Bug/Security issue with Junk Mail

[Tim Tschirner]

Hi there -

it looks like Entourage 2004 has a bug and/or security issue with Junk Email
and downloading images that are embedded in Emails.

When an Email that has images embedded is being detected as being Junk Email
and goes into the 'Junk E-Mail' folder, a could of problems can arise from
that:

Scenario 1 (Bug):
1. Classify an Email that was detected as Junk Email and is sitting in the
'Junk E-mail' folder as not being junk. It is moved back into your Inbox
folder.
2. If you classified the Email as not being junk before downloading the
embedded pictures, you are now not able to download the images when the
Email is in your Inbox - the 'Download Pictures' link at the top of the
Email in the preview pane is missing.
3. To get the 'Download Pictures' link back, you must classify the Email as
Junk Email again. By doing so it gets moved back into the Junk E-mail folder
and the link is back at the top of the Email.

Scenario 2 (Possible security issue):
1. If you have an Email that was detected as Junk Email, is sitting in the
'Junk E-mail' folder and has embedded images, download the embedded images
by clicking the 'Download Pictures' link at the top of the Email in the
preview pane. Then classify it as not being Junk and select "Classify all
messages sent from this doman as not being 'junk'". You would do this
typically if this is a regular newsletter you're receiving.
2. The Email is being moved back into your Inbox and the pictures are
displaying properly.
3. Now if you're getting another Email from the same domain, it goes right
into your Inbox and the images are automatically being downloaded. You don't
get the normal behavior of image placeholders being show and the 'Download
Pictures' link at the top of the Email.

I've seen this behavior with all versions of Entourage 2004, even with the
latest version 11.3.3.

It would be great if someone in the Mac BU at Microsoft could look into this
issue for an upcoming version.

Thanks,

Tim

 

[Mickey Stevens]

Hi there -

it looks like Entourage 2004 has a bug and/or security issue with Junk Email
and downloading images that are embedded in Emails.

When an Email that has images embedded is being detected as being Junk Email
and goes into the 'Junk E-Mail' folder, a could of problems can arise from
that:

Scenario 1 (Bug):
1. Classify an Email that was detected as Junk Email and is sitting in the
'Junk E-mail' folder as not being junk. It is moved back into your Inbox
folder.
2. If you classified the Email as not being junk before downloading the
embedded pictures, you are now not able to download the images when the
Email is in your Inbox - the 'Download Pictures' link at the top of the
Email in the preview pane is missing.
3. To get the 'Download Pictures' link back, you must classify the Email as
Junk Email again. By doing so it gets moved back into the Junk E-mail folder
and the link is back at the top of the Email.

Yes, I've seen this on my machine as well. I hope that this is corrected in
a future version of Entourage for Mac.

Scenario 2 (Possible security issue):
1. If you have an Email that was detected as Junk Email, is sitting in the
'Junk E-mail' folder and has embedded images, download the embedded images
by clicking the 'Download Pictures' link at the top of the Email in the
preview pane. Then classify it as not being Junk and select "Classify all
messages sent from this doman as not being 'junk'". You would do this
typically if this is a regular newsletter you're receiving.
2. The Email is being moved back into your Inbox and the pictures are
displaying properly.
3. Now if you're getting another Email from the same domain, it goes right
into your Inbox and the images are automatically being downloaded. You don't
get the normal behavior of image placeholders being show and the 'Download
Pictures' link at the top of the Email.

I think that you can prevent those images from automatically downloading by
setting a preference. Go to Entourage > Preferences, and then, under
"General Preferences", click "Security". Uncheck the option to
"Automatically download pictures from my Address Book contacts", and click
OK.

I've seen this behavior with all versions of Entourage 2004, even with the
latest version 11.3.3.

It would be great if someone in the Mac BU at Microsoft could look into this
issue for an upcoming version.

Agreed! You can send this bug report to Microsoft for investigation using
the feedback tool. In Entourage X or 2004, go to Help > Send Feedback on
Entourage. Otherwise, click on this direct link to enter Mac Product
Feedback:
<http://www.microsoft.com/mac/default.aspx?pid=feedback>