SendSAS function (sas.h)

Article
10/13/2021

Simulates a secure attention sequence (SAS).

Syntax

void SendSAS(
  [in] BOOL AsUser
);

Parameters

[in] AsUser

TRUE if the caller is running as the current user; otherwise, FALSE.

Return value

None

Remarks

To successfully call the SendSAS function, an application must either be running as a service or have the uiAccess attribute of the requestedExecutionLevel element set to "true" in its application manifest. If an application is not running as a service, it must be running as either the current user or the LocalSystem account to call SendSAS. In addition, if an application is not running as a service, User Account Control must be turned on to call SendSAS.

Important Applications with the uiAccess attribute set to "true" must be signed by using Authenticode. In addition, the application must reside in a protected location in the file system. Currently, there are two allowable protected locations:

\Program Files\

\windows\system32\

The local security policy of a computer must be configured to allow services and applications to simulate a SAS. To configure the policy, modify settings in the Group Policy Editor (GPE) Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-in. The GPE settings that control delegation are in the following location:

Computer Configuration | Administrative Templates | Windows Components | Windows Logon Options | Disable or enable software Secure Attention Sequence

A service can impersonate the token of another process that calls that service. In this case, a call to the SendSAS function by that service simulates a SAS on the session associated with the impersonated token.

Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista: Sas.dll is not available natively. You must download the Windows 7 version of the Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit (SDK) to use this function. In addition, an application must refer to Sas.dll to call this function.

Requirements

Requirement	Value
Minimum supported client	Windows 7 [desktop apps only]
Minimum supported server	Windows Server 2008 R2 [desktop apps only]
Target Platform	Windows
Header	sas.h (include Windows.h)
Library	Sas.lib
DLL	Sas.dll

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