Should I confirm the security exception preventing sending emails? (I get warning and error messages when trying to send email)
When attempting to send emails from several of my email addresses via Thunderbird a warning message displays: “You are about to override how Thunderbird identifies this site. Legitimate banks, stores, and other public sites will not ask you to do this. Location: smtp.astound.net:587 Get Certificate [a Button] This site attempts to identify itself with invalid information. View [a ButtonAdd] Wrong Site The certificate belongs to a different site, which could mean that someone is trying to impersonate this site. [checkbox] Permanently store this exception. Confirm Security Exception [Button] Cancel [Button]”
Behind that message another error message displays: “Sending of the message failed. Unable to communicate securely with peer: requested domain name does not match the server’s certificate. The configuration related to smtp.astound.net must be corrected.”
My main email xxx@astound.net works fine. However several other email addresses xxx1@astound.net, xxx2@astound.net trigger those messages when attempting to send from those addresses. I can send OK from web mail, but that error occurs when attempting to send via Thunderbird. When I set up all of those email addresses earlier this year they all sent fine from Thunderbird. As recently as September 5th, 2023 I have successfully sent from those email addresses. It looks like a new version of Thunderbird was deployed a week or two ago based on seeing some differences in the interface and other behavior. I have been using eset antivirus for years. I recently loaded Malwarebytes on this system. From certificate which displays when clicking on view: Subject name is mail.astound.net Issuer is GoDaddy.com, Inc. Validity NOT BEFORE MON, 21 AUG 2023 19:01:06 GMT NOT AFTER SUN, 15 SEP 2024 13:31:42 GMT
Questions:
1. Should I accept the security exceptions? (I am reluctant to do so without understanding the reason it is warning me.)
2. Any ideas of what is triggering these messages and stopping me from sending emails from those addresses because an issue relating to the server’s certificate is detected?
3. Why would this be happening for all of my astound email addresses except for the main one that I use?
(the one difference I see in the account settings is that the smtp server for the main email which sends fine is mail.astound.net, whereas the smtp server name for the others is smtp.astound.net The port is the same for all, 587.)
All Replies (3)
Still haven't figured out why can't send email with Thunderbird and if I should override that warning message without understanding why it is displaying.
I got this to start working for the email addresses that were showing that error message whenever I unsuccessfully tried to send an email from those addresses by doing this: I changed the smtp server settings from smtp.astound.net to mail.astound.net. That looks like it solved the problem.
However it is not clear to me why that previous setting worked for many months until recently. I still have the test emails for all of those addresses which were successfully sent in February when setting up those addresses. For at least one of those addresses I could still send successfully as recently as September. So I don't know if there was a change in Thunderbird or if it was some other reason that caused those addresses to not send. Maybe it would have sent if I overrode the warning message but I was hesitant to do that without understanding the reason it was displaying.
So all seems to be working again now. If anyone has any insight about the reasons why it wasn't working until making those changes today in the account settings for the smtp server that would be informative.
You have chosen to communicate with the mail server in an encrypted mode. The certificate offered by the server when you connect is for a different server than the one you are attempting to connect to, so the computer is asking the human to make a decision as to if smtp.astound.net is the same as mail.astound.net. or if it is ok to use that certificate at all as the names are not matched.
I would guess you either previously allowed and exception that has changed, or the mail provider changed the name of the server you should use and the name on the certificate for that server. This is the most probable event. Fundamentally it has nothing to do with Thunderbird at all. Despite Thunderbird failing to get mail because you did not make a decision. The server names and the details on the certificates issued are all determined by the server operators, not Thunderbird.