, or created at run time, into a log or the system registry. For additional information, see Preventing Confidential Information from Being Written into the Log File.
  • When the installation requires the installer to use elevated privileges, use Restricted Public Properties to restrict the public properties a user can change. Some restrictions are commonly necessary to maintain a secure environment when the installation requires the installer to use elevated privileges.
  • Avoid installing services that impersonate the privileges of a particular user because this may write security data into a log or the system registry. This creates potential for a security problem, password conflict, or the loss of configuration data when the system is restarted. For details, see ServiceInstall table.
  • Use the LockPermissions table and MsiLockPermissionsEx table to secure services, files, registry keys, and created folders in a locked-down environment.
  • Add a digital signatures to the installation to ensure the integrity of the files. For details, see Digital Signatures and Windows Installer and Authoring a Fully Verified Signed Installation.
  • Author your Windows Installer package such that if the user is denied access to resources, the setup fails in a manner that maintains a secure environment. Check the user's access privileges and determine whether there is sufficient disk space before installation begins. Commonly, the installer should only display a browse dialog box if the current user is an administrator or if the installation does not require elevated privileges. For details, see Source Resiliency.
  • Use Secured Transforms to store transforms in a secure file system locally on the user's computer. This prevents the user from having write access to the transform.
  • For information on how to secure media sources of managed applications, see Source Resiliency.
  • Use the Security Summary Property to indicate whether the package should be opened as read-only. This property should be set to read-only recommended for an installation database and to read-only enforced for a transform or patch.
  • The installer runs custom actions with user privileges by default in order to limit the access of custom actions to the system. The installer may run custom actions with elevated privileges if a managed application is being installed or if the system policy has been specified for elevated privileges. For details, see Custom Action Security.
  • Use the DisablePatch policy to provide security in environments where patching must be restricted.
  • Use the AppId table to register common security and configuration settings for DCOM objects.
  • For related information, see Guidelines for Securing Custom Actions.
  • For related information, see Guidelines for Securing Packages on Locked-Down Computers.
  • Starting with Windows Installer 3.0, User Account Control (UAC) Patching enables non-administrator users to patch applications installed in the per-machine context. UAC patching is enabled by providing a signer certificate in the MsiPatchCertificate table and signing patches with the same certificate.
  • The capability of the Windows Installer 5.0 to set access permissions on services, files, created folders, and registry entries can help make installation applications more secure. For information, see Securing Resources.