[Dovecot] Bug#564633: dovecot bug: Next message unexpectedly corrupted in mbox file

[Justin Piszcz]

On Fri, 5 Feb 2010, Marco Nenciarini wrote:

> Justin Piszcz ha scritto:
>> Package: dovecot-imapd
>> Version: 1.2.9-1
>> Distribution: Debian Testing x86_64
>>
>> Problem: See below.
>>
>> ..
>>
>> Looking further I found this (which is when the problem began to appear
>> in the logs):
>>
>> First time:
>> Jan  2 09:33:25 l1 dovecot: IMAP(user): Next message unexpectedly
>> corrupted in mbox file /home/user/Mailbox at 10599
>>
>> Due to:
>>
>> 2010-01-02 05:00:29 configure dovecot-common 1:1.2.9-1 1:1.2.9-1
>> 2010-01-02 05:00:29 status unpacked dovecot-common 1:1.2.9-1
>> 2010-01-02 05:00:29 status unpacked dovecot-common 1:1.2.9-1
>> 2010-01-02 05:00:29 status unpacked dovecot-common 1:1.2.9-1
>> 2010-01-02 05:00:29 status unpacked dovecot-common 1:1.2.9-1
>> 2010-01-02 05:00:29 status unpacked dovecot-common 1:1.2.9-1
>> 2010-01-02 05:00:29 status unpacked dovecot-common 1:1.2.9-1
>> 2010-01-02 05:00:29 status half-configured dovecot-common 1:1.2.9-1
>> 2010-01-02 05:00:31 status installed dovecot-common 1:1.2.9-1
>>
>> 2010-01-02 05:00:38 configure dovecot-imapd 1:1.2.9-1 1:1.2.9-1
>> 2010-01-02 05:00:38 status unpacked dovecot-imapd 1:1.2.9-1
>> 2010-01-02 05:00:38 status half-configured dovecot-imapd 1:1.2.9-1
>> 2010-01-02 05:00:38 status installed dovecot-imapd 1:1.2.9-1
>>
>> During an apt-get dist-upgrade..
>>
>> Did dovecot 1.2.9 include this patch:
>> http://www.dovecot.org/list/dovecot-cvs/2009-December/015177.html
>>
>> So now one sees the message, whereas before, no message was shown?
>> Nothing to be concerned about?
>>
>> Justin.
>>
>> On Fri, 8 Jan 2010, Justin Piszcz wrote:
>>
>>> Hi,
>>>
>> t> I am seeing this on one of my servers:
>>> Jan  8 10:08:58 l1 dovecot: IMuser(user): Next message unexpectedly
>>> corrupted in mbox file /home/user/Mailbox at 10558
>>>
>>> I have never seen this before, and google yields no results except
>>> when this warning was added to the source code here:
>>> http://www.dovecot.org/list/dovecot-cvs/2009-December/015177.html
>>>
>>> The user has deleted all of the mail in the Mailbox but the problem
>>> persists.
>>>
>>> Any ideas?
>>>
>>> Justin.
>
> Hi Justin,
> Does the problem persist?
> Does it cause glitches for the user?
> Does it cause some corruptions or it's just a line in your log?
> Is it reproducible?
>
> I think it is some kind of corruption of the mailbox, but I found weird
> it persists after the deletion of all email. May be you should expunge
> deleted messages from the mailbox.
>
> Kind regards,

Hi,

I believe it is due to a lock/race condition with the Mailbox format, when you
have alpine open (accessing the Mailbox) and an external client, e.g. Outlook
or thunderbird.  Yes, when both clients access the mailbox it usually locks
up Outlook or alpine..  I suppose the maildir format may be the better option
but alpine has issue with that format.?

Justin.