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Fake Admin Rights

FakeAdminRights is a sandbox setting in Sandboxie Ini available since 0.7.1 / 5.48.5. It specifies whether Sandboxie will simulate Administrator rights for programs running in this sandbox.

Syntax

FakeAdminRights=[process,]y|n
  • process (optional): The name of the executable to which the rule applies. If omitted, the rule applies to all sandboxed applications.

  • y|n:

    • y enables fake admin rights for the specified process (or all processes if none specified)
    • n disables fake admin rights for the specified process

This option is recommended to be used in combination with DropAdminRights to improve security. Most installers should still work with both options enabled.

Usage Examples

1. Enable Fake Admin Rights for All Sandboxed Programs

This makes all applications in the sandbox believe they have administrator privileges:

[DefaultBox]
FakeAdminRights=y

2. Enable Fake Admin Rights for a Specific Installer

Some installers require admin rights to proceed. This grants fake admin rights only to installer.exe while other programs run normally:

[DefaultBox]
FakeAdminRights=installer.exe,y

3. Enable Fake Admin Rights Globally But Disable for Security-Sensitive Programs

This configuration gives fake admin rights to all programs except security-sensitive ones like CredentialUIBroker.exe:

[DefaultBox]
FakeAdminRights=y
FakeAdminRights=CredentialUIBroker.exe,n

4. Using Negation (!) to Reverse Rules

You can use ! to reverse the logic of a rule. This is particularly useful for creating exceptions:

[DefaultBox]
FakeAdminRights=!Start.exe,y

This means "enable fake admin rights for all programs EXCEPT Start.exe".

These examples demonstrate:

  1. Global fake admin rights
  2. Targeted fake admin rights for specific applications
  3. A mixed approach for compatibility with security-sensitive programs
  4. Using negation for exception-based rules

The third example is particularly useful when most programs need elevated privileges but certain system components must run with real permissions to function correctly.

What does FakeAdmin do?

When FakeAdmin is enabled:

  • The sandboxed process is tricked into believing it is running with administrator privileges.
  • This is useful for testing or running applications that require admin rights, without granting them actual admin access.
  • It helps with compatibility for programs that check for admin rights but don't really need them to function.

This setting corresponds to the GUI option in Sandboxie Plus under the following path:

Sandbox Options > Security Options > Security Hardening: Make applications think they are running elevated (allows to run installers safely)

Sandbox Options > Advanced Options > Miscellaneous > Add Option: FakeAdminRights