Manifest file
Manifest files are files introduced by Microsoft in Windows XP . They contain optional metadata for their associated EXE file and are available in XML format. The manifest can be integrated as a resource in the EXE file or exist as a separate file of the same name with the extension .exe.manifest.
In Windows XP these files worried mainly that the controls of the associated programs in the design were presented by Windows XP, rather than the old design that of Windows 95 bis 2000 had been used. If an EXE file had no manifest file and it had not been recompiled for Windows XP , all controls were drawn in the old design.
With Windows Vista (and the newly introduced user account control ), it was also possible to specify in the manifest file in which security level the program should run, as well as some other privileges that the program can receive.
Under Windows 7, the manifest files were given a further meaning: they could be used to specify the Windows for which the file was developed, as well as a few other settings relating to backward compatibility ; Windows then automatically executed the file with the compatibility settings chosen by the developers. If there is no manifest file, the file behaves as in Windows Vista. Windows Vista and XP ignore this section of the manifest file.
Furthermore, the unique ID of the assembly is specified in manifest files (especially those that were compiled against the .NET Framework) , as well as information on interfaces and dependencies on other assemblies .
Under some older Windows versions from XP on, there was a security problem that was directly related to the manifest files: Windows looked for an associated manifest file for every executable EXE file, including files from the Windows system directory. An attacker was able to prepare the manifest file of a system file with malicious code, which was then automatically executed when the system file was opened.
credentials
- ↑ Using Windows XP Controls (MSDN Documentation)
- ↑ Manifest Files
- ↑ Application Manifest (MSDN Documentation)
- ↑ Manifests (MSDN Documentation)
- ↑ Manifest files - risky newcomers to Windows XP ( Memento of the original from July 1, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
