- dovecot - dovecot.org

zlib compressed folders
by Michael Grant 15 Jun '23

15 Jun '23

I’ve been playing with zlib compressed mail archives. I can’t seem to get it to work. I followed the instructions here: https://doc.dovecot.org/configuration_manual/zlib_plugin/ I’m not interested in being able to save, just read-only would be great. I have some compressed mail archives, for example 2020.gz in my ~/mail/ directory. I have some uncompressed ones too like 2021. Both are mbox formatted. In my imap client, I see both 2020.gz and 2021 as imap folders. I can access mail in 2021 but not in 2020.gz. It just says it’s empty. My local.conf has this in it: mail_plugins = $mail_plugins zlib I know for sure this is being read because if I change this to some non-existent plugin, I see an in the log complaining about a non-existent plugin. I’ve tried also adding in the lines for saving but no difference. Would love to know if there’s something more I need to do. Also, should I expect to see a folder named 2020 instead of 2020.gz in my imap clients? My suspicion is that dovecot is treating these as uncompressed imap folders which it can’t read because they look like garbage. Is there some doveadm command to get it to re-scan folders that I need to run and then realize this is a folder using zlib? Michael Grant

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Empty oldstats
by djdejawu＠gmail.com 15 Jun '23

15 Jun '23

I'm facing a problem to get integration dovecot and Netdata agent to monitor current status of dovecot sessions. First of all I've been set up a socket for reading data with Netdata agent: service old-stats { unix_listener old-stats { group = netdata user = vmail mode = 0660 } } Then in netdata agent UI i've found that all stats collected from this source are zeroed. Hm, maybe I did something wrong, and I goes to check classic command, what Netdata agent uses in Dovecot socket: # doveadm oldstats dump global reset_timestamp last_update num_logins num_cmds num_connected_sessions user_cpu sys_cpu clock_time min_faults maj_faults vol_cs invol_cs disk_input disk_output read_count read_bytes write_count write_bytes mail_lookup_path mail_lookup_attr mail_read_count mail_read_bytes mail_cache_hits auth_successes auth_master_successes auth_failures auth_db_tempfails auth_cache_hits auth_cache_misses 1686759269 0.000000 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 00 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Yep, all stats not counted. How to count stats in my setup? Oldstat plugin is enabled. mail_plugins = quota acl old_stats plugin { old_stats_refresh = 10 secs old_stats_track_cmds = yes } # dovecot --version 2.3.19.1 (9b53102964) BR, DeJa

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Empty oldstats
by DeJa Wu 15 Jun '23

15 Jun '23

I'm facing a problem to get integration dovecot and Netdata agent to monitor current status of dovecot sessions. First of all I've been set up a socket for reading data with Netdata agent: service old-stats { unix_listener old-stats { group = netdata user = vmail mode = 0660 } } Then in netdata agent UI i've found that all stats collected from this source are zeroed. Hm, maybe I did something wrong, and I goes to check classic command, what Netdata agent uses in Dovecot socket: # doveadm oldstats dump global reset_timestamp last_update num_logins num_cmds num_connected_sessions user_cpu sys_cpu clock_time min_faults maj_faults vol_cs invol_cs disk_input disk_output read_count read_bytes write_count write_bytes mail_lookup_path mail_lookup_attr mail_read_count mail_read_bytes mail_cache_hits auth_successes auth_master_successes auth_failures auth_db_tempfails auth_cache_hits auth_cache_misses 1686759269 0.000000 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 00 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Yep, all stats not counted. How to count stats in my setup? Oldstat plugin is enabled. mail_plugins = quota acl old_stats plugin { old_stats_refresh = 10 secs old_stats_track_cmds = yes } # dovecot --version 2.3.19.1 (9b53102964)

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Panic: file acl-backend-vfile.c: line 123 on access from Nextcloud Imap-Client
by forum＠xp8.de 15 Jun '23

15 Jun '23

Hello, with activated imap_aci i get the following error: Jun 15 08:40:02 konsrvdata2 dovecot: imap(xp8it)<439797><iKSIViX+vKoKXggM>: Panic: file acl-backend-vfile.c: line 123 (acl_backend_vfile_get_local_dir): assertion failed: (list == ns->list) Jun 15 08:40:02 konsrvdata2 dovecot: imap(xp8it)<439797><iKSIViX+vKoKXggM>: Error: Raw backtrace: /usr/lib/dovecot/libdovecot.so.0(backtrace_append+0x46) [0x7f4d46caede6] -> /usr/lib/dovecot/libdovecot.so.0(backtrace_get+0x22) [0x7f4d46caef02] -> /usr/lib/dovecot/libdovecot.so.0(+0x109cdb) [0x7f4d46cbbcdb] -> /usr/lib/dovecot/libdovecot.so.0(+0x109d77) [0x7f4d46cbbd77] -> /usr/lib/dovecot/libdovecot.so.0(+0x5cf73) [0x7f4d46c0ef73] -> /usr/lib/dovecot/modules/lib01_acl_plugin.so(+0x7fbf) [0x7f4d4696dfbf] -> /usr/lib/dovecot/modules/lib01_acl_plugin.so(+0xb795) [0x7f4d46971795] -> /usr/lib/dovecot/modules/lib01_acl_plugin.so(acl_backend_get_default_object+0x69) [0x7f4d46971499] -> /usr/lib/dovecot/modules/lib01_acl_plugin.so(acl_backend_get_default_rights+0x13) [0x7f4d469714c3] -> /usr/lib/dovecot/modules/lib01_acl_plugin.so(+0x8e53) [0x7f4d4696ee53] -> /usr/lib/dovecot/modules/lib02_imap_acl_plugin.so(+0x3975) [0x7f4d46960975] -> dovecot/imap(command_exec+0xa4) [0x55d9dc7f6364] -> dovecot/imap(+0x22312) [0x55d9dc7f4312] -> dovecot/imap(+0x223c4) [0x55d9dc7f43c4] -> dovecot/imap(client_handle_input+0x1bd) [0x55d9dc7f47cd] -> dovecot/imap(client_input+0x74) [0x55d9dc7f4d94] -> /usr/lib/dovecot/libdovecot.so.0(io_loop_call_io+0x6d) [0x7f4d46cd1f8d] -> /usr/lib/dovecot/libdovecot.so.0(io_loop_handler_run_internal+0x13a) [0x7f4d46cd368a] -> /usr/lib/dovecot/libdovecot.so.0(io_loop_handler_run+0x54) [0x7f4d46cd2034] -> /usr/lib/dovecot/libdovecot.so.0(io_loop_run+0x40) [0x7f4d46cd21f0] -> /usr/lib/dovecot/libdovecot.so.0(master_service_run+0x17) [0x7f4d46c446c7] -> dovecot/imap(main+0x4ea) [0x55d9dc7e5d0a] -> /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6(+0x29d90) [0x7f4d469add90] -> /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6(__libc_start_main+0x80) [0x7f4d469ade40] -> dovecot/imap(_start+0x25) [0x55d9dc7e5da5] Jun 15 08:40:02 konsrvdata2 dovecot: imap(xp8it)<439797><iKSIViX+vKoKXggM>: Fatal: master: service(imap): child 439797 killed with signal 6 (core dumped) Bug? Any Ideas? Greets! root@konsrvdata2:/etc/dovecot/conf.d# dovecot --version 2.3.16 (7e2e900c1a) root@konsrvdata2:/etc/dovecot/conf.d# doveconf -n # 2.3.16 (7e2e900c1a): /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf # Pigeonhole version 0.5.16 (09c29328) # OS: Linux 5.15.0-67-generic x86_64 Ubuntu 22.04.2 LTS ext4 # Hostname: konsrvdata2 auth_mechanisms = plain cram-md5 auth_username_format = %Ln disable_plaintext_auth = no mail_home = /srv/dovecot/home/%d/%n/ mail_location = maildir:/srv/dovecot/mail/%d/%n/ mail_plugins = acl mail_privileged_group = mail managesieve_notify_capability = mailto managesieve_sieve_capability = fileinto reject envelope encoded-character vacation subaddress comparator-i;ascii-numeric relational regex imap4flags copy include variables body enotify environment mailbox date index ihave duplicate mime foreverypart extracttext namespace { list = yes location = maildir:/srv/dovecot/mail/waldkindergarten-ts:INDEXPVT=/srv/dovecot/mail/xp8it/shared/waldkindergarten-ts prefix = shared/%%u/ separator = / type = shared } namespace inbox { inbox = yes location = mailbox Drafts { special_use = \Drafts } mailbox Junk { special_use = \Junk } mailbox Sent { special_use = \Sent } mailbox "Sent Messages" { special_use = \Sent } mailbox Trash { special_use = \Trash } prefix = separator = / } passdb { args = scheme=CRYPT username_format=%u /etc/dovecot/users driver = passwd-file } plugin { acl = vfile acl_defaults_from_inbox = yes acl_shared_dict = file:/srv/dovecot/db/shared-mailboxes.db sieve = file:~/sieve;active=~/.dovecot.sieve } protocols = " imap lmtp sieve sieve" service lmtp { unix_listener /var/spool/postfix/private/dovecot-lmtp { group = postfix mode = 0600 user = postfix } } service managesieve-login { inet_listener sieve { port = 4190 } } ssl_cert = </etc/dovecot/private/imap.konis.info.fullchain.pem ssl_client_ca_dir = /etc/ssl/certs ssl_dh = # hidden, use -P to show it ssl_key = # hidden, use -P to show it userdb { args = uid=vmail gid=vmail driver = static } protocol lmtp { mail_plugins = acl sieve } protocol lda { mail_plugins = acl sieve } protocol imap { mail_plugins = acl imap_acl }

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Re: imap syncing issues
by dovecot＠x9p.org 14 Jun '23

14 Jun '23

Paul Kudla already suggested setting fetch intervals and to avoid microsoft clients. You can debug the issue with tcpdump like this: # tcpdump -X -s100 -nni lo0 port 143 (replace lo0 for lo, eth0 or the name of your interface) disable all clients, enable the one you want to debug/see the commands. me deleting a message and client issuing the command: 14:40:17.386079 127.0.0.1.48376 > 127.0.0.1.143: P 1410:1437(27) ack 177507 win 256 <nop,nop,timestamp 1610013520 2861364932> (DF) ......(REDACTED) 0030: aa8c f6c4 3131 3120 7569 6420 6d6f 7665 ....111 uid move 0040: 2034 3732 3920 2254 7261 7368 220d 0a 4729 "Trash".. 14:40:17.486259 127.0.0.1.143 > 127.0.0.1.48376: P 177507:177624(117) ack 1437 win 256 <nop,nop,timestamp 2861364932 1610013520> (DF) ......(REDACTED) 0030: 5ff6 db50 2a20 4f4b 205b 434f 5059 5549 _..P* OK [COPYUI 0040: 4420 3136 3830 3237 3234 3630 2034 3732 D 1680272460 472 0050: 3920 3132 365d 204d 6f76 6564 2055 4944 9 126] Moved UID Cheers, x9p On 6/14/23 17:19, Michael Grant wrote: > > Yes, I’m the sole person responsible for messing this up. My Linux > machine, my server, I installed it, I configured it, perhaps I caused > this.... > > It could be some misbehaving imap client that is causing this, that’s > one of the things I’m trying to understand. I don’t see any errors in > the mail log which is where dovecot logs to. All the clients are as > up to date as possible. > > One way forward that I know of is to remove all the imap clients and > start over, adding one by one seeing if it starts breaking again. I > was hoping first to see if I could figure out what’s gone wrong before > doing this. > > *From: *dovecot(a)x9p.org > *Sent: *14 June 2023 18:05 > *To: *Michael Grant <mailto:mgrant@grant.org>; dovecot(a)dovecot.org > *Subject: *Re: imap syncing issues > > The issue seems to be with the clients (an update maybe?), not the server. > > do you have console/root access to dovecot and files? > > On 6/14/23 11:17, Michael Grant via dovecot wrote: > > I’m having synchronization issues in imap. I am accessing my mail > from several different imap clients: K9 on Android, Windows 11 and > 10 mail client, and Android Gmail app. Both desktop and laptop, > tablet, phone. I know I have more than the usual number of imap > connections... > > Often when I delete a message in one place, it doesn’t get deleted > in another. For example, if I delete a message on K9 then open my > laptop, it’s still there in W11 Mail. But just now, I deleted > some messages on my laptop and swiped down on K9 and the message > disappeared on K9. But K9 shows other messages which have been > deleted in Windows 11 Mail. I’ve not yet been able to figure out > a pattern. It’s annoying me. I have to delete messages in > several different places. Messages not coming back, they’re just > not being deleted in one place and that delete operation is not > syncing to the others. > > Messages seem to be being marked as read properly across devices. > This seems to be an issue with delete only, so far as I’ve noticed. > > I’ve long been using multiple imap clients, this syncing issue > started maybe 6 to 8 months ago. > > Is there a good way to get debugging info out of dovecot as to > what the clients are doing? > > Or does anyone have any advise which might help resolve this > without resorting to me digging into the imap protocol? > > Michael Grant > > > > _______________________________________________ > > dovecot mailing list --dovecot(a)dovecot.org > > To unsubscribe send an email todovecot-leave(a)dovecot.org >

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imap syncing issues
by Michael Grant 14 Jun '23

14 Jun '23

I’m having synchronization issues in imap. I am accessing my mail from several different imap clients: K9 on Android, Windows 11 and 10 mail client, and Android Gmail app. Both desktop and laptop, tablet, phone. I know I have more than the usual number of imap connections... Often when I delete a message in one place, it doesn’t get deleted in another. For example, if I delete a message on K9 then open my laptop, it’s still there in W11 Mail. But just now, I deleted some messages on my laptop and swiped down on K9 and the message disappeared on K9. But K9 shows other messages which have been deleted in Windows 11 Mail. I’ve not yet been able to figure out a pattern. It’s annoying me. I have to delete messages in several different places. Messages not coming back, they’re just not being deleted in one place and that delete operation is not syncing to the others. Messages seem to be being marked as read properly across devices. This seems to be an issue with delete only, so far as I’ve noticed. I’ve long been using multiple imap clients, this syncing issue started maybe 6 to 8 months ago. Is there a good way to get debugging info out of dovecot as to what the clients are doing? Or does anyone have any advise which might help resolve this without resorting to me digging into the imap protocol? Michael Grant

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Migration dovecot server with local users to dovecot with virtual mailboxes
by tseegerkrb＠gmail.com 12 Jun '23

12 Jun '23

Hello, we are using a dovecot server with NIS, we want to transfer it to a new setup. As backend a mysql server will be used in the future. My problem is, if I just copy the maildir or use "doveadm import" all mails are flagged as "unseen". How can i preserve the flags? This is how I have tried it so far. root@mail / $ doveadm import -s -u testuser(a)testdomain.local maildir:/tmp/testuser-maildir-230608/Maildir/:INDEX=MEMORY "" "All" As a "workaround" I tried to change the flags. root@mail / $ doveadm -v flags add -u testuser(a)testdomain.local "Seen" "ALL" This led partially to the desired success, the mails are shown as "seen", but the folders (e.g. Roundcube) still show unread mails. dovecot -n ############################################ # 2.3.13 (89f716dc2): /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf # Pigeonhole version 0.5.13 (cdd19fe3) # OS: Linux 5.10.0-23-cloud-amd64 x86_64 Debian 11.7 # Hostname: mail.testdomain.local auth_mechanisms = plain login mail_fsync = always mail_gid = vmail mail_home = /var/vmail/mailboxes/%d/%n mail_location = maildir:~/mail:LAYOUT=fs:INDEX=MEMORY mail_privileged_group = vmail mail_uid = vmail managesieve_notify_capability = mailto managesieve_sieve_capability = fileinto reject envelope encoded-character vacation subaddress comparator-i;ascii-numeric relational regex imap4flags copy include variables body enotify environment mailbox date index ihave duplicate mime foreverypart extracttext imapsieve vnd.dovecot.imapsieve mmap_disable = yes namespace inbox { inbox = yes location = mailbox Drafts { auto = subscribe special_use = \Drafts } mailbox Sent { auto = subscribe special_use = \Sent } mailbox Spam { auto = subscribe special_use = \Junk } mailbox Trash { auto = subscribe special_use = \Trash } prefix = } passdb { args = /etc/dovecot/dovecot-sql.conf driver = sql } plugin { imapsieve_mailbox1_before = file:/var/vmail/sieve/global/learn-spam.sieve imapsieve_mailbox1_causes = COPY imapsieve_mailbox1_name = Spam imapsieve_mailbox2_before = file:/var/vmail/sieve/global/learn-ham.sieve imapsieve_mailbox2_causes = COPY imapsieve_mailbox2_from = Spam imapsieve_mailbox2_name = * quota = maildir:User quota quota_exceeded_message = User %u has exhausted allowed storage space. sieve = file:/var/vmail/sieve/%d/%n/scripts;active=/var/vmail/sieve/%d/%n/active-script.sieve sieve_before = /var/vmail/sieve/global/spam-global.sieve sieve_global_extensions = +vnd.dovecot.pipe sieve_pipe_bin_dir = /usr/bin sieve_plugins = sieve_imapsieve sieve_extprograms } protocols = imap lmtp sieve service auth { unix_listener /var/spool/postfix/private/auth { group = postfix mode = 0660 user = postfix } unix_listener auth-userdb { group = vmail mode = 0660 user = vmail } } service imap-login { inet_listener imap { port = 143 } process_min_avail = 1 service_count = 1 } service lmtp { unix_listener /var/spool/postfix/private/dovecot-lmtp { group = postfix mode = 0660 user = postfix } user = vmail } service managesieve-login { inet_listener sieve { port = 4190 } } ssl = required ssl_ca = </etc/dovecot/private/ca-testdomain.local_tls_srv_crt.crt ssl_cert = </etc/dovecot/private/mail.testdomain.local_tls_srv_crt.crt ssl_cipher_list = ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-ECDSA-CHACHA20-POLY1305:ECDHE-RSA-CHACHA20-POLY1305:DHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:DHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384 ssl_dh = # hidden, use -P to show it ssl_key = # hidden, use -P to show it ssl_min_protocol = TLSv1.2 userdb { args = /etc/dovecot/dovecot-sql.conf driver = sql } protocol imap { imap_idle_notify_interval = 29 mins mail_max_userip_connections = 20 mail_plugins = " quota imap_quota imap_sieve" } protocol lmtp { mail_plugins = " sieve notify push_notification quota" postmaster_address = postmaster(a)testdomain.local } ############################################ Thanks for your help

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dovecot with sieve vacation plugin
by spi 12 Jun '23

12 Jun '23

Hi all I have an issue understanding the sieve vacation plugin. I can get it trigger for particular emails or something, but I don't get the sender setting right. My setup: I've got an external email address a(a)aaa.com and a local b(a)bbb.local (which is used in virtual_mailbox_maps in postfix or for user authentication in dovecot). Emails for a(a)aaa.com get stored in the b(a)bbb.local mailbox. Postfix uses an external relay to transfer emails from a(a)aaa.com. Sending and receiving emails works as a charm. In received emails I see headers for Return-Path: <the original sender> Delivered-To: b(a)bbb.local Envelope-To: a(a)aaa.com X-Original-to: a(a)aaa.com In sieve I've got configured for the user b(a)bbb.local require "vacation"; if allof ( address :domain "From" "other-sender.com", currentdate :value "ge" "date" "2023-05-24" ) { vacation :from "a <a(a)aaa.com>" #:addresses ["a(a)aaa.com", "b(a)bbb.local"] :addresses ["a(a)aaa.com"] :subject "Out of office by EoL" "bla bla bla"; } The issue: When I receive an email from e. g. john(a)other-sender.com a vacation response gets created and sent. The From header ist set to the value configured by ":addresses ["a(a)aaa.com"]". But: a) If I set "sieve_vacation_send_from_recipient = yes" in dovecot.conf the sender header in the vaction response is filled in with b(a)bbb.local. b) If I set "sieve_vacation_send_from_recipient = no" in dovecot.conf the sender header in the vaction response stays blank (which I understand is the preferred way). Different settings for sieve_vacation_use_original_recipient don't seem to make any difference. In both cases a) and b) postfix tries todeliver the email directly to the receiving mail server and does not care for my sender relay host map (sender_dependent_relayhost_maps in postfix main.cf), well of course as there is no relay host for @bbb.local (case a)) and in case b) the sender is blank. In my understanding the vacation plugin uses the original recipient as sender for the out of office reply which in my case is in the X-Original-to header (I use lmtp and have also set "lda_original_recipient_header = X-Original-To"). But it does not - it sticks with the b(a)bbb.local mail address as sender. If I omitted the sender setting - how could I tell postfix to relay these ooo mails through the correct relay (like based on the From header domain in the vacation response)? What would the right approach be to set the sender right or get postfix to relay the vacation responses correctly? Any help would be appreciated! -- Cheers spi

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Re: No-novice with Dovecot, but need novice-like advice (was Dovecot cracked?!)
by Jochen Bern 11 Jun '23

11 Jun '23

On 09.06.23 00:36, Richard Troy wrote: > OH, sure, I got it down to a trickle, but these few Russian sites > always managed to get their spam through and (FWIW, if you can characterize the offenders by country, trying a GeoIP filter as a stop-gap measure sounds rather promising.) > Give me a white-list of the > ONLY accounts that can relay; NOTHING ELSE can relay. ... THAT would do > it! But no! Neither in Postfix nor dovecot is there such a thing! I'm afraid that that's not *entirely* true ... : > /etc/postfix# grep senderauth main.cf > smtpd_sender_login_maps = hash:/etc/postfix/senderauth > /etc/postfix# head -2 senderauth ; grep bern senderauth | sed -e 's/[-a-z\.]*'"$DOMAIN/DOMAIN/g" > # Envelope Sender: Requires SMTP AUTH as one of: > # actual.address(a)dom.ain user.1(a)dom.ain, another(a)else.where > jochen.bern(a)DOMAIN.pawisda.de jochen.bern(a)DOMAIN.de (Also works with unspecified local part, i.e., "@some.dom.ain" for the left-hand side.) > Combine that with a greylist type function where the usual IP addresses > for particular users were let through, and new ones delayed, THAT would > be awesome, too! Please define "delayed". The kind where you tell the client to retry later and then close the connection is available for postfix under the name of postgrey, but is probably quite disruptive when used with an M*S*A port; same caveat for mechanisms that prevent the connection altogether, like one could build with iptables. The search keyword for the kind where "the server is just deeaaaaaaadddd slllooooowwwww" would be "Teergrube". [Yes, I'm German, so I capitalize German nouns like German does. :-> ] None of those are *built right into* postfix or dovecot, likely because it's too much complexity to maintain for a huge user base that doesn't use the functionality all too often. > And if someone tells me I'm wrong and points me at how to do these > things, I'll fall out of my damned chair! [promptly invents the sport of Comfy Cushion Curling] > IF we had an IMAP supported password CHANGING scheme, we'd gladly run > encrypted passwords, but there isn't, and we haven't invented (finished > inventing!) our own web-way to change 'em and so we're stuck with plain > text until one of these things changes. Your server is Linux and SSH client software has become quite available (PuTTY on Windows). For OS-based users who don't need *shell* access to the server, I've had some success just setting the "passwd" command as their login "shell" (in /etc/passwd . Plus adding it to /etc/shells if necessary.) Dunno how readily you could find an equivalent for the *virtual* accounts' password backend ... (Yes, it'd be better to have it seamlessly integrated into the IMAP protocol, but don't forget that you'd need the *MUAs* to start supporting it as well before the general public will ever even learn about the new feature ...) Kind regards, -- Jochen Bern Systemingenieur Binect GmbH

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No-novice with Dovecot, but need novice-like advice (was Dovecot cracked?!)
by Richard Troy 09 Jun '23

09 Jun '23

Hi All, This is my first posting here, and maybe I should have found this WAY back in January, '23, if not LONG before. I want to be but I find it difficult here to be brief. ... Surely background will surely help: A 27 or so year old Fedora / Postfix / Dovecot site I built had a major disaster in January and I've not yet been able to fully recover because Dovecot has let the damned spammers in again and again and again and again! OH, sure, I got it down to a trickle, but these few Russian sites always managed to get their spam through and I just had to shut Dovecot down entirely. I never found out how they got in, etc. And I've STRONGLY suspected Dovecot got cracked - at least the modern version in the youngest version for the youngest Fedora we had back in January - uh, Fedora Server 37 - I've forgotten the matching Dovecot version. In the disaster, we lost /var but not /etc, so I figured recovery would be easy and for nearly everything, it was. But NOT Dovecot (and insofar as it matters, Postfix), and in these 5+ months I've tried so many things, I'm sure I've forgotten most of them and I don't know that a retroactive look is worth doing. ...I kept some notes that might be useful if anyone wants to see the evidence of the cracking, but in short, I kept a constant watch on the logs and when ANY relay happened that shouldn't, I'd instantly know it and shut things off entirely. However, that became untenable as I couldn't find the problem and had to just shut it off, pissing off users, etc, but I've had to do things like spend a month and a half traveling, and so forth and, well... Life goes on, as the saying goes. --- NOW I want to try again. It's my perception that it's a waste of time to even LOOK at the old Dovecot configuration stuff. I feel I need to REMOVE it ALL, and I could use some help being SURE to get it all gone. And then I think I need to do a FULL new installation. Overkill? IDK. I could use some advice about SAFE ways to make changes and test to ensure we do NOT become an open mail relay EVER AGAIN. ALSO WORTH SAYING is that if Dovecot were all that damned safe and secure I wouldn't so easily be able to propose a new feature that would make a HUGE difference to sites like mine: Give me a white-list of the ONLY accounts that can relay; NOTHING ELSE can relay. ... THAT would do it! But no! Neither in Postfix nor dovecot is there such a thing! Combine that with a greylist type function where the usual IP addresses for particular users were let through, and new ones delayed, THAT would be awesome, too! And this isn't even all that hard to do - I could do it if I didn't already have a thousand obligations in life! And if someone tells me I'm wrong and points me at how to do these things, I'll fall out of my damned chair! And after picking myself up, I'll find a way to send that person some sort of gift. THIS WOULD HAVE SOLVED ALL MY PROBLEMS. And I'm sure MANY others could use this, too! --- THIS configuration: I'd like to find a way to have both virtual and our existing "unix accounts" users. IF we had an IMAP supported password CHANGING scheme, we'd gladly run encrypted passwords, but there isn't, and we haven't invented (finished inventing!) our own web-way to change 'em and so we're stuck with plain text until one of these things changes. BTW, isn't this a HUGE and OBVIOUS hole that should have been fixed decades ago?! If a major provider like the Dovecot.org team added a way to update passwords to the IMAP protocol, all the rest of the folks would follow along for sure! OR, "is that a thing" and I'm just ignorant of it? So, again, plain-text, in cram, of course. What else? Coach me on "the right way" if you want, but if users can't change it themselves, they'd rather I can retrieve it for them if needed... I'm sure the corporate world doesn't do it this way, but their code isn't open source, or am I wrong?... --- In closing I don't actually anticipate ANY help. My father, an even earlier computer user than me, once observed, "you can ask for information until you're blue in the face, and nobody will say a thing, but post the WRONG thing and a hundred people will post to point out you're wrong!" GIVEN how EASY it is to have your email system become an instant open relay at the hands of the spammers out there, how the hell Dovecot can advertise the way it is WITHOUT a serious guide about this is just frustrating and laughable. But I'd love to be shown where they DO help with this! Thanks for any and all help, Richard

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