On Mon, 2 Jun 2003, [ISO-8859-1] S$Bx(Bren Friis-Nielsen wrote:
(B> Jun 1 18:39:56 myserver imapd[32406]: Command stream end of file, while
(B> reading line user=??? host=[130.225.x.x]
(B
(BThis message means that the client disconnected without first issuing a
(Bproper LOGOUT command. Some poorly-written clients do this in the false
(Bimpression that it is "efficient" to do this. In any case, this should be
(Binterpreted as equivalent to a LOGOUT, and that the client never logged
(Bin.
(B
(BThe most likely explanation is that the client does not know how to log in
(Bto the server properly. I noticed that the connection was not SSL
(Bencrypted ("imap service init" instead of "imaps service init").
(B
(BBy default, UW imapd does not permit plaintext password login methods
(B(LOGIN command, AUTHENTICATE LOGIN command, and AUTHENTICATE PLAIN
(Bcommand) unless the session is SSL or TLS encrypted.
(B
(BNon-plaintext login methods (AUTHENTICATE CRAM-MD5, AUTHENTICATE GSSAPI,
(Band others) are permitted in unencrypted sessions, but they have to be
(Bset up with their own database; they can't use the /etc/passwd password.
(B
(BIf you use a client which only has plaintext password login methods, and
(Bwhich does not use SSL or TLS encryption, you will not be able to log in.
(BCombine that with a poor design (such as not issuing proper LOGOUT
(Bcommands, and not giving informative error messages to the user), and
(Byou'll observe the behavior that you're reported.
(B
(BThe simplest thing is to see if the client has some option to use SSL, and
(Bif so, try setting that option. Otherwise, discard that client and use
(Bquality client software (such as Pine).
(B
(B-- Mark --
(B
(Bhttp://staff.washington.edu/mrc
(BScience does not emerge from voting, party politics, or public debate.
