RegistryKey.SetAccessControl(RegistrySecurity) Method

Definition

Applies Windows access control security to an existing registry key.

public void SetAccessControl (System.Security.AccessControl.RegistrySecurity registrySecurity);

Parameters

registrySecurity
RegistrySecurity

The access control security to apply to the current subkey.

Exceptions

The current RegistryKey object represents a key with access control security, and the caller does not have ChangePermissions rights.

registrySecurity is null.

The RegistryKey being manipulated is closed (closed keys cannot be accessed).

Examples

The following code example creates a test key. The current user is allowed ReadKey and Delete rights but denied ChangePermissions and WriteKey rights. Subsequent attempts to manipulate the key succeed or fail depending on these permissions.

Before the key is deleted, the code pauses. You can switch to the registry editor and verify that the same access rights apply when the key is accessed using the registry editor. (This works best if you use RunAs from the command line to run the registry editor and the sample code as a local user without administrator rights. The registry editor always allows an administrator to change permissions, even if the particular administrator has been denied those rights. If you have defined a local user named TestUser, the command runas /user:TestUser cmd opens a command window from which you can run the registry editor and then the sample code.)

using System;
using System.Reflection;
using System.Security;
using System.Security.AccessControl;
using Microsoft.Win32;

public class Example
{
    public static void Main()
    {
        // Delete the example key if it exists.
        try
        {
            Registry.CurrentUser.DeleteSubKey("RegistryRightsExample");
            Console.WriteLine("Example key has been deleted.");
        }
        catch (ArgumentException)
        {
            // ArgumentException is thrown if the key does not exist. In
            // this case, there is no reason to display a message.
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Unable to delete the example key: {0}", ex);
            return;
        }

        string user = Environment.UserDomainName + "\\" + Environment.UserName;

        RegistrySecurity rs = new RegistrySecurity();

        // Allow the current user to read and delete the key.
        //
        rs.AddAccessRule(new RegistryAccessRule(user,
            RegistryRights.ReadKey | RegistryRights.Delete,
            InheritanceFlags.None,
            PropagationFlags.None,
            AccessControlType.Allow));

        // Prevent the current user from writing or changing the
        // permission set of the key. Note that if Delete permission
        // were not allowed in the previous access rule, denying
        // WriteKey permission would prevent the user from deleting the
        // key.
        rs.AddAccessRule(new RegistryAccessRule(user,
            RegistryRights.WriteKey | RegistryRights.ChangePermissions,
            InheritanceFlags.None,
            PropagationFlags.None,
            AccessControlType.Deny));

        // Create the example key with registry security.
        RegistryKey rk = null;
        try
        {
            rk = Registry.CurrentUser.CreateSubKey("RegistryRightsExample",
                RegistryKeyPermissionCheck.Default, rs);
            Console.WriteLine("\r\nExample key created.");
            rk.SetValue("ValueName", "StringValue");
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("\r\nUnable to create the example key: {0}", ex);
        }
        if (rk != null) rk.Close();

        rk = Registry.CurrentUser;

        RegistryKey rk2;

        // Open the key with read access.
        rk2 = rk.OpenSubKey("RegistryRightsExample", false);
        Console.WriteLine("\r\nRetrieved value: {0}", rk2.GetValue("ValueName"));
        rk2.Close();

        // Attempt to open the key with write access.
        try
        {
            rk2 = rk.OpenSubKey("RegistryRightsExample", true);
        }
        catch (SecurityException ex)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("\nUnable to write to the example key." +
                " Caught SecurityException: {0}", ex.Message);
        }
        if (rk2 != null) rk2.Close();

        // Attempt to change permissions for the key.
        try
        {
            rs = new RegistrySecurity();
            rs.AddAccessRule(new RegistryAccessRule(user,
                RegistryRights.WriteKey,
                InheritanceFlags.None,
                PropagationFlags.None,
                AccessControlType.Allow));
            rk2 = rk.OpenSubKey("RegistryRightsExample", false);
            rk2.SetAccessControl(rs);
            Console.WriteLine("\r\nExample key permissions were changed.");
        }
        catch (UnauthorizedAccessException ex)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("\nUnable to change permissions for the example key." +
                " Caught UnauthorizedAccessException: {0}", ex.Message);
        }
        if (rk2 != null) rk2.Close();

        Console.WriteLine("\r\nPress Enter to delete the example key.");
        Console.ReadLine();

        try
        {
            rk.DeleteSubKey("RegistryRightsExample");
            Console.WriteLine("Example key was deleted.");
        }
        catch(Exception ex)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Unable to delete the example key: {0}", ex);
        }

        rk.Close();
    }
}

/* This code example produces the following output:

Example key created.

Retrieved value: StringValue

Unable to write to the example key. Caught SecurityException: Requested registry access is not allowed.

Unable to change permissions for the example key. Caught UnauthorizedAccessException: Cannot write to the registry key.

Press Enter to delete the example key.

Example key was deleted.
 */

Remarks

To modify permissions for a registry key, use the GetAccessControl method to obtain a RegistrySecurity object representing the existing Windows access control security, modify that RegistrySecurity object, and then use the SetAccessControl method to update security for the key.

Caution

The RegistrySecurity object specified for registrySecurity replaces the existing security for the registry key. To add permissions for a new user, use the GetAccessControl method to obtain the existing access control security, and then modify it.

Applies to

Product Versions
.NET 6, 7, 8, 9
.NET Framework 2.0, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 4.5.1, 4.5.2, 4.6, 4.6.1, 4.6.2, 4.7, 4.7.1, 4.7.2, 4.8, 4.8.1
.NET Standard 2.0 (package-provided)
Windows Desktop 3.0, 3.1, 5