Office 365 SMTP authentication failing, even with correct account information

Anonymous
2020-02-10T16:38:43+00:00

On my Wordpress site I've run into a problem in the last day or so, where emails simply fail to send. Before today it was running flawlessly for two months. The account information/password/username etc have not changed in that two months.

I'm using a Wordpress plugin called WP Mail SMTP to facilitate the sending of all outgoing emails. The error log I'm getting from the email test on that is as follows:

Versions:

WordPress: 5.3.2

WordPress MS: No

PHP: 7.3.14-5+0~20200202.52+debian9~1.gbpa71879

WP Mail SMTP: 1.8.1

Params:

Mailer: smtp

Constants: No

ErrorInfo: SMTP Error: Could not authenticate.

Host: smtp.office365.com

Port: 587

SMTPSecure: tls

SMTPAutoTLS: bool(true)

SMTPAuth: bool(true)

Server:

OpenSSL: OpenSSL 1.1.1d 10 Sep 2019

SMTP Debug:

2020-02-10 16:36:56 Connection: opening to smtp.office365.com:587, timeout=300, options=array ()

2020-02-10 16:36:56 Connection: opened

2020-02-10 16:36:56 SERVER -> CLIENT: 220 LNXP123CA0008.outlook.office365.com Microsoft ESMTP MAIL Service ready at Mon, 10 Feb 2020 16:36:55 +0000

2020-02-10 16:36:56 CLIENT -> SERVER: EHLO www.*****.com

2020-02-10 16:36:56 SERVER -> CLIENT: 250-LNXP123CA0008.outlook.office365.com Hello [***]250-SIZE 157286400250-PIPELINING250-DSN250-ENHANCEDSTATUSCODES250-STARTTLS250-8BITMIME250-BINARYMIME250-CHUNKING250 SMTPUTF8

2020-02-10 16:36:56 CLIENT -> SERVER: STARTTLS

2020-02-10 16:36:56 SERVER -> CLIENT: 220 2.0.0 SMTP server ready

2020-02-10 16:36:56 CLIENT -> SERVER: EHLO www.zestpromotional.com

2020-02-10 16:36:56 SERVER -> CLIENT: 250-LNXP123CA0008.outlook.office365.com Hello [***]250-SIZE 157286400250-PIPELINING250-DSN250-ENHANCEDSTATUSCODES250-AUTH LOGIN XOAUTH2250-8BITMIME250-BINARYMIME250-CHUNKING250 SMTPUTF8

2020-02-10 16:36:56 CLIENT -> SERVER: AUTH LOGIN

2020-02-10 16:36:56 SERVER -> CLIENT: 334 VXNlcm5hbWU6

2020-02-10 16:36:56 CLIENT -> SERVER: c2FsZXNAemVzdHByb21vdGlvbmFsLmNvbQ==

2020-02-10 16:36:56 SERVER -> CLIENT: 334 UGFzc3dvcmQ6

2020-02-10 16:36:56 CLIENT -> SERVER: QmFkMzM4MzA=

2020-02-10 16:37:02 SERVER -> CLIENT: 535 5.7.3 Authentication unsuccessful [LNXP123CA0008.GBRP123.PROD.OUTLOOK.COM]

2020-02-10 16:37:02 SMTP ERROR: Password command failed: 535 5.7.3 Authentication unsuccessful [LNXP123CA0008.GBRP123.PROD.OUTLOOK.COM]

SMTP Error: Could not authenticate.

2020-02-10 16:37:02 CLIENT -> SERVER: QUIT

2020-02-10 16:37:02 SERVER -> CLIENT: 221 2.0.0 Service closing transmission channel

2020-02-10 16:37:02 Connection: closed

SMTP Error: Could not authenticate.

Does anyone have any ideas at all? I'm completely at a loss here.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Subscription, account, billing | For home | Windows

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  2. Anonymous
    2020-02-10T18:23:27+00:00

    Hello Adam,

    Given this situation, I consider you may login Outlook Web App with impacted account to see if emails can be sent.

    If Outlook Web App works well, then check firewall settings, anti-virus or related apps on your server and network, make sure all Office 365 related traffics are allowed: Office 365 URLs and IP address ranges, for some SMTP relay issues are caused by network settings.

    You may also refer to this article for troubleshooting: Fix issues with SMTP client submission.

    Besides, is there any organization-wide changes made recently? If convenient, use a different Office 365 account to see how it goes.

    Best Regards,

    Anna

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  3. Anonymous
    2020-02-13T14:03:29+00:00

    Hello Adam,

    Do you have any related information to share with us?

    Thanks,

    Anna

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  4. Anonymous
    2020-05-08T23:52:37+00:00

    Hello Adam,

    Given this situation, I consider you may login Outlook Web App with impacted account to see if emails can be sent.

    If Outlook Web App works well, then check firewall settings, anti-virus or related apps on your server and network, make sure all Office 365 related traffics are allowed: Office 365 URLs and IP address ranges, for some SMTP relay issues are caused by network settings.

    You may also refer to this article for troubleshooting: Fix issues with SMTP client submission.

    Besides, is there any organization-wide changes made recently? If convenient, use a different Office 365 account to see how it goes.

    Best Regards,

    Anna

    Hello Anna,

    I'm having the exact same issue currently.

    I have an older account (from January 2020, which is working perfect).

    I just got a new account & domain today, and for that one I get exactly the same error as Adam.

    I checked with the hosting provider, and no blocks at their end - so this is very strange.

    How should I go about it?

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  5. Anonymous
    2020-05-13T17:25:14+00:00

    I bought an email with Godaddy last night, using Office 365, so that I could use it for SMTP on my Wordpress site.  Same problem as these others -- the SMTP will not authenticate:  

    SMTP ERROR: Password command failed: 535 5.7.3 Authentication unsuccessful [MN2PR04CA0007.namprd04.prod.outlook.com]

    I even changed passwords, to no avail.  Nothings works.  I think I need a refund.

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