235588 - Inbox file filled with zero bytes/mail lost after anti-virus s/w quarantined target folder file while filtering

Status: RESOLVED DUPLICATE of bug 116443

(SeaMonkey :: MailNews: Message Display, defect)

Description

[Daniel B.]

User-Agent:       
Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.6) Gecko/20040113

My Inbox folder was wiped out (filled with zero bytes) after anti-virus
software quarantined another mail file to which a message had just been 
moved by my mail filters.  I also compacted folders before discovering 
the 20MB of zeroes in my Inbox file.

The sequence, as best I recall:

- I was downloading messages (I clicked on the "Get Msgs" button);
  downloading was working normally and was applying my mail 
  filters.

- The antivirus software said that a mail folder (not Inbox) had 
  a virus and was being quarantined.

  (I had previously excluded Inbox and probably Trash from virus 
  checking (so I could delete any virus-containing messages I got, 
  of course), which would explain why it was the second folder's file
  and not Inbox that got quarantined.)

- Mozilla gave an error dialog about not being able to move messages 
  to a folder.  I didn't catch the folder name, but presumably Mozilla 
  was trying to filter subsequent messages into the mail folder whose 
  disk file the f***ing antivirus software moved out from it.

- At some point (I don't recall whether after compacting folders or
  not), I noticed that clicking on most messages resulted in a blank 
  message view pane, although clicking on the last three messages worked 
  normally.

- I _think_ I compacted folders and still saw the same behavior (most 
 messages blank and the full list of messages).

- I renamed Inbox.msf to hide it and compacted folders.  Only three 
  messages were listed in the message list.

- I checked the Inbox file, and found my 20MB file to contain about 
  20MB of zero bytes (nulls) and four messages (one that looks deleted).

The anti-virus software on my machine is Symantec AntiVirus Corporate
Edition.  It seems to be configured to quarantine files (renaming them
to somewhere else).

This seems quite related to (but somewhat different from) bug 233833.


Reproducible: Didn't try
Steps to Reproduce:
1.
2.
3.

Comment 1

[Daniel B.]

 Also see bug 233665.

Comment 2

[Mark Spohr]

I've had this bug 6 times in the past three days.  Every time I get the
W32.Netsky.P@mm!enc virus deleted by Norton AV 2003 (6/2/2004 virus definitions)
it fills my Inbox with nulls and I loose all my messages.
I had Mozilla 1.6 originally but upgraded to 1.7rc3 today and still get the bug.
Sequence of events:
I also have Popfile installed which gives spam messages a subject line of [spam]
and I have Mozilla set to filter these to a box named "Junk"
1. downloading email messages
2. I get a message from Moz: "There was an error truncating the inbox after
filtering a message to folder "Junk".  You may need to shutdown and delete
INBOX.msf"
3. NAV detects W32.Netsky.P@mm!enc virus and gives message "NAV detected and
deleted a virus from your computer." (I usually get this message three times per
infected email.)

Inbox is filled with nulls and perhaps a small fragment of a message at the top
of the file.

Comment 3

[Daniel Veditz [:dveditz]]

Sounds like enough independent reports to confirm this. I had something similar
happen but I think it was bug 116443

Comment 4

[Aaron Kaluszka]

May depend on bug 116443 since it's the same thing, but from a different vector.
 Changing summary since bug 233833 covers compacting.

Comment 5

[Ben Bucksch (:BenB)]

IMO, it's a dup of 116443 - same cause

Comment 6

[Ben Bucksch (:BenB)]

*** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of 116443 ***