Bug report: Pigeonhole Sieve delivery plugin fails to load in Dovecot 2.4 — undefined symbol mail_deliver_ctx_get_log_var_expand_table

Hello Dovecot Team,

I am reporting what appears to be a packaging/ABI issue affecting the Pigeonhole Sieve delivery plugin in Dovecot 2.4. I have performed extensive diagnostics and would appreciate any guidance.

Environment Operating System: Debian 13 (Trixie), amd64 Repository: Official Dovecot CE repository (repo.dovecot.org/ce-2.4-latest/debian/trixie) Installed package version:2:2.4.4-5+debian13 Installed packages:

dovecot-core dovecot-sieve dovecot-lmtpd dovecot-imapd dovecot-pop3d dovecot-managesieved dovecot-pgsql All packages are installed at the exact same version.

Problem Description When enabling the Sieve delivery plugin with:

mail_plugins { sieve = yes } Dovecot fails to load the plugin with the following error:

sievec: Fatal: Couldn't load required plugin /usr/lib/dovecot/modules/lib90_sieve_plugin.so: dlopen() failed: /usr/lib/dovecot/modules/lib90_sieve_plugin.so: undefined symbol: mail_deliver_ctx_get_log_var_expand_table As a result, message delivery fails entirely whenever the Sieve delivery plugin is enabled. Disabling the plugin restores normal mail delivery.

Diagnostics Performed1. Package verification All installed packages are version 2:2.4.4-5+debian13 from the official Dovecot CE repository. There are no mixed package versions.

2. Symbol verification I searched for the symbol mail_deliver_ctx_get_log_var_expand_table throughout the Dovecot libraries.

Results:

nm -D on libdovecot-lda.so.0.0.0 → symbol not found

readelf -sW on libdovecot-lda.so.0.0.0 → symbol not found

Recursive search across all .so files under:

/usr/lib/dovecot/ /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/dovecot/ → symbol not exported anywhere The symbol string exists inside both:

lib90_sieve_plugin.so libdovecot-lda.so.0.0.0 but only as plain text (visible via grep), never as an exported ELF symbol.

3. Dependency verification ldd on lib90_sieve_plugin.so shows dependencies on:

libdovecot-sieve.so.0 libdovecot-storage.so.0 libdovecot.so.0 It does not directly link against libdovecot-lda.so.

4. Standalone sievec Compiling a Sieve script works correctly:

sievec /tmp/test.sieve Exit status is 0 as long as no configuration enables the Sieve delivery plugin.

The failure only occurs once:

mail_plugins { sieve = yes } is present in the configuration.

Reproduced on a Clean Debian 13 Installation To rule out configuration or upgrade issues, I reproduced the exact same problem on a completely clean debian:13-slim container.

I installed only the Debian stable packages:

apt-get install dovecot-core dovecot-sieve dovecot-lmtpd (version 1:2.4.1+dfsg1-6+deb13u6)

Using the same production configuration with:

mail_plugins { sieve = yes } produces the exact same error:

sievec: Fatal: Couldn't load required plugin ... undefined symbol: mail_deliver_ctx_get_log_var_expand_table This indicates the problem is not caused by:

mixed package versions an upgrade issue local modifications custom configuration The issue reproduces consistently on both:

Dovecot CE 2.4.4 Debian 13's packaged Dovecot 2.4.1 Questions Is mail_deliver_ctx_get_log_var_expand_table a new internal function that should be exported in Dovecot 2.4? Was there an ABI change affecting the Pigeonhole plugin?

Is this a known issue in the Dovecot 2.4.x packages? If so, is a fix planned (for example, in 2.4.5)?

Is there any recommended workaround for using Sieve during message delivery (e.g. moving spam to the Junk folder) while this issue is unresolved?

I am trying to use the new Dovecot 2.4 configuration syntax (sieve_script_type, sieve_script_precedence, and sieve_script_path), since sieve_before and the plugin {} block were removed in 2.4.

Thank you for your time. I would be happy to provide additional logs, the complete doveconf -n output, or a core dump if that would be helpful.

Best regards,

Miguel A Morales

Server: Debian 13 (amd64) Dovecot: 2.4.4-5+debian13

Hello Dovecot Team,

I am reporting what appears to be a packaging/ABI issue affecting the Pigeonhole Sieve delivery plugin in Dovecot 2.4. I have performed extensive diagnostics and would appreciate any guidance.

Environment

 o Operating System: Debian 13 (Trixie), amd64
 o Repository: Official Dovecot CE repository
   (repo.dovecot.org/ce-2.4-latest/debian/trixie)
 o Installed package version: 2:2.4.4-5+debian13

Installed packages:

 o dovecot-core
 o dovecot-sieve
 o dovecot-lmtpd
 o dovecot-imapd
 o dovecot-pop3d
 o dovecot-managesieved
 o dovecot-pgsql

All packages are installed at the exact same version.

Problem Description

When enabling the Sieve delivery plugin with:

mail_plugins { sieve = yes }

Dovecot fails to load the plugin with the following error:

sievec: Fatal: Couldn't load required plugin /usr/lib/dovecot/modules/lib90_sieve_plugin.so: dlopen() failed: /usr/lib/dovecot/modules/lib90_sieve_plugin.so: undefined symbol: mail_deliver_ctx_get_log_var_expand_table

As a result, message delivery fails entirely whenever the Sieve delivery plugin is enabled. Disabling the plugin restores normal mail delivery.

Diagnostics Performed

1. Package verification

All installed packages are version 2:2.4.4-5+debian13 from the official Dovecot CE repository. There are no mixed package versions.

2. Symbol verification

I searched for the symbol mail_deliver_ctx_get_log_var_expand_table throughout the Dovecot libraries.

Results:

 o nm -D on libdovecot-lda.so.0.0.0 -> symbol not found

 o readelf -sW on libdovecot-lda.so.0.0.0 -> symbol not found

 o Recursive search across all .so files under:

      o /usr/lib/dovecot/
      o /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/dovecot/
        -> symbol not exported anywhere

 o The symbol string exists inside both:

      o lib90_sieve_plugin.so
      o libdovecot-lda.so.0.0.0

   but only as plain text (visible via grep), never as an exported ELF
   symbol.

3. Dependency verification

ldd on lib90_sieve_plugin.so shows dependencies on:

 o libdovecot-sieve.so.0
 o libdovecot-storage.so.0
 o libdovecot.so.0

It does not directly link against libdovecot-lda.so.

4. Standalone sievec

Compiling a Sieve script works correctly:

sievec /tmp/test.sieve

Exit status is 0 as long as no configuration enables the Sieve delivery plugin.

The failure only occurs once:

mail_plugins { sieve = yes }

is present in the configuration.

Reproduced on a Clean Debian 13 Installation

To rule out configuration or upgrade issues, I reproduced the exact same problem on a completely clean debian:13-slim container.

I installed only the Debian stable packages:

apt-get install dovecot-core dovecot-sieve dovecot-lmtpd

(version 1:2.4.1+dfsg1-6+deb13u6)

Using the same production configuration with:

mail_plugins { sieve = yes }

produces the exact same error:

sievec: Fatal: Couldn't load required plugin ... undefined symbol: mail_deliver_ctx_get_log_var_expand_table

This indicates the problem is not caused by:

 o mixed package versions
 o an upgrade issue
 o local modifications
 o custom configuration

The issue reproduces consistently on both:

 o Dovecot CE 2.4.4
 o Debian 13's packaged Dovecot 2.4.1

Questions

1. Is mail_deliver_ctx_get_log_var_expand_table a new internal function
   that should be exported in Dovecot 2.4? Was there an ABI change
   affecting the Pigeonhole plugin?

2. Is this a known issue in the Dovecot 2.4.x packages? If so, is a fix
   planned (for example, in 2.4.5)?

3. Is there any recommended workaround for using Sieve during message
   delivery (e.g. moving spam to the Junk folder) while this issue is
   unresolved?

I am trying to use the new Dovecot 2.4 configuration syntax (sieve_script_type, sieve_script_precedence, and sieve_script_path), since sieve_before and the plugin {} block were removed in 2.4.

Thank you for your time. I would be happy to provide additional logs, the complete doveconf -n output, or a core dump if that would be helpful.

Best regards,

Miguel A Morales

Server: Debian 13 (amd64) Dovecot: 2.4.4-5+debian13