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Re: POP3 password scanning

To: qmail@list.cr.yp.to
Subject: Re: POP3 password scanning
From: Quinn Comendant <quinn@strangecode.com>
Date: Fri, 26 Jan 2007 15:06:35 -0800
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On Thu, 25 Jan 2007 14:24:47 -0800, Quinn Comendant wrote:
> These are md5-digest (I think) password failures, followed by 
> plaintext password success. These are all honest valid users, and it 
> is normal. I think they all use a POP3 client (maybe Apple Mail) that 
> first tries md5-digest, and if it doesn't work, uses plaintext. The 
> paradox is that fail2ban must scan the logs for password failures to 
> detect which IP address to block. But because of these "honest" 
> password failures there is no way to detect the difference between a 
> robot trying wrong password, and a "helpful" POP3 client trying a 
> wrong auth method

I can answer my own question here. Vpopmail logs a 'user not found' error that 
can be used by fail2ban, for example:

Jan 21 09:50:12 mx vpopmail[27939]: vchkpw-pop3: vpopmail user not found 
forum@:24.220.50.36
Jan 21 09:50:13 mx vpopmail[27943]: vchkpw-pop3: vpopmail user not found 
news@:24.220.50.36
Jan 21 09:50:17 mx vpopmail[27958]: vchkpw-pop3: vpopmail user not found 
operator@:24.220.50.36
Jan 21 09:50:17 mx vpopmail[27959]: vchkpw-pop3: vpopmail user not found 
sales@:24.220.50.36
Jan 21 09:50:18 mx vpopmail[27964]: vchkpw-pop3: vpopmail user not found 
operator@:24.220.50.36

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