Google's Gmail flawed - the dot bug

Posted on Sunday, January 22 2006 @ 20:49 CET by Thomas De Maesschalck

Some Gmail users report they are receiving mail from other people. The reason for this appears to be because Google's Gmail has problems with dots within usernames. For the mail server joe.sixpack@gmail.com is exactly the same as joesixpack@gmail.com.

After hearing about Ryan's misfortunes, we decided to try it out ourselves. It works (or doesn't, depending on your point of view) exactly as described. This Gmail "feature" routed mail we sent to different variations of our test account to the same inbox. At least Gmail respects the period when it comes to logging into Gmail accounts. That means eric.bangeman can't log into ericbangeman's account, even though he'll be getting some of his e-mail.

More details about this issue can be found at Ars Technica. They also report Google has added a new feature to Gmail, a delete button.

About the Author

Thomas De Maesschalck

Thomas has been messing with computer since early childhood and firmly believes the Internet is the best thing since sliced bread. Enjoys playing with new tech, is fascinated by science, and passionate about financial markets. When not behind a computer, he can be found with running shoes on or lifting heavy weights in the weight room.

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Re: Google's Gmail flawed - the dot bug
by Anonymous on Thursday, March 31 2011 @ 13:27 CEST

Besides that, if you own 'joesixpack@gmail.com' you can log in with 'joesixpack@gmail.com', 'joesixpack@gmail.com' or 'joesixpack@gmail.com'. It's a strange bug that exists for a very long time. I took over somebodies account this way by accident, and could read all of his e-mail, docs calender, whatever.

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