It seems that you're using an outdated browser. Some things may not work as they should (or don't work at all).
We suggest you upgrade newer and better browser like: Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer or Opera

×
I'm not gonna bother redacting the info, as I don't care if people know my email. The recipient's email doesn't exist, so it doesn't matter if people know that one either, supposing it ever was a real email address. It seems that a new trick is to bounce emails off "legit" servers with the intent of failure. This might not be that new, but it's new enough that i've never seen it before. As a result, alot of these will end up inboxed, rather than sent to spam folder (which is what happened in my case).

Anyone else get alot of these?
Attachments:
It's really not new. Email bounce spoofing was well-known by the early 1990s when I first heard of it, and may well have been around before, but frankly my history of infosec is pretty weak =)

EDIT: had to have been early 90s, not late 80s, since I heard of it after l0pht was up and running. Sorry.
Post edited May 17, 2018 by OneFiercePuppy
Yes i hv received such emails b4 but frankly they dun bother me & neither do i care if the email address is real or not. I'm only concerned if my email has somehow sent all these emails 2 others without me actually doing it.

When i 1st received such emails i had wondered how it was possible that i had sent those emails but it was only later on that i learnt that that was due 2 email spoofing. Anyway, just ignore them will do.
Post edited May 17, 2018 by tomyam80
Flipping on a stick, how ancient is that client? It looks like someone just launched it in 199X and then forgot about it.

Pretty sure that's the same client the Bros Chap's used for a while too.

Have you considered joining us here in the modern age?

(Oh, no wonder. Last stable update was back in 2012.)

And why do I get this dreadful feeling that you're running some ancient OS, too?
This is nothing new, have you seen the lottery winner email or the I'm an american stuck in Bla Bla and need your assistance, please cash this bogus check and send me the $ I'll send you another one to cover the cost.... or all the Erectile dysfunction emails out there....

if there is a way to seperate a fool and his money, it's got an email attached. 99% of us know to ignore as spam, as usualy there is a virus attached.
avatar
OneFiercePuppy: It's really not new. Email bounce spoofing was well-known by the early 1990s when I first heard of it, and may well have been around before, but frankly my history of infosec is pretty weak =)
I remember seeing a tutorial explaining how to talk directly to a mail server to send a mail. The return addresses aren't verified so it doesn't matter what it contains. No surprise i've had bounces of 'mail could not be delivered' as my email address was used multiple times in spam (though i'm guessing it was either randomly picked, or brute forced)
avatar
rtcvb32: I remember seeing a tutorial explaining how to talk directly to a mail server to send a mail.
'telnet xx.xx.xx.xx 25' is the command where the x's are the ip address.

https://www.hostdime.com/resources/telnet-check-port-25-26-blocked/
avatar
kohlrak: Anyone else get alot of these?
avatar
rtcvb32: The return addresses aren't verified so it doesn't matter what it contains. No surprise i've had bounces of 'mail could not be delivered' as my email address was used multiple times in spam (though i'm guessing it was either randomly picked, or brute forced)
I believe you're thinking about this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backscatter_%28email%29

A simple check to see if the sending email server should be sending for that IP address usually solves that but there are so many email servers out there that do millions of messages a day, that step gets skipped quite often.
Post edited May 17, 2018 by drmike
avatar
Darvond: Flipping on a stick, how ancient is that client? It looks like someone just launched it in 199X and then forgot about it.

Pretty sure that's the same client the Bros Chap's used for a while too.

Have you considered joining us here in the modern age?

(Oh, no wonder. Last stable update was back in 2012.)

And why do I get this dreadful feeling that you're running some ancient OS, too?
Mac OS X Server used SquirrelMail for its webmail interface, at least back in 2007. It didn't look good back then, and it doesn't now. I mean, yeah, sure, it probably works on a web browser from 1992 if you're into that, but personally, I much prefer RoundCube.
Post edited May 17, 2018 by Maighstir
avatar
rtcvb32: I remember seeing a tutorial explaining how to talk directly to a mail server to send a mail.
avatar
drmike: 'telnet xx.xx.xx.xx 25' is the command where the x's are the ip address.

https://www.hostdime.com/resources/telnet-check-port-25-26-blocked/
avatar
rtcvb32: The return addresses aren't verified so it doesn't matter what it contains. No surprise i've had bounces of 'mail could not be delivered' as my email address was used multiple times in spam (though i'm guessing it was either randomly picked, or brute forced)
avatar
drmike: I believe you're thinking about this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backscatter_%28email%29

A simple check to see if the sending email server should be sending for that IP address usually solves that but there are so many email servers out there that do millions of messages a day, that step gets skipped quite often.
It's dead easy to spoof an email. I used to test email servers by using telnet, you just say MAIL FROM: whatever@example.com and the server just assumes that's valid.
avatar
Maighstir: Mac OS X Server used SquirrelMail for its webmail interface, at least back in 2007. It didn't look good back then, and it doesn't now. I mean, yeah, sure, it probably works on a web browser from 1992 if you're into that, but personally, I much prefer RoundCube.
I was gonna suggest that. RoundCube is much much better.
Post edited May 17, 2018 by BoxOfSnoo
avatar
Darvond: Flipping on a stick, how ancient is that client? It looks like someone just launched it in 199X and then forgot about it.

Pretty sure that's the same client the Bros Chap's used for a while too.

Have you considered joining us here in the modern age?

(Oh, no wonder. Last stable update was back in 2012.)

And why do I get this dreadful feeling that you're running some ancient OS, too?
Squirrelmail on Fedora.
avatar
Dejavous: This is nothing new, have you seen the lottery winner email or the I'm an american stuck in Bla Bla and need your assistance, please cash this bogus check and send me the $ I'll send you another one to cover the cost.... or all the Erectile dysfunction emails out there....

if there is a way to seperate a fool and his money, it's got an email attached. 99% of us know to ignore as spam, as usualy there is a virus attached.
I'm pretty safe with the squirrel, here. I get this sort of junk all the time, but it's the first time i've seen an email sent to an intentionally junk email address for the intent of it bouncing back.
avatar
rtcvb32: I remember seeing a tutorial explaining how to talk directly to a mail server to send a mail.
avatar
drmike: 'telnet xx.xx.xx.xx 25' is the command where the x's are the ip address.

https://www.hostdime.com/resources/telnet-check-port-25-26-blocked/
I do have an SMTP server, though. It's configured for ESMTP, and bounces off of no-ip.com since comcast blocks 25.
avatar
kohlrak: Anyone else get alot of these?
avatar
rtcvb32: The return addresses aren't verified so it doesn't matter what it contains. No surprise i've had bounces of 'mail could not be delivered' as my email address was used multiple times in spam (though i'm guessing it was either randomly picked, or brute forced)
I believe you're thinking about this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backscatter_%28email%29

A simple check to see if the sending email server should be sending for that IP address usually solves that but there are so many email servers out there that do millions of messages a day, that step gets skipped quite often.
I have postfix (same thing the "recipient" has) to reject bouncing from foreign sources. The thing that bothers me is I don't really see anything indicating what the original IP they got the email from was. I'm guessing they didn't even bother comparing the MX record to see if the IP matched the email there.
avatar
Darvond: Flipping on a stick, how ancient is that client? It looks like someone just launched it in 199X and then forgot about it.

Pretty sure that's the same client the Bros Chap's used for a while too.

Have you considered joining us here in the modern age?

(Oh, no wonder. Last stable update was back in 2012.)

And why do I get this dreadful feeling that you're running some ancient OS, too?
avatar
Maighstir: Mac OS X Server used SquirrelMail for its webmail interface, at least back in 2007. It didn't look good back then, and it doesn't now. I mean, yeah, sure, it probably works on a web browser from 1992 if you're into that, but personally, I much prefer RoundCube.
Fedora, but otherwise close.
Post edited May 17, 2018 by kohlrak
avatar
kohlrak: it's the first time i've seen an email sent to an intentionally junk email address for the intent of it bouncing back.
Paging Dr. Dos, Dr. Dos, please come to the front office. ;)
avatar
kohlrak: it's the first time i've seen an email sent to an intentionally junk email address for the intent of it bouncing back.
avatar
OneFiercePuppy: Paging Dr. Dos, Dr. Dos, please come to the front office. ;)
Honestly, i thought it was strange, too how this is only the first time i saw something so mindnumbingly simple to pull off, which is why i brought it here.
avatar
Maighstir: Mac OS X Server used SquirrelMail for its webmail interface, at least back in 2007. It didn't look good back then, and it doesn't now. I mean, yeah, sure, it probably works on a web browser from 1992 if you're into that, but personally, I much prefer RoundCube.
avatar
kohlrak: Fedora, but otherwise close.
I didn't mean to insinuate that you run a crusty old and insecure version of Mac OS X Server. That sin's on me. My half-working Mac Mini G4 can't run any more recent version, and I don't want to shut it down for reinstall until I have the new server up and running and my mail migrated (I'm missing a power supply because I can't decide whether to get a standard ATX one or shell out quite a bit more for redundancy).
Post edited May 17, 2018 by Maighstir
avatar
rtcvb32: I remember seeing a tutorial explaining how to talk directly to a mail server to send a mail. The return addresses aren't verified so it doesn't matter what it contains. No surprise i've had bounces of 'mail could not be delivered' as my email address was used multiple times in spam (though i'm guessing it was either randomly picked, or brute forced)
Any sane admin would block access to p25.

In the early days these protocols were made with simple and open sharing in mind, though, the Internet changed that. But some years ago this blocking of p25 among others actually became a standard procedure in order to prevent abuse.

Btw; search for nmap and you have a nice little power-tool at your hand ;-)
avatar
kohlrak: Fedora, but otherwise close.
avatar
Maighstir: I didn't mean to insinuate that you run a crusty old and insecure version of Mac OS X Server. That sin's on me. My half-working Mac Mini G4 can't run any more recent version, and I don't want to shut it down for reinstall until I have the new server up and running and my mail migrated (I'm missing a power supply because I can't decide whether to get a standard ATX one or shell out quite a bit more for redundancy).
If you care about uptime, you want redundancy. I'm sort of worried about my lack of redundancy, but there's not much i can do about that right now, unfortunately. The nice thing about Linux is that the hardware itself that the server is running on most definitely is old and crusty. It's at least 10 years old. Still, can handle the latest linux. It's not like i'm hit from heavy traffic or anything, so ti's good enough. Due to a power supply issue in the past, and the tight case, let's just say that you don't want a picture of the thing right now. It doesn't exactly close. It's rigged, but it's what i have to work with right now.
avatar
rtcvb32: I remember seeing a tutorial explaining how to talk directly to a mail server to send a mail. The return addresses aren't verified so it doesn't matter what it contains. No surprise i've had bounces of 'mail could not be delivered' as my email address was used multiple times in spam (though i'm guessing it was either randomly picked, or brute forced)
avatar
sanscript: Any sane admin would block access to p25.

In the early days these protocols were made with simple and open sharing in mind, though, the Internet changed that. But some years ago this blocking of p25 among others actually became a standard procedure in order to prevent abuse.

Btw; search for nmap and you have a nice little power-tool at your hand ;-)
Many still prefer 25 for email. I see it open all the time, actually, and more often open than closed.
Post edited May 18, 2018 by kohlrak