[ltp] broken mail server setup for linux-thinkpad mailing list

[Florian Reitmeir]

Hi,

On 10/07/2011 09:31 PM, Martin Steigerwald wrote:
> Am Donnerstag, 6. Oktober 2011 schrieb Florian Reitmeir:
>> Martin Steigerwald wrote:
>>> Today I found I didnīt get mails from this mailinglist since about a
>>> month. I investigated why:
>>> MX_MATCHES_NOT_HELO(DOMAIN)=2.062 CLIENT_NOT_MX/A_FROM_DOMAIN=5.75
>>
>> Your setup assumes, that HELO = MX record which is an common error, and
>> a bad default in policy-weightd, i suggest turning of all HELO checks
>> in policy-weightd because they are just wrong.
> Care to elaborate or give a link to read?
> 
> I will consider changing disabling HELO checks once I understand why they 
> are "just wrong".
> 
> A search on ecosia.org and Google did not give me any results that looked 
> obvious to me.

there is an RFC 5321 for smtp, http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc5321

------------ CUT ---------------
4.1.1.1.  Extended HELLO (EHLO) or HELLO (HELO)

   These commands are used to identify the SMTP client to the SMTP
   server.  The argument clause contains the fully-qualified domain name
   of the SMTP client, if one is available.  In situations in which the
   SMTP client system does not have a meaningful domain name (e.g., when
   its address is dynamically allocated and no reverse mapping record is
   available), the client SHOULD send an address literal (see
   Section 4.1.3).

   RFC 2821, and some earlier informal practices, encouraged following
   the literal by information that would help to identify the client
   system.  That convention was not widely supported, and many SMTP
   servers considered it an error.  In the interest of interoperability,
   it is probably wise for servers to be prepared for this string to
   occur, but SMTP clients SHOULD NOT send it.
------------ CUT ---------------

Now compare the default configuration with the RFC.

   @client_ip_eq_helo_score          = (1.5,       -1.25 );
is just wrong

   @helo_from_mx_eq_ip_score         = (1.5,       -3.1  );
not covered

   @helo_numeric_score               = (2.5,        0    );
is just wrong

.
.


Of course you can restrict your incoming mails anyway you want.

-- 
Florian Reitmeir
E-Mail: florian@reitmeir.org
Tel: +43 650 2661660