IMAP Response Codes

[RFC Home] [TEXT|PDF|HTML] [Tracker] [IPR] [Errata] [Info page]

PROPOSED STANDARD
Errata Exist

Network Working Group                                     A. Gulbrandsen
Request for Comments: 5530                        Oryx Mail Systems GmbH
Category: Standards Track                                       May 2009


                          <span class="h1">IMAP Response Codes</span>

Status of This Memo

   This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the
   Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
   improvements.  Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet
   Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state
   and status of this protocol.  Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2009 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors.  All rights reserved.

   This document is subject to <a href="https://www.rfc-editor.org/bcp/bcp78">BCP 78</a> and the IETF Trust's Legal
   Provisions Relating to IETF Documents in effect on the date of
   publication of this document (<a href="http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info">http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info</a>).
   Please review these documents carefully, as they describe your rights
   and restrictions with respect to this document.

Abstract

   IMAP responses consist of a response type (OK, NO, BAD), an optional
   machine-readable response code, and a human-readable text.

   This document collects and documents a variety of machine-readable
   response codes, for better interoperation and error reporting.


















<span class="grey">Gulbrandsen                 Standards Track                     [Page 1]</span>

---

<span id="page-2" ></span>
<span class="grey"><a href="./rfc5530">RFC 5530</a>                  IMAP Response Codes                   May 2009</span>


<span class="h2"><a class="selflink" id="section-1" href="#section-1">1</a>.  Introduction</span>

   <a href="./rfc3501#section-7.1">Section 7.1 of [RFC3501]</a> defines a number of response codes that can
   help tell an IMAP client why a command failed.  However, experience
   has shown that more codes are useful.  For example, it is useful for
   a client to know that an authentication attempt failed because of a
   server problem as opposed to a password problem.

   Currently, many IMAP servers use English-language, human-readable
   text to describe these errors, and a few IMAP clients attempt to
   translate this text into the user's language.

   This document names a variety of errors as response codes.  It is
   based on errors that have been checked and reported on in some IMAP
   server implementations, and on the needs of some IMAP clients.

   This document doesn't require any servers to test for these errors or
   any clients to test for these names.  It only names errors for better
   reporting and handling.

<span class="h2"><a class="selflink" id="section-2" href="#section-2">2</a>.  Conventions Used in This Document</span>

   Formal syntax is defined by [<a href="./rfc5234" title=""Augmented BNF for Syntax Specifications: ABNF"">RFC5234</a>] as modified by [<a href="./rfc3501" title=""INTERNET MESSAGE ACCESS PROTOCOL - VERSION 4rev1"">RFC3501</a>].

   Example lines prefaced by "C:" are sent by the client and ones
   prefaced by "S:" by the server.  "[...]" means elision.

<span class="h2"><a class="selflink" id="section-3" href="#section-3">3</a>.  Response Codes</span>

   This section defines all the new response codes.  Each definition is
   followed by one or more examples.

   UNAVAILABLE
         Temporary failure because a subsystem is down.  For example, an
         IMAP server that uses a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol
         (LDAP) or Radius server for authentication might use this
         response code when the LDAP/Radius server is down.

         C: a LOGIN "fred" "foo"
         S: a NO [UNAVAILABLE] User's backend down for maintenance

   AUTHENTICATIONFAILED
         Authentication failed for some reason on which the server is
         unwilling to elaborate.  Typically, this includes "unknown
         user" and "bad password".






<span class="grey">Gulbrandsen                 Standards Track                     [Page 2]</span>

---

<span id="page-3" ></span>
<span class="grey"><a href="./rfc5530">RFC 5530</a>                  IMAP Response Codes                   May 2009</span>


         This is the same as not sending any response code, except that
         when a client sees AUTHENTICATIONFAILED, it knows that the
         problem wasn't, e.g., UNAVAILABLE, so there's no point in
         trying the same login/password again later.

         C: b LOGIN "fred" "foo"
         S: b NO [AUTHENTICATIONFAILED] Authentication failed

   AUTHORIZATIONFAILED
         Authentication succeeded in using the authentication identity,
         but the server cannot or will not allow the authentication
         identity to act as the requested authorization identity.  This
         is only applicable when the authentication and authorization
         identities are different.

         C: c1 AUTHENTICATE PLAIN
         [...]
         S: c1 NO [AUTHORIZATIONFAILED] No such authorization-ID

         C: c2 AUTHENTICATE PLAIN
         [...]
         S: c2 NO [AUTHORIZATIONFAILED] Authenticator is not an admin


   EXPIRED
         Either authentication succeeded or the server no longer had the
         necessary data; either way, access is no longer permitted using
         that passphrase.  The client or user should get a new
         passphrase.

         C: d login "fred" "foo"
         S: d NO [EXPIRED] That password isn't valid any more

   PRIVACYREQUIRED
         The operation is not permitted due to a lack of privacy.  If
         Transport Layer Security (TLS) is not in use, the client could
         try STARTTLS (see <a href="./rfc3501#section-6.2.1">Section 6.2.1 of [RFC3501]</a>) and then repeat
         the operation.

         C: d login "fred" "foo"
         S: d NO [PRIVACYREQUIRED] Connection offers no privacy

         C: d select inbox
         S: d NO [PRIVACYREQUIRED] Connection offers no privacy







<span class="grey">Gulbrandsen                 Standards Track                     [Page 3]</span>

---

<span id="page-4" ></span>
<span class="grey"><a href="./rfc5530">RFC 5530</a>                  IMAP Response Codes                   May 2009</span>


   CONTACTADMIN
         The user should contact the system administrator or support
         desk.

         C: e login "fred" "foo"
         S: e OK [CONTACTADMIN]

   NOPERM
         The access control system (e.g., Access Control List (ACL), see
         [<a href="./rfc4314" title=""IMAP4 Access Control List (ACL) Extension"">RFC4314</a>]) does not permit this user to carry out an operation,
         such as selecting or creating a mailbox.

         C: f select "/archive/projects/experiment-iv"
         S: f NO [NOPERM] Access denied

   INUSE
         An operation has not been carried out because it involves
         sawing off a branch someone else is sitting on.  Someone else
         may be holding an exclusive lock needed for this operation, or
         the operation may involve deleting a resource someone else is
         using, typically a mailbox.

         The operation may succeed if the client tries again later.

         C: g delete "/archive/projects/experiment-iv"
         S: g NO [INUSE] Mailbox in use

   EXPUNGEISSUED
         Someone else has issued an EXPUNGE for the same mailbox.  The
         client may want to issue NOOP soon.  [<a href="./rfc2180" title=""IMAP4 Multi-Accessed Mailbox Practice"">RFC2180</a>] discusses this
         subject in depth.

         C: h search from [email protected]
         S: * SEARCH 1 2 3 5 8 13 21 42
         S: h OK [EXPUNGEISSUED] Search completed

   CORRUPTION
         The server discovered that some relevant data (e.g., the
         mailbox) are corrupt.  This response code does not include any
         information about what's corrupt, but the server can write that
         to its logfiles.

         C: i select "/archive/projects/experiment-iv"
         S: i NO [CORRUPTION] Cannot open mailbox







<span class="grey">Gulbrandsen                 Standards Track                     [Page 4]</span>

---

<span id="page-5" ></span>
<span class="grey"><a href="./rfc5530">RFC 5530</a>                  IMAP Response Codes                   May 2009</span>


   SERVERBUG
         The server encountered a bug in itself or violated one of its
         own invariants.

         C: j select "/archive/projects/experiment-iv"
         S: j NO [SERVERBUG] This should not happen

   CLIENTBUG
         The server has detected a client bug.  This can accompany all
         of OK, NO, and BAD, depending on what the client bug is.

         C: k1 select "/archive/projects/experiment-iv"
         [...]
         S: k1 OK [READ-ONLY] Done
         C: k2 status "/archive/projects/experiment-iv" (messages)
         [...]
         S: k2 OK [CLIENTBUG] Done

   CANNOT
         The operation violates some invariant of the server and can
         never succeed.

         C: l create "///////"
         S: l NO [CANNOT] Adjacent slashes are not supported

   LIMIT
         The operation ran up against an implementation limit of some
         kind, such as the number of flags on a single message or the
         number of flags used in a mailbox.

         C: m STORE 42 FLAGS f1 f2 f3 f4 f5 ... f250
         S: m NO [LIMIT] At most 32 flags in one mailbox supported

   OVERQUOTA
         The user would be over quota after the operation.  (The user
         may or may not be over quota already.)

         Note that if the server sends OVERQUOTA but doesn't support the
         IMAP QUOTA extension defined by [<a href="./rfc2087" title=""IMAP4 QUOTA extension"">RFC2087</a>], then there is a
         quota, but the client cannot find out what the quota is.

         C: n1 uid copy 1:* oldmail
         S: n1 NO [OVERQUOTA] Sorry

         C: n2 uid copy 1:* oldmail
         S: n2 OK [OVERQUOTA] You are now over your soft quota





<span class="grey">Gulbrandsen                 Standards Track                     [Page 5]</span>

---

<span id="page-6" ></span>
<span class="grey"><a href="./rfc5530">RFC 5530</a>                  IMAP Response Codes                   May 2009</span>


   ALREADYEXISTS
         The operation attempts to create something that already exists,
         such as when the CREATE or RENAME directories attempt to create
         a mailbox and there is already one of that name.

         C: o RENAME this that
         S: o NO [ALREADYEXISTS] Mailbox "that" already exists

   NONEXISTENT
         The operation attempts to delete something that does not exist.
         Similar to ALREADYEXISTS.

         C: p RENAME this that
         S: p NO [NONEXISTENT] No such mailbox

<span class="h2"><a class="selflink" id="section-4" href="#section-4">4</a>.  Formal Syntax</span>

   The following syntax specification uses the Augmented Backus-Naur
   Form (ABNF) notation as specified in [<a href="./rfc5234" title=""Augmented BNF for Syntax Specifications: ABNF"">RFC5234</a>].  [<a href="./rfc3501" title=""INTERNET MESSAGE ACCESS PROTOCOL - VERSION 4rev1"">RFC3501</a>] defines
   the non-terminal "resp-text-code".

   Except as noted otherwise, all alphabetic characters are case-
   insensitive.  The use of upper or lowercase characters to define
   token strings is for editorial clarity only.

        resp-text-code =/ "UNAVAILABLE" / "AUTHENTICATIONFAILED" /
                         "AUTHORIZATIONFAILED" / "EXPIRED" /
                         "PRIVACYREQUIRED" / "CONTACTADMIN" / "NOPERM" /
                         "INUSE" / "EXPUNGEISSUED" / "CORRUPTION" /
                         "SERVERBUG" / "CLIENTBUG" / "CANNOT" /
                         "LIMIT" / "OVERQUOTA" / "ALREADYEXISTS" /
                         "NONEXISTENT"

<span class="h2"><a class="selflink" id="section-5" href="#section-5">5</a>.  Security Considerations</span>

   Revealing information about a passphrase to unauthenticated IMAP
   clients causes bad karma.

   Response codes are easier to parse than human-readable text.  This
   can amplify the consequences of an information leak.  For example,
   selecting a mailbox can fail because the mailbox doesn't exist,
   because the user doesn't have the "l" right (right to know the
   mailbox exists) or "r" right (right to read the mailbox).  If the
   server sent different responses in the first two cases in the past,
   only malevolent clients would discover it.  With response codes it's
   possible, perhaps probable, that benevolent clients will forward the





<span class="grey">Gulbrandsen                 Standards Track                     [Page 6]</span>

---

<span id="page-7" ></span>
<span class="grey"><a href="./rfc5530">RFC 5530</a>                  IMAP Response Codes                   May 2009</span>


   leaked information to the user.  Server authors are encouraged to be
   particularly careful with the NOPERM and authentication-related
   responses.

<span class="h2"><a class="selflink" id="section-6" href="#section-6">6</a>.  IANA Considerations</span>

   The IANA has created the IMAP Response Codes registry.  The registry
   has been populated with the following codes:

      NEWNAME              <a href="./rfc2060">RFC 2060</a> (obsolete)
      REFERRAL             <a href="./rfc2221">RFC 2221</a>
      ALERT                <a href="./rfc3501">RFC 3501</a>
      BADCHARSET           <a href="./rfc3501">RFC 3501</a>
      PARSE                <a href="./rfc3501">RFC 3501</a>
      PERMANENTFLAGS       <a href="./rfc3501">RFC 3501</a>
      READ-ONLY            <a href="./rfc3501">RFC 3501</a>
      READ-WRITE           <a href="./rfc3501">RFC 3501</a>
      TRYCREATE            <a href="./rfc3501">RFC 3501</a>
      UIDNEXT              <a href="./rfc3501">RFC 3501</a>
      UIDVALIDITY          <a href="./rfc3501">RFC 3501</a>
      UNSEEN               <a href="./rfc3501">RFC 3501</a>
      UNKNOWN-CTE          <a href="./rfc3516">RFC 3516</a>
      UIDNOTSTICKY         <a href="./rfc4315">RFC 4315</a>
      APPENDUID            <a href="./rfc4315">RFC 4315</a>
      COPYUID              <a href="./rfc4315">RFC 4315</a>
      URLMECH              <a href="./rfc4467">RFC 4467</a>
      TOOBIG               <a href="./rfc4469">RFC 4469</a>
      BADURL               <a href="./rfc4469">RFC 4469</a>
      HIGHESTMODSEQ        <a href="./rfc4551">RFC 4551</a>
      NOMODSEQ             <a href="./rfc4551">RFC 4551</a>
      MODIFIED             <a href="./rfc4551">RFC 4551</a>
      COMPRESSIONACTIVE    <a href="./rfc4978">RFC 4978</a>
      CLOSED               <a href="./rfc5162">RFC 5162</a>
      NOTSAVED             <a href="./rfc5182">RFC 5182</a>
      BADCOMPARATOR        <a href="./rfc5255">RFC 5255</a>
      ANNOTATE             <a href="./rfc5257">RFC 5257</a>
      ANNOTATIONS          <a href="./rfc5257">RFC 5257</a>
      TEMPFAIL             <a href="./rfc5259">RFC 5259</a>
      MAXCONVERTMESSAGES   <a href="./rfc5259">RFC 5259</a>
      MAXCONVERTPARTS      <a href="./rfc5259">RFC 5259</a>
      NOUPDATE             <a href="./rfc5267">RFC 5267</a>
      METADATA             <a href="./rfc5464">RFC 5464</a>
      NOTIFICATIONOVERFLOW <a href="./rfc5465">RFC 5465</a>
      BADEVENT             <a href="./rfc5465">RFC 5465</a>
      UNDEFINED-FILTER     <a href="./rfc5466">RFC 5466</a>
      UNAVAILABLE          <a href="./rfc5530">RFC 5530</a>
      AUTHENTICATIONFAILED <a href="./rfc5530">RFC 5530</a>
      AUTHORIZATIONFAILED  <a href="./rfc5530">RFC 5530</a>



<span class="grey">Gulbrandsen                 Standards Track                     [Page 7]</span>

---

<span id="page-8" ></span>
<span class="grey"><a href="./rfc5530">RFC 5530</a>                  IMAP Response Codes                   May 2009</span>


      EXPIRED              <a href="./rfc5530">RFC 5530</a>
      PRIVACYREQUIRED      <a href="./rfc5530">RFC 5530</a>
      CONTACTADMIN         <a href="./rfc5530">RFC 5530</a>
      NOPERM               <a href="./rfc5530">RFC 5530</a>
      INUSE                <a href="./rfc5530">RFC 5530</a>
      EXPUNGEISSUED        <a href="./rfc5530">RFC 5530</a>
      CORRUPTION           <a href="./rfc5530">RFC 5530</a>
      SERVERBUG            <a href="./rfc5530">RFC 5530</a>
      CLIENTBUG            <a href="./rfc5530">RFC 5530</a>
      CANNOT               <a href="./rfc5530">RFC 5530</a>
      LIMIT                <a href="./rfc5530">RFC 5530</a>
      OVERQUOTA            <a href="./rfc5530">RFC 5530</a>
      ALREADYEXISTS        <a href="./rfc5530">RFC 5530</a>
      NONEXISTENT          <a href="./rfc5530">RFC 5530</a>

   The new registry can be extended by sending a registration request to
   IANA.  IANA will forward this request to a Designated Expert,
   appointed by the responsible IESG Area Director, CCing it to the IMAP
   Extensions mailing list at <ietf-imapext@imc.org> (or a successor
   designated by the Area Director).  After either allowing 30 days for
   community input on the IMAP Extensions mailing list or a successful
   IETF Last Call, the expert will determine the appropriateness of the
   registration request and either approve or disapprove the request by
   sending a notice of the decision to the requestor, CCing the IMAP
   Extensions mailing list and IANA.  A denial notice must be justified
   by an explanation, and, in cases where it is possible, concrete
   suggestions on how the request can be modified so as to become
   acceptable should be provided.

   For each response code, the registry contains a list of relevant RFCs
   that describe (or extend) the response code and an optional response
   code status description, such as "obsolete" or "reserved to prevent
   collision with deployed software".  (Note that in the latter case,
   the RFC number can be missing.)  Presence of the response code status
   description means that the corresponding response code is NOT
   RECOMMENDED for widespread use.

   The intention is that any future allocation will be accompanied by a
   published RFC (including direct submissions to the RFC Editor).  But
   in order to allow for the allocation of values prior to the RFC being
   approved for publication, the Designated Expert can approve
   allocations once it seems clear that an RFC will be published, for
   example, before requesting IETF LC for the document.

   The Designated Expert can also approve registrations for response
   codes used in deployed software when no RFC exists.  Such
   registrations must be marked as "reserved to prevent collision with
   deployed software".



<span class="grey">Gulbrandsen                 Standards Track                     [Page 8]</span>

---

<span id="page-9" ></span>
<span class="grey"><a href="./rfc5530">RFC 5530</a>                  IMAP Response Codes                   May 2009</span>


   Response code registrations may not be deleted; response codes that
   are no longer believed appropriate for use (for example, if there is
   a problem with the syntax of said response code or if the
   specification describing it was moved to Historic) should be marked
   "obsolete" in the registry, clearly marking the lists published by
   IANA.

<span class="h2"><a class="selflink" id="section-7" href="#section-7">7</a>.  Acknowledgements</span>

   Peter Coates, Mark Crispin, Philip Guenther, Alexey Melnikov, Ken
   Murchison, Chris Newman, Timo Sirainen, Philip Van Hoof, Dale
   Wiggins, and Sarah Wilkin helped with this document.

<span class="h2"><a class="selflink" id="section-8" href="#section-8">8</a>.  References</span>

<span class="h3"><a class="selflink" id="section-8.1" href="#section-8.1">8.1</a>.  Normative References</span>

   [<a id="ref-RFC3501">RFC3501</a>]  Crispin, M., "INTERNET MESSAGE ACCESS PROTOCOL - VERSION
              4rev1", <a href="./rfc3501">RFC 3501</a>, March 2003.

   [<a id="ref-RFC5234">RFC5234</a>]  Crocker, D., Ed., and P. Overell, "Augmented BNF for
              Syntax Specifications: ABNF", STD 68, <a href="./rfc5234">RFC 5234</a>, January
              2008.

<span class="h2"><a class="selflink" id="section-9" href="#section-9">9</a>.  Informative References</span>

   [<a id="ref-RFC2087">RFC2087</a>]  Myers, J., "IMAP4 QUOTA extension", <a href="./rfc2087">RFC 2087</a>, January
              1997.

   [<a id="ref-RFC2180">RFC2180</a>]  Gahrns, M., "IMAP4 Multi-Accessed Mailbox Practice", <a href="./rfc2180">RFC</a>
              <a href="./rfc2180">2180</a>, July 1997.

   [<a id="ref-RFC4314">RFC4314</a>]  Melnikov, A., "IMAP4 Access Control List (ACL) Extension",
              <a href="./rfc4314">RFC 4314</a>, December 2005.

Author's Address

   Arnt Gulbrandsen
   Oryx Mail Systems GmbH
   Schweppermannstr. 8
   D-81671 Muenchen
   Germany

   Fax: +49 89 4502 9758
   EMail: [email protected]






Gulbrandsen                 Standards Track                     [Page 9]