How do you prevent consent.exe from trying to connect to the internet?

[Cskully]

From what I have read on various forums consent.exe is related to the UAC. Most of the information about it is for Vista. People know it tries to connect to the internet but no one seems to know why. If it is not an internet service why does it try to connect? How do you stop it from trying to connect without having to block it with your firewall?

I'm getting sick of this invasive software that tries to phone home. It's like whack-a-mole.

 

[rvcjew]

If your version is legit then it shouldn't be a problem to let it connect if you don't want it to you can block it in your firewall (easiest way). It's just checking for expired certificates of the program its asking you if it can run.

consent.exe connects to the internet to verify the digital signature (certification expiry) of applications that needs administrative privilege, from the certification issuer. For instance, there was a talk about it in a Vista forum that a person’s consent.exe was requesting to connect to internet and on granting, it connected to an IP address that resolved to “CyberTrust” which is a Certification Authority (CA) that issue digital certificates. Which implies that particular application’s digital certificate was issued by “CyberTrust”. In fact, a standard Windows Xp and Windows Vista are as well as certified by the same body.

So, letting the legitimate version of consent.exe connecting to internet is harmless. Also, it’s ok to deny the connection as well, if you don’t want it.

 

[Tookeri]

You need to disable UAC for that which is not recommended.

Yes, Consent is part of the secure GUI for UAC. Without allowing it to create connections, the information presented in the UAC dialog might not be complete or correct. It can query the certification provider for the prompted program. All to make sure the file has a valid signature. A previous valid signature can for example be revoked. So let Consent do its job and help you

(I wrote this before I noticed the other reply but I'll post it anyway)

 

[rvcjew]

You need to disable UAC for that which is not recommended.

Yes, Consent is part of the secure GUI for UAC. Without allowing it to create connections, the information presented in the UAC dialog might not be complete or correct. It can query the certification provider for the prompted program. All to make sure the file has a valid signature. A previous valid signature can for example be revoked. So let Consent do its job and help you

(I wrote this before I noticed the other reply but I'll post it anyway)

Hey no issue with telling it in another way, it all helps

 

[Cskully]

Hey no issue with telling it in another way, it all helps

Definitely. Thanks much to both of you. However, I'd still like to disable it from connecting to the internet from within the system instead of blocking it at the firewall. Is there a way to do that? I still use UAC.

 

[rvcjew]

That i'm not sure about, maybe Tookeri can spread some insight on it. I still strongly suggest you just leave it alone though as it may cause UAC to not function properly which can open a whole can of system issues with things like rights ect.

 

[Alejandro85]

In my years using Win7 I never saw consent.exe trying to connect to anything, but the reasons are legitimate and sound reasonable, at least.

How to stop it? In the very same way all connections are stopped, with a firewall. Simply denying internet access to it will suffice to keep it working while unable to phone-home.

 

[Cskully]

In my years using Win7 I never saw consent.exe trying to connect to anything, but the reasons are legitimate and sound reasonable, at least.

How to stop it? In the very same way all connections are stopped, with a firewall. Simply denying internet access to it will suffice to keep it working while unable to phone-home.

Maybe that's because you are using Ultimate or because you're in another country or your firewall isn't catching it. It happens on my netbook with 7 starter on it too. At first I thought it had something to do with office starter.

Like I said in the first post, using the firewall to block it.