[Enigmail] Enigmail/p≡p: Current Release for Windows Is Faulty — Solution in Progress

[Hernâni Marques (p≡p foundation)]

Dear folks

Please take note.

URL:
https://pep.foundation/blog/enigmailpep-current-release-for-windows-is-faulty-solution-in-progress/index.html

The German magazine for computer technology ("Magazin fÃŒr
Computertechnik", c't magazine) has drawn our attention to the obviously
faulty update 1.0.23 of the p≡p distribution for Enigmail under Windows.
As a result, users of the p≡p distribution published a few days ago can
only reliably encrypt and decrypt e-mails in the classic Enigmail mode.
A solution for the Enigmail/p≡p mode will follow as soon as possible.

Only Enigmail/p≡p on Windows Is Affected

The update of the p≡p distribution in version 1.0.23 for Enigmail/p≡p,
available since September 26, causes such problems only under Windows
systems. On Linux and macOS systems the Enigmail/p≡p mode works as
expected. Also not affected are the products of p≡p security: p≡p fÃŒr
Android, iOS und Outlook (see also pep.software).

Known Symptoms

The following symptoms of the faulty update for Windows are known:

* Attached keys of other PGP and p≡p users are not imported.
* Messages to oneself or to existing contacts, where a key is actually
available, are not always encrypted, especially not to oneself —
despite correct color coding / Privacy Status.
* Existing encrypted messages are not decrypted.

Workaround

Until a new update for Enigmail/p≡p is available under Windows, the
classic Enigmail mode can be used to encrypt and decrypt messages. For
that, you have to change Thunderbird's Privacy settings to the mode
"S/MIME and Enigmail".

Solution in Progress

We are working hard on a new release of the p≡p distribution, which will
make Enigmail/p≡p usable again under Windows. We apologize for the
problems and we will make sure that this does not happen again in the
future. We would like to thank the c't magazine for the timely reports —
and the patience!



PS:
On the 1.0.23 version, pushed out by Patrick September 26, see:

https://pep.foundation/blog/enigmailpep-version-1023-of-pep-distribution-for-enigmail-208-and-higher-is-live/index.html

[Hernâni Marques (p≡p foundation)]

Dear folks

Post by Hernâni Marques (p≡p foundation)
Solution in Progress
We are working hard on a new release of the p≡p distribution, which will
make Enigmail/p≡p usable again under Windows. We apologize for the
problems and we will make sure that this does not happen again in the
future. We would like to thank the c't magazine for the timely reports —
and the patience!

An update on this:

New Enigmail users on Windows now again get version 1.0.8 of the p≡p
distribution since like 5pm CET (thanks, Patrick!), which is the initial
version of March 2018. It also works with recent software like TB60 and
gpg4win 3.1.3. Version 1.0.8 is far from optimal (has some bugs), but it
can be used. That got also confirmed by c't.

For notable differences between 1.0.8 and 1.0.23, check:

https://pep.foundation/blog/enigmailpep-version-1023-of-pep-distribution-for-enigmail-208-and-higher-is-live/index.html

You can check the fact that you have 1.0.8 by comparing the version
number in the version.json file here (example path):


C:\Users\User\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\468zy2v.default\pepmda\

The files in the pepmda\ directory should be from March and match those:

https://software.pep.foundation/enigmail/1-LATEST/previous/1.0.8/


If you want to force a downgrade from 1.0.23 (faulty Windows release,
available from September 26 until today) to 1.0.8, you can do the following:

* * *

1. Close Thunderbird.

2. Kill p≡p JSON Server Adapter, the p≡p service that interacts with
Enigmail:

killtask /f /im pep-json-server.exe

3. Delete the pepmda\ of your profile (see above).

4. Restart Thunderbird.

* * *

Additionally, a version 1.0.25 -- specifically for Windows -- is being
tested to replace the buggy 1.0.23 release.

https://software.pep.foundation/enigmail/1.0.0/testing/1.0.25/

If you want to help testing, just reach out: thanks!

[Hernâni Marques (p≡p foundation)]

Dear folks, once again

Post by Hernâni Marques (p≡p foundation)
* * *
Additionally, a version 1.0.25 -- specifically for Windows -- is being
tested to replace the buggy 1.0.23 release.
https://software.pep.foundation/enigmail/1.0.0/testing/1.0.25/
If you want to help testing, just reach out: thanks!

If you interested in some background, just check the blog entry (which
was updated three times now):

https://pep.foundation/blog/enigmailpep-current-release-for-windows-is-faulty-solution-in-progress/index.html

We're still working on a solution for Windows, which can be shipped to
Windows users (especially to the the few existing ones which got
equipped with 1.0.23 and have not yet reacted): the effective number
(MAX) of such users can be provided by Patrick anytime soon.

In any case, I think we need a much more general approach to this, and
thus I opened a bug (#909):

https://sourceforge.net/p/enigmail/bugs/909/

It should not be possible that such things happen, not in Enigmail/p≡p
and in no other mode Enigmail supports. Sending $whatever over SMTP
which doesn't match what was indicated to the user shouldn't be possible.

(If you read the updates on the blog entry: Indeed,
it could also have been that a temporary occur produced an
OUT_OF_MEMORY error from libetpan ... like it was now produced
constantly (?) in p≡p distribution 1.0.23 for Windows as libiconv was
not linked in.)