Net::SMTP auth login fails - passes in username twice!

m0thr4 has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

I've been tearing my hair out over this one. All I'm trying to do is to get perl to do what I can already do by telnetting to my mail server over port 25 and entering in all the details manually.

When I telnet in, I use auth login and then enter the username and password in Base64. This works fine.

Now I want to get perl to do the same, so after much consultation of CPAN and throwing away Mail::Mailer as useless, I wrote the following (sanitised, of course):

#!/usr/bin/perl
#
#
use strict;
use Net::SMTP;

my $DEBUG = 1;

my $smtp;
$smtp = Net::SMTP->new('mymailserver.net', Hello => "myotherserver.net
+", Debug => 1,);
die "Couldn't connect to server" unless $smtp;
print "Server connection opened\n";

$smtp->auth('myuser', 'test123');

...
[download]

When I run this, I get the following:

Net::SMTP>>> Net::SMTP(2.31)
Net::SMTP>>>   Net::Cmd(2.29)
Net::SMTP>>>     Exporter(5.58)
Net::SMTP>>>   IO::Socket::INET(1.29)
Net::SMTP>>>     IO::Socket(1.29)
Net::SMTP>>>       IO::Handle(1.25)
Net::SMTP=GLOB(0xa6fd440)<<< 220 mymailserver.net ESMTP Exim 4.60 Mon,
+ 20 Jul 2009 15:08:52 +0100
Net::SMTP=GLOB(0xa6fd440)>>> EHLO myotherserver.net
Net::SMTP=GLOB(0xa6fd440)<<< 250-mymailserver.net Hello myotherserver.
+net [10.1.2.70]
Net::SMTP=GLOB(0xa6fd440)<<< 250-SIZE 20971520
Net::SMTP=GLOB(0xa6fd440)<<< 250-PIPELINING
Net::SMTP=GLOB(0xa6fd440)<<< 250-AUTH PLAIN LOGIN
Net::SMTP=GLOB(0xa6fd440)<<< 250-STARTTLS
Net::SMTP=GLOB(0xa6fd440)<<< 250 HELP
Server connection opened
Net::SMTP=GLOB(0xa6fd440)>>> AUTH PLAIN bXl1c2VybXl1c2VydGVzdDEyMw==
Net::SMTP=GLOB(0xa6fd440)<<< 535 Incorrect authentication data

...
[download]

The problem seems to be twofold:

Instead of using AUTH LOGIN, it's using AUTH PLAIN
The Base64 string contains the username twice, then the password, which is wrong.

Is this a bug in Net::SMTP, or a problem with my mail server, or something else?

Comment on Net::SMTP auth login fails - passes in username twice! Select or Download Code

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: Net::SMTP auth login fails - passes in username twice! by jrsimmon (Hermit) on Jul 20, 2009 at 14:46 UTC
A super search for Net::SMTP and auth found several threads referencing Net::SMTP and the auth() method, notably this one. It suggests that you need to have either Authen::SASL::Cyrus or Authen::SASL::Perl installed for the auth() method to function properly.	[reply]
Re^2: Net::SMTP auth login fails - passes in username twice! by m0thr4 (Initiate) on Jul 21, 2009 at 14:48 UTC
I already have Authen::SASL installed.	[reply]
Re: Net::SMTP auth login fails - passes in username twice! by ultrarunner (Initiate) on Dec 31, 2016 at 03:44 UTC
I'm having this same problem (yes, seven years later) and this is the only post I've found that matches. As part of some trial and error I was doing to try to understand what the code (I'm not very good at perl syntax), I tried changing the name of the auth function in SMTP_auth. I was surprised to get an error saying perl could not find the function in Net::SMTP::_SSL. So I changed the ISA in Net::SMTP::_SSL from Net::SMTP to Net::SMTP_auth and AUTH LOGIN worked! I'm not sure how a call to Net::SMTP_auth->auth() ended up getting routed through Net::SMTP::_SSL but it's clear that doing so would be a problem since the auth in Net::SMTP::_SLL has a different number of parameters from the one in Net::SMTP_auth. So, while I don't have a fix for the problem (other than to hack the ISA in Net::SMTP::_SSL), I'm hoping someone smarter than me can use what I've found to make a proper fix.	[reply]
Re^2: Net::SMTP auth login fails - passes in username twice! by noxxi (Pilgrim) on Dec 31, 2016 at 08:10 UTC
There is a huge difference in the versions of Net::SMTP between 2009 and 2016 and you are fiddling in your post which parts which did not even exist in 2009 (i.e. SSL support). If you really want to have help in your problem please ask a new question with a proper problem description, way to reproduce the problem and the Perl and Net::SMTP version you use. Based on this one could actually try to help you.	[reply]
Re: Net::SMTP auth login fails - passes in username twice! by Anonymous Monk on Jul 20, 2009 at 15:03 UTC
Instead of using AUTH LOGIN, it's using AUTH PLAIN The SMTP server tells it OK to use AUTH PLAIN `Net::SMTP=GLOB(0xa6fd440)<<< 250-AUTH PLAIN LOGIN Net::SMTP=GLOB(0xa6fd440)>>> AUTH PLAIN` [download] PLAIN is listed before LOGIN. 2. The Base64 string contains the username twice, then the password, which is wrong. Is this a bug in Net::SMTP, or a problem with my mail server, or something else? Maybe, check for updates `perl -MDevel::Modlist -MNet::SMTP -e 1 Carp 1.10 Config Errno 1.1 Exporter 5.63 Exporter::Heavy 5.63 IO 1.25 IO::Handle 1.28 IO::Socket 1.31 IO::Socket::INET 1.31 IO::Socket::UNIX 1.23 Net::Cmd 2.29 Net::Config 1.11 Net::SMTP 2.31 SelectSaver 1.01 Socket 1.81 Symbol 1.06 XSLoader 0.10 utf8 1.07 vars 1.01 warnings 1.05_01 warnings::register 1.01` [download]	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re: Net::SMTP auth login fails - passes in username twice! by Khen1950fx (Canon) on Jul 21, 2009 at 00:12 UTC
I've been scratching my head over this one. The answer seemed like it would be simple, but I encountered a few exceptions. First, I noticed that you were using TLS, so I tried it with Net::SMTP::TLS. The problem there for me was that the module requires Net::SSLeay, but that's broken and won't work for me. Second, all the servers that I use basically use the two mechanisms, DIGEST-MD5 and CRAM-MD5, so LOGIN wasn't available and even PLAIN wasn't always available. Third, wondering why the LOGIN mechanism seemed to be awol somewhere, I figured that this stuation was a "gotcha". See the internet draft The LOGIN SASL Mechanism for more details.	[reply]
Re^2: Net::SMTP auth login fails - passes in username twice! by Anonymous Monk on Jul 21, 2009 at 09:58 UTC
requires Net::SSLeay, but that's broken and won't work for me. How so?	[reply]
Re^3: Net::SMTP auth login fails - passes in username twice! by Khen1950fx (Canon) on Jul 21, 2009 at 19:19 UTC
How so It installed ok, but every time that I try to use it, I get: `Net/SSLeay/SSLeay.so: undefined symbol: SSL_load_error_strings` Any ideas?	[reply] [d/l]
Re^4: Net::SMTP auth login fails - passes in username twice! by Anonymous Monk on Jul 22, 2009 at 14:01 UTC
Re^5: Net::SMTP auth login fails - passes in username twice! by Khen1950fx (Canon) on Jul 23, 2009 at 04:59 UTC
Some notes below your chosen depth have not been shown here