POP3 RETR and 0x800CCC90 errors - new information

peter.zagar · 01-18-2010, 06:23 AM

Hello everyone,

I have been recently following the developments regarding the nasty POP3 bug which causes Thunderbird and Outlook 2007 to fail at mail retrieval via POP3 and possibly also via IMAP.

After extensive testing today I found a new clue which might bring us closer to a solution.

Untangle:
Bridge mode.
All modules ON, including Spam, Phish and AV. Protocol checking ON.

Network Layout:
External Mail server - Cisco ASA - Untangle - Internal network with clients

Email Server:
Communigate

Email Client Facts:
Outlook 2007 - cannot retrieve mail
Outlook 2003 - retrieves mail after slight delay
Thunderbird - cannot retrieve mail, but sees the number of messages on the server

Error messages in question:
Outlook 2007 - Task 'receiving user@domain.com ' reported error (0x800CCC90): 'The mail server (POP3), has found an internal error
Thunderbird - The RETR command did not succeed. Error retrieving a message.

What i have found out is, that there is a delay of about 2-3 seconds, when Untangle modules are processing messages.

This causes Outlook 2007 and Thinderbird to fail. Thunderbird gives RETR error instantly.

So I tried to connect to server via telnet. I logged in, listed messages on server, then tried to retrieve a message using a RETR command.
I noticed that, when Untangle modules in question are turned OFF, ie. the traffic is not processed, messages are retrieved instantly. When the modules are turned ON, the retrieval of message is delayed by about 2-3 seconds.
The message still gets normally retrieved, after the delay. All the headers and text in the message is identical to the one when not processed.

I tried to solve this by setting the email clients to have more tolerance to this delay but I could not solve it neither in Outlook 2007 nor in Thunderbird.

Regards,

Peter

sky-knight · 01-18-2010, 08:05 AM

All that said, I have outlook 2007 clients working flawlessly without any adjustments.

As long as you have the AV module enabled, there will be a 1-3 second delay for downloading each message as the message is scanned for viruses, not to mention the spam blocker as it tries to do its job. The delay is by design.

If the delay is too long, you may have a situation where your Untangle isn't powerful enough.

peter.zagar · 01-22-2010, 02:32 AM

Could you be more specific about your mail server, etc..
Is your mail server inside your local network?

sky-knight · 01-26-2010, 12:22 PM

I use Outlook 2007 here in my office. I connect to client servers externally, some over the inet, others over VPN. I have clients that have mail servers on their lans they connect to both locally and remote.

I've tested, smartormail, mailenable, exchange 2007/2003, postfix, and sendmail.

They all work fine.

I do know that the eavesdropping Untangle does can break things. So the question is, what mail server are YOU using, and where is it in YOUR chain. Something in that is causing an issue and you may just have the network that can provide the details to finally nail this one down.

peter.zagar · 02-02-2010, 12:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sky-knight

So the question is, what mail server are YOU using, and where is it in YOUR chain. Something in that is causing an issue and you may just have the network that can provide the details to finally nail this one down.

I've tried to include all the details in my original post above:

Quote:

Originally Posted by peter.zagar

Network Layout:
External Mail server - Cisco ASA - Untangle - Internal network with clients

Email Server:
Communigate

I am lost here as I tried so many things to solve this, but nothing helped.

peter.zagar · 02-10-2010, 01:06 AM

Ok, I'm attaching logs from Outlook 2007 when receiving pop3.
Unt.log is created when the communication is going through Untangle.
NoUnt.log is created when Untangle is bypassed.

See the network scheme in original post.

doubtintom · 02-18-2010, 02:41 PM

My web host switched email servers last weekend, and I and a client of mine who has Untangle (both running 7.1 Debian boxes) started getting the RETR errors. I am running Thunderbird 3.0.1, he is using Thunderbird 2.0.0.23.

Old Server:
courier-imap-4.6.0-2

New Server
Dovecot 1.1.13

Only by turning off the spam, phish and virus blockers do the RETR errors stop and email comes through -- unscanned of course.

Is this enough information to further the analysis?

01-18-2010, 06:23 AM	#1 (permalink)
peter.zagar Untanglit Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 14	POP3 RETR and 0x800CCC90 errors - new information Hello everyone, I have been recently following the developments regarding the nasty POP3 bug which causes Thunderbird and Outlook 2007 to fail at mail retrieval via POP3 and possibly also via IMAP. After extensive testing today I found a new clue which might bring us closer to a solution. Untangle: Bridge mode. All modules ON, including Spam, Phish and AV. Protocol checking ON. Network Layout: External Mail server - Cisco ASA - Untangle - Internal network with clients Email Server: Communigate Email Client Facts: Outlook 2007 - cannot retrieve mail Outlook 2003 - retrieves mail after slight delay Thunderbird - cannot retrieve mail, but sees the number of messages on the server Error messages in question: Outlook 2007 - Task 'receiving user@domain.com ' reported error (0x800CCC90): 'The mail server (POP3), has found an internal error Thunderbird - The RETR command did not succeed. Error retrieving a message. What i have found out is, that there is a delay of about 2-3 seconds, when Untangle modules are processing messages. This causes Outlook 2007 and Thinderbird to fail. Thunderbird gives RETR error instantly. So I tried to connect to server via telnet. I logged in, listed messages on server, then tried to retrieve a message using a RETR command. I noticed that, when Untangle modules in question are turned OFF, ie. the traffic is not processed, messages are retrieved instantly. When the modules are turned ON, the retrieval of message is delayed by about 2-3 seconds. The message still gets normally retrieved, after the delay. All the headers and text in the message is identical to the one when not processed. I tried to solve this by setting the email clients to have more tolerance to this delay but I could not solve it neither in Outlook 2007 nor in Thunderbird. Regards, Peter

01-18-2010, 08:05 AM	#2 (permalink)
sky-knight Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Phoenix, AZ URLs submitted: 7 Posts: 8,106	All that said, I have outlook 2007 clients working flawlessly without any adjustments. As long as you have the AV module enabled, there will be a 1-3 second delay for downloading each message as the message is scanned for viruses, not to mention the spam blocker as it tries to do its job. The delay is by design. If the delay is too long, you may have a situation where your Untangle isn't powerful enough. __________________ Intouch Technology Rob Sandling, BS:SWE, MCP Office: 480-272-9889 rob@intouchtechllc.com

01-26-2010, 12:22 PM	#4 (permalink)
sky-knight Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Phoenix, AZ URLs submitted: 7 Posts: 8,106	I use Outlook 2007 here in my office. I connect to client servers externally, some over the inet, others over VPN. I have clients that have mail servers on their lans they connect to both locally and remote. I've tested, smartormail, mailenable, exchange 2007/2003, postfix, and sendmail. They all work fine. I do know that the eavesdropping Untangle does can break things. So the question is, what mail server are YOU using, and where is it in YOUR chain. Something in that is causing an issue and you may just have the network that can provide the details to finally nail this one down. __________________ Intouch Technology Rob Sandling, BS:SWE, MCP Office: 480-272-9889 rob@intouchtechllc.com

02-18-2010, 02:41 PM	#7 (permalink)
doubtintom Untangler Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 60	New data on POP3 RETR My web host switched email servers last weekend, and I and a client of mine who has Untangle (both running 7.1 Debian boxes) started getting the RETR errors. I am running Thunderbird 3.0.1, he is using Thunderbird 2.0.0.23. Old Server: courier-imap-4.6.0-2 New Server Dovecot 1.1.13 Only by turning off the spam, phish and virus blockers do the RETR errors stop and email comes through -- unscanned of course. Is this enough information to further the analysis? __________________ Tom

01-22-2010, 02:32 AM	#3 (permalink)
peter.zagar Untanglit Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 14	Could you be more specific about your mail server, etc.. Is your mail server inside your local network?