- dovecot - dovecot.org

Non Existent User Login Attempts
by Bryan Simmons 04 Jan '26

04 Jan '26

Log contains several messages from dovecot that are not clear to me exactly what is occurring, single example below. These appear to be login attempts for the same group of non existent user ids from various rip addresses. Am I interpreting these correctly and, if so, is there any issue with just ignoring them? dovecot: pop3-login: Disconnected: Connection closed (auth failed, 1 attempts in 0 secs): user=<non-existent-user(a)example.net>, rip=0.0.0.0 Thank you, Bryan

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dovecot-2.3.21.1 for Fedora 43
by John Fawcett 04 Jan '26

04 Jan '26

Hi I realize this may seem overly nostalgic, but I was wondering if anyone has successfully got dovecot-2.3.21.1 running on Fedora 43? I'm about to do an upgrade to Fedora 43 and I wanted to avoid doing a simultaneous upgrade to Dovecot 2.4 which is now the distro packaged version, since I have not yet converted my configuration. I managed to compile from source (after taking care of adding -licuuc to the linker flags when linking test-fts-filter). However running test-lib then fails on two tests. test-buffer-istream.c:54: Assert failed: buffer_append_full_file(result, TEST_FILENAME, SIZE_MAX, &error) == BUFFER_APPEND_READ_ERROR test-buffer-istream.c:56: Assert failed: error != NULL && *error != '\0' buffer_append_full_file .............................................. : FAILED and test-data-stack.c:191: Assert failed: a == b data-stack buffer interruption ....................................... : FAILED If instead I use a src rpm like the one from here: https://koji.fedoraproject.org/koji/buildinfo?buildID=2651758 that includes fedora specific patches and try to rebuild it, it builds without the libicuuc issue, but then fails on one (different) test: Error: error:078C0102:common libcrypto routines::passed a null parameter test-hmac.c:275: Assert(#3) failed: memcmp(res->data, vec->okm, vec->okm_len) == 0 hkdf sha256 rfc5869 vectors .......................................... : FAILED My assumption as yet unverified is that the fedora specific patches are avoiding the two test errors iwhen using the unpatched source, but contribute to the error produced when using the patched source, though my test did not rule out environment differences between these two tests. John

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How can I use /etc/passwd auth for linux users and a passwd-file for virtual mailbox users?
by Ethan Merrill 03 Jan '26

03 Jan '26

Hello, I hope this is the right mailing list to send questions to. Please direct me where to go if it is not. Thanks. --- I am setting up a postfix/dovecot email server on a Debian 13 VPS. Dovecot is v2.4.1. I have thus far been able to successfully configure the server for smtp and imap support for my primary domain (we'll say `user(a)example.com` who is a linux user with a home folder). I have been even been able to configure postfix to have virtual mailboxes and aliases, and from ssh I can can even see that the mail gets delivered to the correct place. However, I am struggling to set up dovecot to authenticate a virtual mailbox user (we'll say `user(a)example.net` who only has a virtual mailbox). [This documentation page](https://doc.dovecot.org/2.4.2/core/config/auth/mutltiple.html) describes the process to configure multiple authentication databases. It describes being able to use multiple `passdb` and `userdb` sections in order to authenticate dovecot users. Based upon what it suggested, I tried this configuration: > ## Snippet from /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf ## > passdb passwd-file { > # So example.net => /etc/dovecot/passwd/example.net > passwd_file_path = /etc/dovecot/passwd/%{user | domain} > } > # Fall thru to PAM for unix users > passdb pam { > } > > userdb passwd-file { > passwd_file_path = /etc/dovecot/passwd/%{user | domain} > } > # Fall thru to /etc/passwd for unix users > userdb passwd { > } > > ## Snippet from /etc/dovecot/passwd/example.net ## > support@example.net:$y$j9...hash...:800:800::/var/postfix/virtual/example.net/support:: This is the configuration I landed on that hypothetically checks multiple databases for authentication that allows at least `user(a)example.com` to still login with Thunderbird and do email stuff. However it does not authenticate `user(a)example.net`. The biggest difference between my config and the example is that they use a `sql` database while I am trying the `passwd-file` database. In principle this seems like it should work, unless I am understanding the dovecot docs or have made my passwd file incorrectly. I even tried reversing the order of `userdb` and `passdb` sections to see if it would help to no avail. [This thread](https://dovecot.org/mailman3/archives/list/dovecot@dovecot.org/thre… seems to address a similar issue, and more or less has the same configuration setup suggested as the one in the snippet above. It's also from 2006 so the API looks kinda different from the current docs. [This thread](https://dovecot.org/mailman3/archives/list/dovecot@dovecot.org/thre… is from 2013 addressing a similar issue, but despite again different API it translates to more or less what the snippet above shows. Here is the journalctl output from when I tried to login as `user(a)example.net`: > # journalctl -xeu dovecot | tail > Dec 29 11:38:19 example.com auth[4719]: pam_unix(dovecot:auth): check pass; user unknown > Dec 29 11:38:19 example.com auth[4719]: pam_unix(dovecot:auth): authentication failure; logname= uid=0 euid=0 tty=dovecot ruser=user(a)example.net rhost=10.0.0.1 > Dec 29 11:38:28 example.com auth[4719]: pam_unix(dovecot:auth): check pass; user unknown > Dec 29 11:38:28 example.com auth[4719]: pam_unix(dovecot:auth): authentication failure; logname= uid=0 euid=0 tty=dovecot ruser=user(a)example.net rhost=10.0.0.1 > Dec 29 11:41:19 example.com dovecot[4700]: imap-login: Login aborted: Inactivity (auth failed, 2 attempts in 180 secs) (auth_failed): user=<user(a)example.net>, method=LOGIN, rip=10.0.0.1, lip=10.0.0.2, TLS, session=<z8Tj3hlHkLxJMmuL> The last message referring to "Inactivity" is because at that point fail2ban blocked my IP, but before that it was consistent with results I have been getting. I'm at an absolute loss. I feel like I've trawled every doc I could find, every config file involved in the setup process, all the Stack Exchange answers that seem to exist. Honestly it baffles me to see that even what looks like the same setup as official documentation, it just doesn't... work? Can anybody point to me what is going wrong? Thanks for reading, ~ Ethan Merrill Hello, I hope this is the right mailing list to send questions to. Please direct me where to go if it is not. Thanks. --- I am setting up a postfix/dovecot email server on a Debian 13 VPS. Dovecot is v2.4.1. I have thus far been able to successfully configure the server for smtp and imap support for my primary domain (we'll say `user(a)example.com` who is a linux user with a home folder). I have been even been able to configure postfix to have virtual mailboxes and aliases, and from ssh I can can even see that the mail gets delivered to the correct place. However, I am struggling to set up dovecot to authenticate a virtual mailbox user (we'll say `user(a)example.net` who only has a virtual mailbox). [1]This documentation page describes the process to configure multiple authentication databases. It describes being able to use multiple `passdb` and `userdb` sections in order to authenticate dovecot users. Based upon what it suggested, I tried this configuration: ## Snippet from /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf ## passdb passwd-file { # So [2]example.net => /etc/dovecot/passwd/example.net passwd_file_path = /etc/dovecot/passwd/%{user | domain} } # Fall thru to PAM for unix users passdb pam { } userdb passwd-file { passwd_file_path = /etc/dovecot/passwd/%{user | domain} } # Fall thru to /etc/passwd for unix users userdb passwd { } ## Snippet from /etc/dovecot/passwd/example.net ## [3]support@example.net:$y$j9...hash...:800:800::/var/postfix/virtual/example.net/support:: This is the configuration I landed on that hypothetically checks multiple databases for authentication that allows at least `user(a)example.com` to still login with Thunderbird and do email stuff. However it does not authenticate `user(a)example.net`. The biggest difference between my config and the example is that they use a `sql` database while I am trying the `passwd-file` database. In principle this seems like it should work, unless I am understanding the dovecot docs or have made my passwd file incorrectly. I even tried reversing the order of `userdb` and `passdb` sections to see if it would help to no avail. [4]This thread seems to address a similar issue, and more or less has the same configuration setup suggested as the one in the snippet above. It's also from 2006 so the API looks kinda different from the current docs. [5]This thread is from 2013 addressing a similar issue, but despite again different API it translates to more or less what the snippet above shows. Here is the journalctl output from when I tried to login as `user(a)example.net`: # journalctl -xeu dovecot | tail Dec 29 11:38:19 [6]example.com auth[4719]: pam_unix(dovecot:auth): check pass; user unknown Dec 29 11:38:19 [7]example.com auth[4719]: pam_unix(dovecot:auth): authentication failure; logname= uid=0 euid=0 tty=dovecot [8]ruser=user(a)example.net rhost=10.0.0.1 Dec 29 11:38:28 [9]example.com auth[4719]: pam_unix(dovecot:auth): check pass; user unknown Dec 29 11:38:28 [10]example.com auth[4719]: pam_unix(dovecot:auth): authentication failure; logname= uid=0 euid=0 tty=dovecot [11]ruser=user(a)example.net rhost=10.0.0.1 Dec 29 11:41:19 [12]example.com dovecot[4700]: imap-login: Login aborted: Inactivity (auth failed, 2 attempts in 180 secs) (auth_failed): user=<[13]user(a)example.net>, method=LOGIN, rip=10.0.0.1, lip=10.0.0.2, TLS, session=<z8Tj3hlHkLxJMmuL> The last message referring to "Inactivity" is because at that point fail2ban blocked my IP, but before that it was consistent with results I have been getting. I'm at an absolute loss. I feel like I've trawled every doc I could find, every config file involved in the setup process, all the Stack Exchange answers that seem to exist. Honestly it baffles me to see that even what looks like the same setup as official documentation, it just doesn't... work? Can anybody point to me what is going wrong? Thanks for reading, ~ Ethan Merrill References Visible links 1. This documentation page https://doc.dovecot.org/2.4.2/core/config/auth/mutltiple.html 2. http://example.net/ 3. mailto:support@example.net 4. This thread https://dovecot.org/mailman3/archives/list/dovecot@dovecot.org/thread/VMXU2… 5. This thread https://dovecot.org/mailman3/archives/list/dovecot@dovecot.org/thread/YO3DF… 6. http://example.com/ 7. http://example.com/ 8. mailto:ruser=user@example.net 9. http://example.com/ 10. http://example.com/ 11. mailto:ruser=user@example.net 12. http://example.com/ 13. mailto:user@example.net

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Failed tests in core & pigeonhole git HEAD
by Patrick 02 Jan '26

02 Jan '26

Hi, Happy New Year! During make check of core git rev 6d6724bd529493c448d5aa02e70aee9aaff4f2c3 (from github) with mock a test fails with: <mock-chroot> sh-5.3# more test-suite.log ============================================ Dovecot 2.4.3: src/imap/test-suite.log ============================================ # TOTAL: 2 # PASS: 1 # SKIP: 0 # XFAIL: 0 # FAIL: 1 # XPASS: 0 # ERROR: 0 System information (uname -a): Linux 6.17.12-300.fc43.x86_64 #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Sat Dec 13 05:06:24 UTC 2025 x8 6_64 Distribution information (/etc/os-release): NAME="Fedora Linux" VERSION="43 (Forty Three)" RELEASE_TYPE=stable ID=fedora VERSION_ID=43 VERSION_CODENAME="" PRETTY_NAME="Fedora Linux 43 (Forty Three)" ANSI_COLOR="0;38;2;60;110;180" .. contents:: :depth: 2 FAIL: test-imap-client-hibernate ================================ imap client hibernate: non-IDLE ...................................... : ok test-common.c:300: Assert failed: suppress == TRUE test-imap-client-hibernate: Error: Couldn't hibernate imap client: net_connect_unix(/builddir/build/BUILD/dovecot-2 .4.3-build/dovecot/.test/imap-client-hibernate-130478.fdf4a74f3b5b21f2/imap-hibernate) failed: File name too long imap client hibernate: socket not found .............................. : FAILED test-imap-client-hibernate: Fatal: net_listen_unix(/builddir/build/BUILD/dovecot-2.4.3-build/dovecot/.test/imap-cli ent-hibernate-130478.fdf4a74f3b5b21f2/imap-hibernate) failed: File name too long FAIL test-imap-client-hibernate (exit status: 89) Pigeonhole git rev 7229ac65540889fc3e9658c4623eafc5a9952006 make check shows: make check-local make[1]: Entering directory '/builddir/build/BUILD/dovecot-2.4.3-build/dovecot/dovecot-pigeonhole' rm -rf ./.test make[1]: Leaving directory '/builddir/build/BUILD/dovecot-2.4.3-build/dovecot/dovecot-pigeonhole' testsuite: Fatal: execv(/usr/bin/doveconf) failed: No such file or directory make: *** [Makefile:1280: tests/testsuite.svtest] Error 84 Best, Patrick

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Hello, i came here for Your help cant do a proper configuration of dovecot from 2.3.X to 2.4.1
by revolt2＠wp.pl 31 Dec '25

31 Dec '25

I would like to ask if someone could correct the configuration file for Dovecot dovecot.conf for version 2.4.1? Its the old file from 2.3.X but I'm sorry to say it doesn't work ;( https://pastebin.com/BjXuPEvv , and here is an dovecot-sql.conf file : https://pastebin.com/C4dFG2Zi If any further changes are needed, please let me know, I will adapt, I tried to understand the AI documentation but I couldn't, so we have to meet here,, Thank you in advance for your help

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2.4 use a dictionary when receiving authentification requests
by info＠opdepc.nl 31 Dec '25

31 Dec '25

In conf.d/10-auth.conf I do: dict lookuptable { dict_name = lookuptable dict_driver = file dict_file_path = /etc/dovecot/mailtouserid.dict } auth_username_format = %{user | lower | dict:lookuptable/shared/ } But it seems the dictionary doesn't work here... it is skipped. Is this a bug, is it something that will be added lateron or do I do something wrong? My goal is to allow users to logon with their email address as username. Best wishes for 2026 to all! -Huibert.

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quota_mailbox_message_count
by James 31 Dec '25

31 Dec '25

New for 2.4 is quota_mailbox_message_count. I have set limits for: quota_storage_size quota_message_count quota_mailbox_message_count Defaults in dovecot.conf and per user value from userdb sql. These are working proved by the rejection of test messages. 1. To monitor users' quotas one can run: doveadm quota get -A This lists values for Types STORAGE and MESSAGE. Is there a way to list mailbox_message_count values? It is per mailbox so might need a mailbox option on doveadm. doveadm-quota(1) shows -A and -u. 2. How does one send quota warning messages when quota_mailbox_message_count crosses thresholds? The documentation [1] has examples for quota_storage_size and quota_message_count but not quota_mailbox_message_count. I am missing quota_mailbox_message_percentage. Thank you. 1. Quota example: https://doc.dovecot.org/2.4.2/core/plugins/quota.html#example-configuration

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Panic in logs
by Kamil Jońca 30 Dec '25

30 Dec '25

Recently I found in my lda logs: 2025-12-30T07:55:14.717927+01:00 alfa dovecot: lda(kjonca): Error: Raw backtrace: #1 [unw_get_proc_name() failed: -10] -> #2 i_syslog_fatal_handler[0x7f99a2351430] -> #3 i_panic[0x7f99a226d453] -> #4 [unw_get_proc_name() failed: -10] -> #5 [unw_get_proc_name() failed: -10] -> #6 [unw_get_proc_name() failed: -10] -> #7 buffer_append[0x7f99a2345270] -> #8 dregex_code_match_groups[0x7f99a233f1a0] -> #9 [unw_get_proc_name() failed: -10] -> #10 [unw_get_proc_name() failed: -10] -> #11 sieve_match_value[0x7f99a117f770] -> #12 sieve_match[0x7f99a117fa30] -> #13 [unw_get_proc_name() failed: -10] -> #14 sieve_interpreter_continue[0x7f99a117e100] -> #15 sieve_multiscript_run[0x7f99a1190330] -> #16 [unw_get_proc_name() failed: -10] -> #17 mail_deliver[0x7f99a27e54a0] -> #18 main[0x55e371c555e0] -> #19 __libc_start_call_main[0x7f99a1e29f00] -> #20 __libc_start_main_alias_2[0x7f99a1e29fa0] -> #21 _start[0x55e371c566a0] And sadly it seems, that mail is missing (it was passed to pipe program to further processing) KJ -- http://wolnelektury.pl/wesprzyj/teraz/ When you go out to buy, don't show your silver.

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Minor note about what seems like a behavior change with the 'user' field in passdb/userdb overrides
by Andy Baugh 29 Dec '25

29 Dec '25

Just finished fixing a bug with our setup where the "archive" pseudo-user we setup wasn't listing the correct dirs in IMAP yet would show their other mailboxes, folders, etc. just fine via `doveadm mailbox list`. Turns out the issue was that the 'user' field is more important on dovecot 2.4's IMAP implementation than on 2.3, but in ways that the documentation didn't really suggest to me. In both cases it says that it overrides the user, but what that means is different. On 2.3, it's mostly saying "act as if you are this user but with these other params we set in the user/passdb return" On 2.4.x, it is a straight up alias to another userdb/passdb return in IMAP's context, so any other params you override do not in fact get used. You can pretty quickly verify this with `doveadm user`/`doveadm auth lookup` calls; when your "override" user matches another user which has an entry reported back from your userdb/passdb, it just returns their data instead even if your auth source provided other data. What's odd to me is more that `doveadm mailbox list` worked "as expected" here, as everything else was consistent with 'user' being an aliasing trigger. I wound up fixing my bug by just no longer setting the 'user' variable for this archival psuedo-user, and instead relying on the (already set even on 2.3) uid/gid fields to make sure they didn't have permissions errors. Then things worked precisely how they did on 2.3. I only figured this out by accidentally making a new IMAP dir for the original user and then noticing that show up for the pseudo-user (I then scrutinized the userdb/passdb returns more carefully, then noticing the difference). Hopefully my tale helps others avoid the many hours of fruitless debugging I was doing before making that crucial mistake lol. Cheers, -- Thomas "Andy" Baugh | Software Development Engineer IV andy.baugh(a)webpros.com www.webpros.com

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Error I can't fix
by John Hill 27 Dec '25

27 Dec '25

Hello, I’m encountering a reproducible parsing issue in Dovecot 2.4 on Debian 13 (Trixie). Even when /etc/dovecot/conf.d/auth-sql.conf.ext contains a valid passdb block, Dovecot reports that the block is empty. Environment: - Debian 13 (Trixie) - Dovecot 2.4 (from Debian repository) - Clean install, no custom patches Error: doveconf: Fatal: Error in configuration file /etc/dovecot/conf.d/auth-sql.conf.ext line 1: passdb { } is missing section name Steps to reproduce: 1. Remove the file: rm -f /etc/dovecot/conf.d/auth-sql.conf.ext 2. Recreate it cleanly: cat > /etc/dovecot/conf.d/auth-sql.conf.ext <<'EOF' passdb { driver = sql args = /etc/dovecot/sql.conf.ext } userdb { driver = sql args = /etc/dovecot/sql.conf.ext } EOF 3. Verify the file contents: sed -n '1,20p' /etc/dovecot/conf.d/auth-sql.conf.ext | cat -A Output: passdb {$ driver = sql$ args = /etc/dovecot/sql.conf.ext$ }$ $ userdb {$ driver = sql$ args = /etc/dovecot/sql.conf.ext$ }$ 4. Run: doveconf Actual result: Dovecot still reports that the passdb block is empty, even though the file is valid. Expected result: Dovecot should accept the passdb block and load SQL authentication normally. Additional notes: - No BOM (ef bb bf) present. - No CRLF (^M) present. - No stray characters. - File is not a symlink. - No duplicate auth-sql.conf.ext files exist. - The include line in 10-auth.conf is correct. - The error persists even after full deletion and recreation of the file. This appears to be a parser or include-path issue in Dovecot 2.4. Any guidance or confirmation would be appreciated.

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