Where does Internet Explorer store saved passwords

Question

Where does Internet Explorer store saved passwords   And since this is a programming site  I m not literally asking for the location where IE stores passwords  but which API IE uses to save passwords   At first I assumed that Microsoft was using the standard api    CredRead CredWrite   which is used to save domain and generic program web-site credentials   CredRead CredWrite then turn around around and use    CryptProtectData CryptUnprotectData       to encrypt data with the current user s account  CredRead CredWrite then store the data in some magical location  contents of which you can see from the Control Panel     But I don t see IE passwords in there  So IE doesn t store passwords using CredRead CredWrite   What API does IE use to store passwords  and if it uses CryptProtectData  where does it then store the protected data     Edit  The reason I ask needs no explanation  since it s pretty obvious   but it s because I might want to use the same mechanism

User · Answer

Short answer  in the Vault  Since Windows 7  a Vault was created for storing any sensitive data among it the credentials of Internet Explorer  The Vault is in fact a LocalSystem service - vaultsvc dll   Long answer  Internet Explorer allows two methods of credentials storage  web sites credentials  for example  your Facebook user and password  and autocomplete data  Since version 10  instead of using the Registry a new term was introduced  Windows Vault  Windows Vault is the default storage vault for the credential manager information   You need to check which OS is running  If its Windows 8 or greater  you call VaultGetItemW8  If its isn t  you call VaultGetItemW7    To use the  Vault   you load a DLL named  vaultcli dll  and access its functions as needed    A typical C   code will be   hVaultLib   LoadLibrary L vaultcli dll     if  hVaultLib    NULL         pVaultEnumerateItems    VaultEnumerateItems GetProcAddress hVaultLib   VaultEnumerateItems        pVaultEnumerateVaults    VaultEnumerateVaults GetProcAddress hVaultLib   VaultEnumerateVaults        pVaultFree    VaultFree GetProcAddress hVaultLib   VaultFree        pVaultGetItemW7    VaultGetItemW7 GetProcAddress hVaultLib   VaultGetItem        pVaultGetItemW8    VaultGetItemW8 GetProcAddress hVaultLib   VaultGetItem        pVaultOpenVault    VaultOpenVault GetProcAddress hVaultLib   VaultOpenVault        pVaultCloseVault    VaultCloseVault GetProcAddress hVaultLib   VaultCloseVault         bStatus    pVaultEnumerateVaults    NULL           amp  amp   pVaultFree    NULL           amp  amp   pVaultGetItemW7    NULL           amp  amp   pVaultGetItemW8    NULL           amp  amp   pVaultOpenVault    NULL           amp  amp   pVaultCloseVault    NULL           amp  amp   pVaultEnumerateItems    NULL       Then you enumerate all stored credentials by calling  VaultEnumerateVaults   Then you go over the results

User · Answer

No guarantee  but I suspect IE uses the older Protected Storage API

User · Answer

I found the answer  IE stores passwords in two different locations based on the password type    Http-Auth   APPDATA  Microsoft Credentials  in encrypted files Form-based  HKEY CURRENT USER Software Microsoft Internet  Explorer IntelliForms Storage2  encrypted with the url   From a very good page on NirSoft com      Starting from version 7 0 of Internet   Explorer  Microsoft completely changed   the way that passwords are saved  In   previous versions  4 0 - 6 0   all   passwords were saved in a special   location in the Registry known as the    Protected Storage    In version 7 0   of Internet Explorer  passwords are   saved in different locations    depending on the type of password    Each type of passwords has some   limitations in password recovery          AutoComplete Passwords  These   passwords are saved in the following   location in the Registry    HKEY CURRENT USER Software Microsoft Internet   Explorer IntelliForms Storage2  The   passwords are encrypted with the URL   of the Web sites that asked for the   passwords  and thus they can only be   recovered if the URLs are stored in   the history file  If you clear the   history file  IE PassView won t be   able to recover the passwords until   you visit again the Web sites that   asked for the passwords    Alternatively  you can add a list of   URLs of Web sites that requires user   name password into the Web sites file    see below      HTTP Authentication   Passwords  These passwords are stored   in the Credentials file under   Documents and Settings Application   Data Microsoft Credentials  together   with login passwords of LAN computers   and other passwords   Due to security   limitations  IE PassView can recover   these passwords only if you have   administrator rights       In my particular case it answers the question of where  and I decided that I don t want to duplicate that  I ll continue to use CredRead CredWrite  where the user can manage their passwords from within an established UI system in Windows

[security] Where does Internet Explorer store saved passwords?

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