Thunderbird - HTML mail dangerous?

My understanding is that HTML email poses a security threat to a recipient
receiving it. I've started using Thunderbird but have some questions about
how it handles HTML mail. HTML mail that I receive all has a yellow
background but I can see the original format by going to view->message
body->original HTML. When I view mail and it has a yellow background, is
the HTML being interpreted/displayed by Thunderbird at all?

Should I be concerned about HTML mail in Thunderbird or has Thunderbird
closed HTML mail security holes?

Thanks.

Re: Thunderbird - HTML mail dangerous?

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DN writes:

> My understanding is that HTML email poses a security threat to a recipient
> receiving it. I've started using Thunderbird but have some questions about
> how it handles HTML mail. HTML mail that I receive all has a yellow
> background but I can see the original format by going to view->message
> body->original HTML. When I view mail and it has a yellow background, is
> the HTML being interpreted/displayed by Thunderbird at all?
>
> Should I be concerned about HTML mail in Thunderbird or has Thunderbird
> closed HTML mail security holes?

There's nothing wrong with HTML itself. The only issues are with executing
Javascript, or displaying external image links. Thunderbird will not
execute Javascript. I do not recall if its default configuration displays
external image links.

All you need to verify is that external image display is turned off.



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