If you haven’t read “MSN 7.5+ Authentication: The Patchening”, then I recommend you do so, as you’ll get some background knowledge on what the heck I’m talking about: https://wink.messengergeek.com/t/msn-7-5-authentication-the-patchening/4549/
Anyways, so as some of you know, I have plans for MSN 7.5 to utilize the actual RST service via proxy, now that I have more knowledge on how the heck it does that. But I forgot to address something that ties into what I’m doing: Tweener/Nexus authentication.
MSN Messenger versions 5.0-7.0 use it, so why not find out how that could utilize real accounts?
First, I’m a forgetful person, so sorry that I didn’t mention it in the first place. Second, it’s actually pretty simple. I briefly mentioned how in the thread that predates “The Patchening”, but let me explain it again so you don’t have to read the walls of text before and after it, also because I didn’t explain any other core things:
When MSN Messenger connects to m1.escargot.log1p.xyz/nexus-mock
, the server can set up a proxy to the real RST.srf at https://login.live.com/RST.srf
like the RST.srf on the Escargot server can possibly do, but this time, we can get away with using a template version of the SOAP request, since the reply won’t need any service-specific things. All we care about is retrieving the token.
When the RST reply is sent back to the server, it should check for any errors specified in the SOAP. If so, reply with the Tweener-equivalent error to the client. If not, then retrieve the token sent in the RST reply.
It’s not over though, because we also have to get the authentication cookies MSN needs for things like e-mail and other supplementary services. This isn’t that much of a daunting task, as there is documentation for that, too. It’s mainly for Skype authentication, but as it doesn’t require the verification of a Skype user’s credentials, it isn’t too hard to implement with other services, as well, aside from the aforementioned web scraping needed to be done.
So now, at this point, we have the user’s Passport token and their respective authentication cookies. Stuff them into the Tweener reply, and MSN should be happy and login as normal.
If it isn’t daunting to implement, why not implement it now?, you may be asking? It’s all simply in the name of fairness. MSN Messenger 5.0 - 7.0 users could use their real accounts, but 7.5+ wouldn’t? Doesn’t seem balanced, don’t you think?
Anyways, I’ll be checking what’s on my to-do list. Mostly upping my programming skills, I see.