user+domain.com vs user@domain.com
Hi everyone, I'm new here but have been using cPanel for over 10 years and had a dedicated server for a several years too.
I had some trouble with an IP being blocked repeatedly. My hosting provider claims it's because I was using the old setting user+domain.com rather than user@domain.com to log in. Their answer smells of laziness. I know that the info presented on the 'Configure Mail Client' page changed usernames to use the @ a few versions ago, but since it wasn't causing any problems we left well enough alone.
This is a tough issue to track down, but here's another somewhat related thread from 2012 whose consensus was "just use the @".
So the question is, could an address using the + instead of @ cause the server to block an IP for using a wrong username? My gut tells me no, since it's worked just fine on a couple different servers for many years, and the IP block is a sporadic issue.
--Lou
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So the question is, could an address using the + instead of @ cause the server to block an IP for using a wrong username? My gut tells me no, since it's worked just fine on a couple different servers for many years, and the IP block is a sporadic issue.
Hello, Support for plus addressing is planned for cPanel 58: Email sub-addressing (plus addressing) As far as the authentication itself, could you let us know what you see in /usr/local/cpanel/logs/login_log and /var/log/maillog when attempting to authenticate with the "+" symbol instead of with the "@" symbol? Also, how are you attempting to authenticate? Thank you.0 -
Thanks for the reply, Michael. I was wondering if login with "+" would be deprecated because of sub-addressing. I can't see those logs, as I'm only a user on a shared server anymore"should've mentioned that in my original post. I'm using plain authentication over ssl. I should also mention that I'm on version 56.0.22. 0 -
I'm using plain authentication over ssl.
Could you test this via webmail and additional email clients? You won't be able to review /var/log/maillog to see the specific reason for the authentication failure without root access, so you may want to ask your hosting provider for that information. Thank you.0 -
Could you test this via webmail and additional email clients?
Usernames with "+" currently work to login to webmail. We were using the same settings from two different clients on 5 devices"Apple Mail and iOS Mail. I have put in an inquiry to my provider, but am not holding out hope that they'll actually check the log for me. Thanks!0 -
We were using the same settings from two different clients on 5 devices"Apple Mail and iOS Mail.
Also, to confirm, are you able to authenticate successfully when using the + symbol instead of the @ symbol with those email clients? If not, does authentication then succeed when switching to the @ symbol in the username? Thank you.0 -
Yes, we were authenticating successfully with the "+" from both email clients. The hosting provider said they temporarily whitelisted my IP to prevent a block, but I was still able to retrieve mail. To me that indicates that the + username was not the cause of the block in the first place. All my provider will tell me is that "your IP address was blocked due to failed IMAP login due to the email account user@example.com", or in other words, they won't look at the log for me. I have repeated the request for them to do so twice already. Thank you. 0 -
The hosting provider said they temporarily whitelisted my IP to prevent a block, but I was still able to retrieve mail. To me that indicates that the + username was not the cause of the block in the first place.
I can confirm the "+" symbol works for email account authentication. The authentication failure you experienced likely stems from a brute force attack on the email account, leading to cPhulk locking the account. Your provider should be able to provide you with information about the reason authentication is failing should the issue continue. Thank you.0
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