No clear error message when the TLS version of the remote server is lower than 3
Categories
(Thunderbird :: Security, enhancement)
Tracking
(Not tracked)
People
(Reporter: ccomb, Unassigned)
Details
User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64; rv:79.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/79.0
Steps to reproduce:
I just upgraded from 75beta3 to 76beta1 without changing anything else. I had a working connection on pop.free.fr (or imap.free.fr) with a SSL/TLS connection on port 993.
Actual results:
Starting exactly from 76beta1, it now always hangs, saying "Connected to pop.free.fr..." and nothing happens, no email is downloaded. I checked all the versions up to the latest 79beta3 and it cannot connect. The last working version is 75beta3.
I've tried everything Bug 1183650 and Bug 1184488 but it doesn't work and seems unrelated. I believe it is still an issue related to SSL/TLS because if I use "None" as the Connection Security, with Encrypted password, I can download the messages.
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Reporter | |
Updated•6 years ago
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Reporter | |
Comment 1•6 years ago
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Small error in the report, the used port is the default 995, not 993.
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Comment 2•6 years ago
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I've found the workaround : turn the setting security.tls.version.min to 1 instead of 3 in the config editor (Edit→Preferences→Config Editor).
I'm turning this bug into a "Enhancement Proposal" because there is no way from the user point of view to know where the problem comes from. This leads to a disastrous user experience.
Instead of hanging with the message "Connected..." it should display an error message such as "The TLS version of the remote mail server is unsupported. Contact your ISP so that they upgrade their TLS version. In the meantime, you can connect by changing the config parameter setting security.tls.version.min to 1 in the Edit→Preferences→Config Editor".
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Reporter | |
Updated•6 years ago
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Reporter | |
Updated•6 years ago
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Problem persists in Thunderbird 78.4.0. As already noted this produces a terrible UX. Though I wouldn't call it an enhancement request to display a user-visible error message for a critical error: This is a straight-up bug, and in my view a major one (though "merely" UI, I believe we have moved past the era where IT considers the UI to be unimportant ;) ). It also implicitly affects security because what will the typical user do in this situation? Try to downgrade back to an older Thunderbird and turn off automatic updates.
Even in the error console - which should not be needed for a critical error such as the inability to contact the server for receiving mail - all I got was an NS_ERROR_NOT_AVAILABLE, which obviously provided no clue whatsoever that the issue is related to TLS version requirements.
PS: In fact that NS_ERROR_NOT_AVAILABLE might not even be related to this, but due to a different issue with a different mail account (where the server is indeed not available). It would be helpful if key details of the error, such as the account and action causing it, were displayed somewhere.
Description
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