.manifest
A manifest file in Microsoft Windows is a text file with .manifest extension that accompanies and holds metadata for executable files and DLLs. It contains the XML version, encoding (UTF-8 etc.), assembly version trust information, privileges requested and even execution level.
An example of .manifest file is as follows:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?> <assembly xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1" manifestVersion="1.0"> <assemblyIdentity version="1.0.0.0" name="MyApplication.app"/> <trustInfo xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v2"> <security> <requestedPrivileges xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v3"> <requestedExecutionLevel level="asInvoker" uiAccess="false"/> </requestedPrivileges> </security> </trustInfo> </assembly>
See Comparison of privilege authorization features and Side-by-side assembly.