Can anyone tell me how to test out Imail whether it accept
authentication. I know this is a very silly question but I really not
aware that user can authenticate to use my SMTP even though the Ip is
not in the "Relay for address".

Is there any software or command line that I can type to check out my
server. Do you mean that if the spammer knows a username and password
for one of the domain mailbox then they can access my mail server from
any host IP address? 

Jeff's problem is exactly the same as mine and it comes from the same
class IP as well. 

Regards
Bo Wee

-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] On Behalf Of Jeff
Lesperance
Sent: Tuesday, 21 January 2003 1:31 AM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [IMail Forum] Spam relayed through server aka HELP - Imail
Problem/Dictionary Attack


Hi,
I just wanted to check-in with the list - I've been in digest mode for a

while - I noticed postings from a couple folks last week and over the 
weekend regarding spam getting relayed through thier server, where they 
were configured to be protected against relaying. This happened to me on

Friday as well. Here are the details

* Windows 2000 Server sp3 +hotfixes
* Imail 7.07 HF2 configured to relay for addresses

On Friday morning, I found that my logfile for that day was already
30mb, 
where I would normally see that size for a whole day of SMTP action. I 
looked in the logfile and saw hundreds, maybe thousands of logged
messages 
originating from 210.0.137.240. Most of the messages were from a Yahoo 
address, and to a Yahoo or AOL address, but there were some more diverse

To: addresses.

Immediately I checked the spool and found several hundred messages in
there 
from this source. I stopped SMTP and copied all messages out of the
spool, 
and set SMTP security to 'No Mail Relay' - I started SMTP back up and 
perused the messages that I copied out. There were a handful that were 
legit, that I copied back in, but most of the rest were Spam, to and
from 
address that I don't host.

I went back and checked the addresses that I had set to be allowed to 
relay, they were for a range of IP addresses that I host (with a proper 
subnet mask), a range of IP addresses on my office network, and a single
IP 
for a client for whom I provide secondary mail services. My hosted range

starts with 63 - not close to 210.0.137.240, and my office range starts 
with 204 - closer to 210, but with a subnet mask of 255.255.255.240, and

the single IP starts with 209 - once again, close to 210, but it is just
a 
single IP, so none of these should have allowed the relay.

I proceeded to test relaying from an outside server that I have control 
over, and could not. I then turned relay back on for the 2 IP ranges and

single IP, and didn't see any more spam come through...for a couple of 
hours, when I got bombed again, from the same IP, 210.0.137.240 - I then

set that entire IP range to be blocked via the SMTP access control list,

and cleared out my spool again.

I then went and viewed the smtpd32.loc file with a binary/hex viewer,
and 
confirmed that the addresses that I allow to relay are listed properly, 
with the correct subnet mask.

I'm concerned that I'm not the only person that got bombed - I was just 
about to write more about being concerned that there might be a 'new' 
exploit that Ipswitch doesn't know about - I was sifting through my 
logfiles to find a snippet that I could paste in here to show evidence
that 
someone relayed through without authenticating....and got stopped short
- I 
found that this spammer was authenticating! Authentication logs with a 
different session ID than SMTP or SMTPD - during heavy volume, it's easy
to 
miss the 'Authenticated...session treated as local' -especially if the 
authenticated account is a normal, commonly used mailbox. Here's a
snippet 
of the log (cleaned of other sessions):

20030117 122335 127.0.0.1       SMTPD (2DB90130) [63.251.80.230] connect

210.0.137.240 port 7433
20030117 122335 127.0.0.1       SMTPD (2DB90130) [210.0.137.240] EHLO
Richmond
20030117 122339 127.0.0.1       SMTPD (0000013C) Authenticated 
xyzabc(modifed)@pop.matrixgroup.net, session treated as local.
20030117 122339 127.0.0.1       SMTPD (2DB90130) [210.0.137.240] MAIL 
FROM:<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
20030117 122339 127.0.0.1       SMTPD (2DB90130) [210.0.137.240] RCPT 
TO:<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
20030117 122343 127.0.0.1       SMTPD (2DB90130) [210.0.137.240] 
D:\IMAIL\spool\D3c1b2db90130e0db.SMD 6918
20030117 122344 127.0.0.1       SMTPD (2DB90130) [210.0.137.240] MAIL 
FROM:<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
20030117 122344 127.0.0.1       SMTPD (2DB90130) [210.0.137.240] RCPT 
TO:<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
20030117 122348 127.0.0.1       SMTPD (2DB90130) [210.0.137.240] 
D:\IMAIL\spool\D3c202db90130f30b.SMD 6857

The SMTPD line showing authentication has a different session ID (or PID

not sure what to call it) than the rest of the session, and it was mixed

among other entries, so I missed it. In this one session there were many
(I 
haven't counted yet) pieces of mail sent out, followed by several more 
authenticated sessions with this account - so if I had missed that first

connection, it would have just looked like a ton of unauthenticated 
messages getting relayed through.

Ultimately, the culprit - a forgotten mailbox, that had been set to
forward 
elsewhere, that had a default password of 'password'

Initially I wanted to post this to speak-up - to see if there was a new 
exploit, now I see that it was my bad, for a lack of password auditing
and 
some spammer exploiting that - I'm not saying that this is the same
exact 
problem that you other folks had - but I'm suggesting that you take a 
closer look at your log for Authentication, and maybe use a tool like 
extractusers if you're using the Imail db, to audit your passwords,
there's 
clearly at least one spammer out there exploiting 'password' passwords.


Jeff Lesperance
Matrix Group International, Inc.


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