[Problem/Bug]: Not working with Administrator Protection feature

[brantgurga]

What happened?

The Administrator Protection feature that has already been there and is being surfaced in Windows Insider builds causes issues with Webview apps.

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We couldn't create the data directory

Microsoft Edge can't read and write to its data directory:

    C:\Users\ADMIN_(redacted)\AppData\Local\driverscloud\EBWebView

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OK

Feedback also sent by Windows Insider program.

Importance

Blocking. My app's basic functions are not working due to this issue.

Runtime Channel

Stable release (WebView2 Runtime), Prerelease (Edge Canary/Dev/Beta)

Runtime Version

No response

SDK Version

No response

Framework

Other

Operating System

Windows 11

OS Version

27783.1000

Repro steps

Launch app that elevates.

Repros in Edge Browser

No, issue does not reproduce in the corresponding Edge version

Regression

No, this never worked

Last working version (if regression)

No response

[sivMSFT]

Hi @brantgurga,

Thank you for reporting the issue with the Administrator Protection feature affecting your WebView2 app. To help us diagnose and resolve the problem, could you please provide the following information:

1. Have you tried running the application as an administrator?
2. Are there any specific error messages or logs that you can share?
3. Have you checked the permissions of the data directory (C:\Users\ADMIN_(redacted)\AppData\Local\driverscloud\EBWebView)?
4. Is the issue occurring on all machines or just a specific one?
5. Have you tried repairing the Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime?

Additionally, could you please provide more details on the following:

1. Runtime Version
2. SDK Version
3. Framework being used

Thank you for your cooperation. Looking forward to your response.

[brantgurga]

It is not my app, but I've seen this happen with two apps now so I figured it was a systemic issue rather than a specific app.

This particular app is the DriversCloud app from DriversCloud.com. I tried to figure out the runtime it's using, but its install directory had nothing that looked like the runtime. Its install directory had things like DCWebAPI.dll and DCEngine.dll, that looks most Web-related, but neither of those seem to be it.

In this case I can't find the AppData\Local\driverscloud\EBWebView mentioned under either account directory.

It is being run as administrator, that's what invokes the whole ADMIN_username aspect. As far as I can tell the Administrator Protection feature basically changes UAC to start the app in a properly separate account instead of the same account with an administrator account.

I am trying to track down what the other app was that I ran into this issue with. It's entirely possible it's just two apps that aren't properly setting permissions and accounting for the multi-user environment of Windows. I thought it had been either Logi Options+ or Logi Tune from Logitech but they didn't run into the issue installing or running this time, so if they had an issue it was a prior version which supports it being a different runtime version.

[brantgurga]

If I go the manual install path for DriversCloud, it lists a Edge Runtime installer to install. Its version is 1.3.195.19, and it claims to already be installed.

[brantgurga]

Using that manual installer approach, I did observe the Edge Runtime ran without elevation so I ran it with elevation. It appeared to do stuff, but then it reported the computer already has a more recent version of Microsoft Edge and to uninstall Microsoft Edge and try again if not working.
After this, launching the DriversCloud app results in the same can't read/write to data directory issue.