[Dovecot] Difference between LOGIN and PLAIN

[Jerry]

On Thu, 3 Nov 2011 17:28:28 -0400
Simon Brereton articulated:

> On 3 November 2011 17:01, Stephan Bosch <stephan at rename-it.nl> wrote:
> > On 11/3/2011 9:42 PM, Simon Brereton wrote:
> >>
> >> Hi
> >>
> >> Could someone explain to me the difference between LOGIN and PLAIN?
> >> I've been googling for a while, but haven't found anything.
> >
> > The LOGIN SASL mechanism is an obsolete plain text mechanism. It is
> > documented here:
> >
> > http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-murchison-sasl-login-00
> >
> > Some clients still support it, but I would not recommend using it
> > when PLAIN or a better SASL mechanism is also available at both
> > ends. The PLAIN mechanism is documented here:
> >
> > http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4616
> >
> > The main technical difference between the two is that the PLAIN
> > mechanism transfers both username and password in a single SASL
> > interaction, where LOGIN needs two. The PLAIN mechanism also
> > provides support for having an authorization id different from the
> > authentication id, allowing for master user login for example.
> 
> Thanks to both of you.  Can I bet that Outlook doesn't support
> anything but plain?
> 
> I'm not sure I've ever heard of a client supporting other than
> Evolution supporting MD5 passwords..

You would lose the bet. In addition, Claws-Mail supports CRAM-MD5.

-- 
Jerry ✌
Dovecot.user at seibercom.net

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