MS Word and VB Webservices

[Rossouw]

Good day all,

I currently have a VB Webservice that opens, edits and saves an MS Word 2003 document via impersonation (my code is below, for those searching for impersonation techniques).

Everything works fine, what I would like to know is if there is a better way of manipulating an MS Word 2003 document without using impersonation? Due to security reasons, I am hoping to find a better way of approaching this.

I would highly appreciate it if you could help me out on this (if it is even possible!)

Thanks a lot
Rossouw de Bruin

Code:

  ' Values used by the LogonUser function's logonType parameter
    Public Enum LogonType
        LOGON32_LOGON_INTERACTIVE = 2
        LOGON32_LOGON_NETWORK = 3
        LOGON32_LOGON_BATCH = 4
        LOGON32_LOGON_SERVICE = 5
        LOGON32_LOGON_UNLOCK = 7
        LOGON32_LOGON_NETWORK_CLEARTEXT = 8
        LOGON32_LOGON_NEW_CREDENTIALS = 9
    End Enum
 
    ' Values used by the LogonUser function's logonProvider parameter
    Public Enum LogonProvider
        LOGON32_PROVIDER_DEFAULT = 0
        LOGON32_PROVIDER_WINNT35 = 1
        LOGON32_PROVIDER_WINNT40 = 2
        LOGON32_PROVIDER_WINNT50 = 3
    End Enum
 
    Declare Function LogonUser Lib "advapi32.dll" Alias _
     "LogonUserA" ( ByVal username As String, _
                            ByVal domain As String, _
                            ByVal password As String, _
                            ByVal logonType As LogonType, _
                            ByVal logonProvider As LogonProvider, _
                            ByRef token As IntPtr _
                            ) As Integer
 
    Public Sub LetterTemplate()
     Dim username As String = "username"
     Dim domain As String = "domain"
     Dim password As String = "password"
 
     ' A handle to the user who will be impersonated
     Dim token As IntPtr
     ' Log the user into Windows.
      Dim bLogonSuccessful As Boolean = Convert.ToBoolean( _
            LogonUser( _
            username, domain, password, _
            LogonType.LOGON32_LOGON_NETWORK, _
            LogonProvider.LOGON32_PROVIDER_DEFAULT, token))
 
     If Not bLogonSuccessful Then
       "Return something"
     End If
 
    ' Create a WindowsIdentity object that represents the logged-in user.
    Dim ident As New System.Security.Principal.WindowsIdentity(token)
    ' Impersonate the user.
    Dim ctx As System.Security.Principal.WindowsImpersonationContext = ident.Impersonate()   
 
    '...... some other code
 
    'Release the impersonation
    ctx.Undo()
  End Sub