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Posted to dev@spamassassin.apache.org by bu...@bugzilla.spamassassin.org on 2017/04/21 18:30:38 UTC

[Bug 7411] New: FORGED_MUA_MOZILLA using wrong header

https://bz.apache.org/SpamAssassin/show_bug.cgi?id=7411

            Bug ID: 7411
           Summary: FORGED_MUA_MOZILLA using wrong header
           Product: Spamassassin
           Version: unspecified
          Hardware: PC
                OS: FreeBSD
            Status: NEW
          Severity: normal
          Priority: P2
         Component: Rules
          Assignee: dev@spamassassin.apache.org
          Reporter: rwmaillists@googlemail.com
  Target Milestone: Undefined

FORGED_MUA_MOZILLA is looking at the wrong header, it's using X-Mailer when
actual Mozilla mailers use User-Agent.  This is presumably why the rule only
hits 9 spams out of 150k.

It's also the cause of the recent Yahoo FPs where they are putting the client's
browser User-Agent on the end of their webmail X-Mailer headers.

I suggest changing 

header __MOZILLA_MUA     X-Mailer =~ /\bMozilla\b/

to

header __MOZILLA_MUA    User-Agent =~ /^mozilla\b/i

Anchoring it seems prudent in case the Yahoo practice spreads - real Mozilla
headers do start with Mozilla. And I don't see the point of insisting that the
spammer gets the case right.

It might also be worth trying an extra rule:

header T_MOZILLA_XM     X-Mailer =~ /^mozilla/i

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[Bug 7411] FORGED_MUA_MOZILLA using wrong header

Posted by bu...@spamassassin.apache.org.
https://bz.apache.org/SpamAssassin/show_bug.cgi?id=7411

Jeremy Andrews <at...@epyrus.org> changed:

           What    |Removed                     |Added
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 CC|                            |athenian200@epyrus.org

--- Comment #2 from Jeremy Andrews <at...@epyrus.org> ---
Umm... so yeah, as a result of this change, my e-mail client is marked as using
a forged Mozilla header. I develop an e-mail client called Epyrus, which is a
fork of Mozilla Thunderbird.

The UA that's being sent is:

Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; WOW64; rv:6.3) Goanna/20230916 Epyrus/2.1.0

Essentially, the engine it uses is a fork of Gecko, and the application is a
fork of Thunderbird. The reason I am getting targeted by this rule is because I
am not presenting my application as being Thunderbird. If I were to impersonate
Thunderbird more accurately, I would actually be able to get past this check.

The Mozilla/5.0 thing is a compatibility string, essentially. It lets everyone
know the user agent that sent the e-mail is compatible with Mozilla, it's not
actually saying that the e-mail is from Mozilla, or even from a
Mozilla-produced client.

If it's necessary, I can look into how to remove it, but it is going to cause
compatibility issues because things that check useragents will have no idea how
to process an e-mail from "Epyrus" without the Mozilla string to indicate what
it's compatible with.

Also, apologies if I was supposed to create a new bug, but the thing I wanted
to highlight was that this change was a regression from my perspective because
it makes forking Thunderbird without getting flagged as impersonating Mozilla a
lot harder.

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[Bug 7411] FORGED_MUA_MOZILLA using wrong header

Posted by bu...@bugzilla.spamassassin.org.
https://bz.apache.org/SpamAssassin/show_bug.cgi?id=7411

Kevin A. McGrail <km...@apache.org> changed:

           What    |Removed                     |Added
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
         Resolution|---                         |FIXED
                 CC|                            |kmcgrail@apache.org
             Status|NEW                         |RESOLVED

--- Comment #1 from Kevin A. McGrail <km...@apache.org> ---
Thanks.  

Trunk:
Sending        20_meta_tests.cf
Transmitting file data .
Committed revision 1792300.

3.4: 
Sending        rules/20_meta_tests.cf
Transmitting file data .
Committed revision 1792301.

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[Bug 7411] FORGED_MUA_MOZILLA using wrong header

Posted by bu...@spamassassin.apache.org.
https://bz.apache.org/SpamAssassin/show_bug.cgi?id=7411

Bill Cole <bi...@apache.org> changed:

           What    |Removed                     |Added
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 CC|                            |billcole@apache.org

--- Comment #3 from Bill Cole <bi...@apache.org> ---
(In reply to Jeremy Andrews from comment #2)
> Umm... so yeah, as a result of this change, my e-mail client is marked as
> using a forged Mozilla header. I develop an e-mail client called Epyrus,
> which is a fork of Mozilla Thunderbird.
> 
> The UA that's being sent is:
> 
> Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; WOW64; rv:6.3) Goanna/20230916 Epyrus/2.1.0
> 
> Essentially, the engine it uses is a fork of Gecko, and the application is a
> fork of Thunderbird. The reason I am getting targeted by this rule is
> because I am not presenting my application as being Thunderbird. If I were
> to impersonate Thunderbird more accurately, I would actually be able to get
> past this check.
> 
> The Mozilla/5.0 thing is a compatibility string, essentially. 

Which is entirely useless in an email header and particularly in a header which
has no standard meaning in email and only TBird-based MUAs generate. 

> It lets
> everyone know the user agent that sent the e-mail is compatible with
> Mozilla, it's not actually saying that the e-mail is from Mozilla, or even
> from a Mozilla-produced client.

Please do not take this personally: NO ONE CARES.

A MUA is not a web browser. The only purpose of identifying a MUA in any header
is to *specifically* identify the precise MUA used to compose the message for
problem analysis. There is no mechanism that uses any sort of 'compatibility
string' in email. The fact that Mozilla made this mistake in TBird is no reason
for you to perpetuate it.

> If it's necessary, I can look into how to remove it, but it is going to
> cause compatibility issues because things that check useragents will have no
> idea how to process an e-mail from "Epyrus" without the Mozilla string to
> indicate what it's compatible with.

THERE ARE NO SUCH "THINGS." 

Web browsers send User-Agent headers with carefully constructed cargo-cult
strings because HTTP was specified to allow for servers to send different data
to different agents based on those strings. That behavioral model does not
exist in email. Even with HTML content in email, no common MUAs try to use
Mailer, X-Mailer, or User-Agent headers in any way. 

> Also, apologies if I was supposed to create a new bug,

I'm closing this one. The real problem it was opened to address was addressed
>6 years ago.  Your problem is unrelated to THIS bug. You'd know that if you
read the bug before tacking your complaint onto it. 

> but the thing I
> wanted to highlight was that this change was a regression from my
> perspective because it makes forking Thunderbird without getting flagged as
> impersonating Mozilla a lot harder.

Maybe you could stop perpetuating Mozilla's stupid MUA mistakes?

I don't think it is wise for SA to accommodate one MUA vendor choosing to do
something *which serves no functional purpose* that happens to entangle an
existing well-performing rule.

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