ActiveX has been around a while. When Microsoft was battling Netscape, they needed a way to put custom, active content on web pages. Java was being used by Netscape, and people thought it was great. Microsoft needed something they could develop quickly that would let programmers put new types of content on the web browser. ActiveX was born.
The basic idea behind ActiveX is really simple. A programmer creates a DLL that can be accessed by anyone. Some introspection is added, and now a web browser can call native code! Once you’re in native code, you can do whatever the heck you want, so Microsoft’s work was done. Of course, Microsoft added a bunch of ways to make it complicated, but the basic architecture is extremely simple.
That was back when Bill Gates thought that no one would pay money for security. The security model Microsoft used was also extremely simple: All ActiveX DLLs are signed. If someone hijacks thousands of computers using your DLL, then Microsoft will know who’s responsible!
Of course, Microsoft signed some DLLs that had some big holes in them. In fact, lots of legitimate companies did. For the next decade and a half, a whole team of Microsoft employees dealt with the consequences of these design decisions.
ActiveX is still here, though.
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So, what has Microsoft changed? Is it still business as usual in the land of ActiveX? No, it’s not. A lot has changed.
First of all, enough warnings pop up around an ActiveX control that both programmers and users avoid them like the plague. Back in the early days, programmers were supposed to put UI widgets on the browser window because Microsoft said it was easier to do it that way than by using HTML. (This conveniently prevented the page from loading under Netscape, so no one actually took this advice.) Now, almost no one makes ActiveX controls. Once you’ve got some video players, Flash, and a few others, you’re done. No one else has to write them anymore! Certainly no one has to write one that requires administrative access to the computer. Once Windows Update was finished, the designers probably concluded that that was all you needed.
There’s very close to no documentation on the subject, but it’s still possible to have your ActiveX control run as an administrator. The strange part is that now, instead of being a mainstream programmer, you have to put on your dark sunglasses and visit some very murky areas. Microsoft won’t tell you exactly what to do, but they do put clues in a variety of blog postings and tech notes. Bugs will haunt you as you make your way toward what you need, and you’ll never really know if you’re exploiting the OS or doing it correctly.
It’s amazing what’s changed. It’s even more amazing how little has changed.
