That is not my position, and I don't know how you drew that conclusion from
those words.

I do take the position that DMARC PASS means "This name correctly
represents the stated domain", and NP=TRUE means "This name cannot
represent the stated domain because the domain owner never uses that
name".   I am willing to say that if NP=TRUE produces an accurate result, I
will block the message and I can see no reason why anyone else would do
otherwise.

DMARC FAIL is an ambiguous result, which was your point.  DMARC PASS is not
ambiguous.   NP=TRUE should be ambiguous if at all possible, otherwise it
adds no value.

But back to the actual topic:
- Do you believe the NP test can be useful?  If so, for what purpose?
- What is the optimal test to evaluate NP?  How did you reach that
conclusion?

Doug

On Fri, Dec 17, 2021 at 6:38 PM Tim Wicinski <[email protected]> wrote:

>
>
> On Fri, Dec 17, 2021 at 6:27 PM Douglas Foster <
> [email protected]> wrote:
>
>> The way I evaluate a design is to first look for logical consistency or
>> inconsistency.    If there is obvious inconsistency, then the design needs
>> to be re-evaluated to correct the problem.    Once a design appears to be
>> logically consistent, we do data analysis to validate our design.   The
>> criteria for DMARC PASS (the identity is authentic) and NP (the identity
>> cannot be authentic) should be aligned so that they produce results that
>> are not in direct conflict.   We seem to have an obvious design hole, with
>> an obvious solution, which is what I proposed.
>>
>>
> DMARC PASS != "this email is legit"
>
> You are looking for a specific test that an email can go through which
> will turn a crank and at the end of it says "Yes" or "no".
>
> The text in -04 version is pretty clear:
>
>    A DMARC pass indicates *only* that the RFC5322 
> <https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc5322>.From domain has been
>    authenticated for that message.  *Authentication does not carry an
>    explicit or implicit value assertion about that message or about the
>    Domain Owner. *
>
>
> You read "PASS" as "legit email" while I have always read it as "this 
> variable is true".
>
>
> What the vendors like Agari, Valimail, Proofpoint, et al, is to collect all 
> the variables (SPF, DKIM, DMARC, plus organization specific info) and allow 
> the
>
> organization to tweak as needed.
>
>
> You are looking to solve the problem of legitimate email. DMARC is not trying 
> to solve that.
>
>
> tim
>
>> As to examples, my data set is large enough to be informative but not
>> large enough to be determinative.   I see very little forwarded mail, so my
>> data set is not expected to answer your specific question.   I do see
>> legitimate messages using From domains that are not in DNS.  The existence
>> of legitimate non-DNS names, and the lack of a suitable compliance
>> mechanism for those names, is what got me concerned about this test
>> definition.    I have provided the group with examples, as has someone
>> else.   Yet, the test specification has not been modified to address that
>> concern.   How do you think that makes me feel?
>>
>> A year after raising my concerns, I am still trying to get a
>> collaborative discussion started about what the optimal test looks like.
>> In a collaborative discussion, those who are happy with the status quo
>> convince the skeptics to come on board, listen to their concerns,
>> acknowledge them, and do what they can to accommodate those concerns so
>> that consensus can be achieved.    I am willing to be convinced, but I am
>> skeptical and I am looking for some collaboration.
>>
>> Doug
>>
>> On Fri, Dec 17, 2021 at 11:00 AM Murray S. Kucherawy <[email protected]>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> On Thu, Dec 16, 2021 at 3:52 PM Douglas Foster <
>>> [email protected]> wrote:
>>>
>>>> We both know exactly what causes messages to lose credentials:
>>>> - A record that is only SMTP validated, which is then forwarded without
>>>> SMTP rewrite
>>>> - A message which is forwarded after modifications, such as the
>>>> ubiquitous "this message received from an external source".   Of course, it
>>>> could be a mailing list modification also.
>>>>
>>>
>>> Yes, I'm aware of this aspect of message authentication.  That wasn't my
>>> question.
>>>
>>> The point of an NP test was, in my understanding, to identify names that
>>>> were never valid in any circumstance, like 'junk.junk.ietf.com",
>>>> without any dependencies on message path.    Why would we want to create a
>>>> duplicate of the mailing list problem?
>>>>
>>>
>>> I understand the first sentence.  I do not see how the second follows.
>>>
>>> However, if MX/A/AAAA is really the right test for fraudulent
>>>> identifiers, then we need to open a CVE against all implementations of
>>>> RFC7489, because implementations based on that spec have been confidently
>>>> asserting honest identifiers without checking the MX/A/AAAA condition.
>>>>
>>>
>>> I don't follow this either.
>>>
>>> Why do I need to provide case studies?    Isn't the burden of proof on
>>>> the team that told us that MX/A/AAA was absolutely the best possible test
>>>> to use?
>>>>
>>>
>>> Because I'm trying to understand your concern.  Sure, it's reasonable
>>> for us to question our assumptions.  But if I don't understand how you get
>>> your premises, or how your premises lead to your conclusions, am I being
>>> unreasonable when I ask for clarification or concrete examples?
>>>
>>> -MSK
>>>
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>>
>
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