I agree with Chris's point. When I started to think about it, I couldn't imagine how the extension could ever download transmit mail in such a way to preserve the validity of a digital signature. It seemed that it would be especially hard for mail that is formatted (e.g., sent in HTML).
The reality is that, for the most part, the extension has no trouble preserving the validity of the signatures. I have received many signed messages, and the signature coming through the extension is fine on all of them except those with the "lines of dots". I have done diffs on "line of dots" mails received via POP and the extension, and the line of dots is the only difference. And, as has been pointed out, GMail transmits the lines of dots correctly via its UI. Maybe GMail provides some alternative interface that the extension can use and that helps preserve the integrity of the message, at least in most cases. I tried to do a similar test with the Hotmail extension. There, I wasn't able even to get the extension to download a mail with a "line of dots" - Thunderbird just spun. I may have some other issues there - I don't use Hotmail much. On Jan 7, 12:20 am, Chris Clifton <[email protected]> wrote: > Just tried that with my own account, 7 .s sent, 7 displayed. I still > suspect that the problem may be due to the fact that the extension > "reads" the email on the website, converts it back to a POP format email > and finally acts as as POP server to send the message to TB. Plenty of > scope in that process for unintentional alteration of some trivial > nature, but enough to cause a digital signature to fail. > > > > Chris Clifton wrote: > > What happens if you view the message on the website? If Google has > > already removed the period, the extension is faithfully downloading > > what Google displays, it can't do anything else. > > > Gil wrote: > >> Here are some more details. > > >> If I send myself a message, and the message has in it a line with just > >> periods (at least two), the Webmail Extension (GMail) will load the > >> message missing one period. > > >> This happens even if there is no signature on the message. The > >> signature was just the way that I detected this problem. > > >> On Jan 6, 8:53 pm, Gil <[email protected]> wrote: > > >>> I have diagnosed to this to where maybe it can be debugged. > > >>> The email in question includes one line with the following > >>> text: ....... > > >>> That is, my correspondent wrote a line with 7 periods in it. > > >>> When I download the message using a POP server, the line comes through > >>> with the 7 periods, and the signature is just fine. > > >>> When I download the message using the Webmail extension, the line > >>> comes through with only 6 periods. The Webmail extension loses one of > >>> the periods somehow. > > >>> Because the Webmail extension has essentially tampered with the body > >>> of the message (by removing a period), Thunderbird detects that fact > >>> (because the signature is wrong) and reports that to me. > > >>> On Jan 6, 6:32 pm, Gil <[email protected]> wrote: > > >>>> The sender was using Thunderbird, sending mail through their ISP's > >>>> SMTP server. Hotmail was not involved. > >>>> When I got home, I downloaded the message using Thunderbird and > >>>> GMail's POP server. The digital signature is just fine when I > >>>> download it that way. > >>>> Thunderbird reports the signature as invalid only if I > >>>> download the > >>>> message using the Webmail extension. It may be that the extension is > >>>> modifying the message in some trivial way (e.g., deleting a trailing > >>>> space) that renders the signature invalid. > >>>> On Jan 6, 3:00 pm, KE4AVB <[email protected]> wrote: > > >>>>> Gil, > >>>>> Your sender would not happen be use of the free Hotmail > >>>>> service would > >>>>> they? I have had problems sending signed and/or encrypted messages > >>>>> through their service. They are opening and adding Hotmail > >>>>> taglines to > >>>>> the messages sent thought their service thus invaliding the > >>>>> signatures > >>>>> and encryptions. The same problem could be happening to other service > >>>>> providers depending how they operate. The Hotmail problem occurs if I > >>>>> use the online webmail or not. > >>>>> Eugene > >>>>> On Jan 6, 3:45 pm, Gil <[email protected]> wrote: > > >>>>>> Should the Webmail extension (with GMail - actually GAFYD) play nice > >>>>>> with S/MIME and digital signatures? > >>>>>> I have received some signed emails using the Webmail > >>>>>> extension, and > >>>>>> Thunderbird is telling me that the signature is not valid > >>>>>> (message has > >>>>>> been modified). > >>>>>> Other recipients of the same message report no problem > >>>>>> with the > >>>>>> signature - they do not use the Webmail extension but just basic > >>>>>> POP. > >>>>>> I can't try the same, as I am behind a corporate > >>>>>> firewall and cannot > >>>>>> use POP. > >>>>>> It does seems that I am able to receive some emails via > >>>>>> the Webmail > >>>>>> extension with valid signatures. Only one sender seems to be > >>>>>> affected > >>>>>> so far. It may be that senders using plaintext for their > >>>>>> messages are > >>>>>> not affected, but those who compose using HTML may have their > >>>>>> messages > >>>>>> corrupted (by the Webmail extension?). > >>>>>> I am using: > >>>>>> - TB 2.0.0.23 > >>>>>> - WebMail 1.3.5 > >>>>>> - WebMail - GMail 0.6.5b1 > > --
-- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thunderbird Webmail Extension" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/thunderbird-webmail-extension?hl=en.
