Email Spoofing Issue

[matix131997]

"direction": "outbound",

Sending is from the outside i.e. someone has taken over your App Passwords on Profile.

[ccfu]

@matix131997 Direction outbound just means mail leaving the server but the origin can still be the server itself. This is why we also need to see the second log entry. In either case the sender has access to the account and there is a good chance your app password theory is correct.

@webliska Not the mail queue, the queued for delivery log entry for the mail you already posted. Each successfully sent email should have two log entries: queued and delivered. You might need to change the display filters if you only see delivered.

Also check whether an app password is set for the mail user in question and delete it if it is.

[james]

Hello @webliska

Most things have already been mentioned.
Check for an app password and if there is one, delete it.

Another approach and thought.
If you change the password of user dikshant does the outbound mail sending stop for a brief time?
Because, it might be the case that user dikshant might have his local computer infected with a virus that constantly is stealing login credentials and whole browser sessions.
Thunderbird also stores passwords in clear text.
So this might be another reason why even a password change is not enough.

[jdaviescoates]

@james said in Email Spoofing Issue:

Because, it might be the case that user dikshant might have his local computer infected with a virus that constantly is stealing login credentials and whole browser sessions.
Thunderbird also stores passwords in clear text.
So this might be another reason why even a password change is not enough.

This is what I was wondering too.

[luckow]

+1 for virus on desktop. Windows?

[webliska]

@ccfu

This is what I found as a queued email:

{
"ts": 1756359482397,
"type": "queued",
"direction": "outbound",
"uuid": "1332F07B-0C99-419E-A058-C1C88C5B8A94.1",
"messageId": "<8cdb5704f0341e15369841ea1ed2d8d2ec82cb3e@w*****.in>",
"mailFrom": "<dikshant@w*****.in>",
"spamStatus": null,
"mailbox": null,
"quotaPercent": null,
"rcptTo": [
"blinbernard@sfr.fr",
"cfcappa@hotmail.com",
"saqrhani@gmail.com",
"60saladino@gmail.com",
"johnbagby@yahoo.com"
],
"remote": {
"ip": "118.151.221.26",
"port": 41442,
"host": "NXDOMAIN",
"info": "NXDOMAIN",
"closed": false,
"is_private": false,
"is_local": false
},
"authUser": "dikshant@w******.in",
"message": "Message Queued (1332F07B-0C99-419E-A058-C1C88C5B8A94.1)"
}

No app passwords as well.

Also, I'm sure there is no virus as well in the system.

[ccfu]

The log entry shows that the email originated from an IP in Indonesia which does not have the best reputation (the ISP is PT Centrin Online Prima) and was sent whilst logged in as dikshant@... Does this information help you to identify the connections?

If you do not recognise the connections, check some of the other log entries. Are the mails all being sent from the same IP? If so, you could block it in the network settings. If not, do you see a pattern?

[webliska]

No, they have no connections with us. Also, I have blacklisted and blocked those IPs. I found 2 IPs for the same.
You said that emails were sent whilst logged in as dikshant@ So how can they have access if I have changed the password?

[robi]

Use the bottom right button from your screenshot to log them out.

[webliska]

@robi Yes, I did that already, but if not don,e then even if changing the password for the email won't log them out on its own?

[robi]

@webliska logins are session based.

You can change the password all you like, as long as the session is active, it doesn't prevent access.

The logs may be misleading in printing the user logged in, when it's really just checking for an active session.

Hence the button exists.

[ccfu]

Maybe reboot the server for good measure as well.

[jdaviescoates]

@robi said in Email Spoofing Issue:

logins are session based.

You can change the password all you like, as long as the session is active, it doesn't prevent access.

This was the other thing I was wondering, together with a virus laden local machine somewhere, i.e. an active session on a dodgy machine.

[humptydumpty]

Regarding infected PC's, I recommend installing Malwarebytes (free) and doing an advanced scan. I caught a crypto miner that Windows Security (Defender) didn't. It was so stubborn to remove that I had to scan/quarantine it twice. CPU/GPU usage would spike when idle, but it would hide when in use or if I opened task manager. PC is used for gaming only so that's definitely how it came in and the top culprits are: Epic games, GTA 5, or Microsoft Flight Sim (mods related).

To summarize the key recommendations for OP:

• scan PC for malware/virus
• delete app passwords found in user's profile section
• reset passwords
• use the log out button to end all active sessions
• restart server for good measure
• report back

[ccfu]

@webliska Is this resolved now?