As its name implies, IMAP allows you to **access your email messages wherever you are**; much of the time, it is accessed via the Internet. Basically, email **messages are stored on servers**. Whenever you check your inbox, your email client contacts the server to connect you with your messages. When you read an email message using IMAP, **you aren't actually downloading** or storing it on your computer; instead, you are **reading it off of the server**. As a result, it's possible to check your email from **several different devices** without missing a thing.
By default, the IMAP protocol works on two ports:
* **Port 143** - this is the default IMAP non-encrypted port
* **Port 993** - this is the port you need to use if you want to connect using IMAP securely
```text
PORT STATE SERVICE REASON
143/tcp open imap syn-ack
```
## Banner grabbing
```bash
nc -nv <IP> 143
openssl s_client -connect <IP>:993 -quiet
```
### NTLM Auth - Information disclosure
If the server supports NTLM auth \(Windows\) you can obtain sensitive info \(versions\):
```text
root@kali: telnet example.com 143
* OK The Microsoft Exchange IMAP4 service is ready.