Author Topic: Avast 2014 and SSL email in Thunderbird  (Read 61288 times)

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Too old for this

  • Guest
Re: Avast 2014 and SSL email in Thunderbird
« Reply #45 on: November 29, 2013, 06:26:30 PM »
Update:

I renamed cert8.db to cert8.db.old (also made a backup copy of cert8.db.bak, "just in case" (FWIW, all three versions of the Cert8.db were sized differently, and for a brief moment I toyed with the idea of reverting to the .bak version, since it was dated 9/25/2013 (last modified), but decided to reserve that option for trial in case the clean wipe of cert8 fails.)

BTW, on my machine, the cert8 stuff was found here (on Win7Pro/64):

C:\Users\...\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\ik2mubha.default

Edited to add: So far, so good -- Upon restarting TB it did a mail fetch, which it accomplished without any popup noise from Avast. I was a bit surprised at this, since I wasn't prompted to add or accept any "new" certificate(s). Hopefully Avast IS checking my mail(!!!)

For reference, I do have it set to scan SSL mail (inbound-only; since I run a putatively clean machine, and don't engage in any naughty-bits type stuff, I don't see any need to bog down my machine any further than it already is).
« Last Edit: November 29, 2013, 06:36:15 PM by Too old for this »

Too old for this

  • Guest
Re: Avast 2014 and SSL email in Thunderbird
« Reply #46 on: November 29, 2013, 07:55:03 PM »
Oh, well. It was fun while it lasted.

I stepped away from the computer to try to rustle up a Pentax screw-mount body to check out the like-new 28mm 3.5 Takumar I found in a dusty old (original) leather case, set aside over a decade ago in my "to check out" pile. No joy there either (other than an old H3 with torn tapes), and when I returned to my computer, Ye Olde Bogus-Error Box was staring me in the face.

Unfortunately, I was so disgusted that I dismissed it without doing the export/import mambo, so, I don't really know if the problem is fixed or not.

The next time it pops up (See? I do have some confidence in this sucker!) I'll try doing that and see if it works. Sadly, I've so little confidence that it will, that I am not going to get my hopes up.

I really wish someone "official" would weigh in on this nightmare. The damn silence is getting louder and louder by the day.

Too old for this

  • Guest
Re: Avast 2014 and SSL email in Thunderbird
« Reply #47 on: November 29, 2013, 08:17:51 PM »
Argh! This is getting downright weird.

When the box popped up again, instead of dismissing it, I clicked OK, and then told it to export the certificate.

I then went into Thunderbird and told it to import the cert.

Right off the bat, something looked odd. The entry for my ISP was a child of "unknown" rather than -- as it was before -- a child of Avast.

The Avast entry stood alone by itself, in a parent/child setup. (So frazzed that I can't recall if the parent was "unknown" or "Avast")

I took a look at the cert, and sure enough, it said it wasn't trusted, so, I clicked the button to have it be trusted, and then OK'd my way out of the dialog.

I then remembered that I hadn't looked at the sub-dialog that selects what it will be OK to handle (web, mail, software makers). Since all were unchecked, I checked them all. I then OK'd my way out of the dialogs, and looked to see if my ISP's entry was now a child of Avast.

It wasn't.

It couldn't be a child of Avast, because Avast was no longer visible!

I don't know if it was truly gone, I don't know if it was "merely" invisible.

I do know that this crap is getting really old.

I'm just about this "-->||<--" close to saying "I give up!"

And, just as I finished typing the above sentence, Avast just poked me in the eye with that stinking alert. Again.

I guess that regardless of my resolve to not give up (or the opposite), Avast has made its intention to give up unmistakeably clear.

Ever feel like you're on an airplane, flying over an ocean, or a mountain range, or a huge inhospitable wilderness... and your pilot has quietly bailed out while no one was looking?

That's about how I feel right now. Me, and I suspect umpteen gajillion other users of TB & Avast too.

Mayday!

helkav

  • Guest
Re: Avast 2014 and SSL email in Thunderbird
« Reply #48 on: November 30, 2013, 10:42:06 AM »
@too old i feel your pain : unfortunately I have no more than sympathy to offer as my system is behaving itself after my 3-step fix was applied

Personally I think the uninstall/reinstall TB and various other fixes posted are really random and show that nobody really knows what's going on here. I don't think we can blame TB since this has only been happening since the last Avast ugrade

I will root around for Avast 8 for you today since others have said that that has sorted it for them

oh yes and of course don't forget to light the scented candles and move your work desk etc in the correct feng-shui positioning otherwise OBVIOUSLY nothing will work  ;)

try not to let it get you down - you're obviously not on your own here...

smartin

  • Guest
Re: Avast 2014 and SSL email in Thunderbird
« Reply #49 on: November 30, 2013, 11:35:31 AM »
I think I'm getting closer to a workaround or even a solution. My mail accounts are 3x POP3+ SSL and one is IMAP + SSL. This one seems to cause the problems. I switched it to STARTTLS and the message box didn't show up after the next resume from hibernate. How does it work on your computers, can somebody check this?

In short:
- delete cert8.db and renew all certificates
- all POP3/SMTP accounts set to SSL
- IMAP accounts set to STARTTLS

--> works for me, as it seems.  :o

So long!

Offline midnight

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Re: Avast 2014 and SSL email in Thunderbird
« Reply #50 on: November 30, 2013, 03:40:54 PM »
The email in Thunderbird is working fine for me.  So far I've never had any problems.
.

smartin

  • Guest
Re: Avast 2014 and SSL email in Thunderbird
« Reply #51 on: December 01, 2013, 09:23:26 AM »
Hi everyone,

I think I solved the issues on my machine. The point with the IMAP account was not the solution. Instead it was changing the settings in Thunderbird. I had all my accounts set to STARTTLS and then back to SSL again. Now it works w/o this avast message and the mails are scanned.  :o This might explain why not all people do have these problems.

See you!

helkav

  • Guest
Re: Avast 2014 and SSL email in Thunderbird
« Reply #52 on: December 01, 2013, 09:37:57 AM »
It's still not consistent with my situation i.e. most of my imap connections have no security set, and the ones that do are set to SSL/TLS  - I never changed those settings and all is now working for me

as I noted before it's still not clear what exactly is the root cause of this issue,  not consistently for everyone anyway

Offline heikwith

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Re: Avast 2014 and SSL email in Thunderbird
« Reply #53 on: December 03, 2013, 09:38:34 PM »
Can de next 2014 R2 (still beta1) be the solution:
http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=141763.0

dmetras

  • Guest
Re: Avast 2014 and SSL email in Thunderbird
« Reply #54 on: December 04, 2013, 09:55:54 PM »
I, too, was very frustrated by this.

Finally found a simple solution (let's hope it works for everybody...)

1. With my email set to SSL/TLS I exported/imported the MailShield certificate.

2. I checked my mail, and set permanent exceptions to allow the certificate. (Thunderbird can't automatically trust a cert that comes from an imported file, ever! Security reasons. That's why you must allow it.)

3. I changed my email to STARTTLS, checked mail again, allowed the certificate permanently again (it's on a different port this time).

4. I sent a simple email to a family member and allowed the cert yet again (like I said, different port.)

5. I went to Avast Control Center -> Settings -> Active Protection and clicked on the MailShield settings icon. Then on Behavior, I turned all options on.

6. I sent a couple emails back and forth to test everything.

All my emails, sent or received, now have a note at the bottom from Avast, and the statistics page shows that MailShield is doing its job.

I'll keep you posted on its condition. I'll also be more than happy to take any questions.  ;D

COMPUTIAC

  • Guest
Re: Avast 2014 and SSL email in Thunderbird
« Reply #55 on: December 05, 2013, 01:04:29 AM »
Where in Thunderbird do you import the certificate to ?
Under which tab ?

dmetras

  • Guest
Re: Avast 2014 and SSL email in Thunderbird
« Reply #56 on: December 06, 2013, 04:49:33 PM »
@COMPUTIAC

Oh, right. Sorry.

Tools -> Options -> Advanced -> Certificates.

Then you click View Certificates and a new window will pop up. Then click Import.

COMPUTIAC

  • Guest
Re: Avast 2014 and SSL email in Thunderbird
« Reply #57 on: December 06, 2013, 05:04:18 PM »
Under which tab ? Authorities ?
If so, then it is already in there.

dmetras

  • Guest
Re: Avast 2014 and SSL email in Thunderbird
« Reply #58 on: December 07, 2013, 07:25:24 AM »
Under which tab ? Authorities ?
If so, then it is already in there.

Good, then you're almost done.

Make sure that you've checked the box in Tools -> Options -> Security -> Anti-Virus. And that the feature is turned on in Avast.

Then have Thunderbird fetch your mail. Ignore Avast's message. Thunderbird will do its certificate security thing. ("Could not verify...") Check the "Permanently store this exception" box if it isn't already, then click the button that makes the allowance.

Then send an email to someone. Avast and Thunderbird will squawk again because the certificate's going through a different port. So just store another exception.

So, you'll need two exceptions per email server Thunderbird uses to check your mail.

smartin

  • Guest
Re: Avast 2014 and SSL email in Thunderbird
« Reply #59 on: December 16, 2013, 05:19:31 PM »
Hi all,

I'm now back on version 8. My "solution" lastet for full three days and then the message was back. I didn't change anything and avast started again showing me this useless message box. Sorry but this just sucks. If avast can't get this fixed and the support for version 8 stops, Ill change to a different scanner.

So long.