On 8/5/2013 12:54 PM, Ronald F. Guilmette wrote:
> In message <[email protected]>, 
> Noel Jones <[email protected]> wrote:
> 
>> I use a pcre table to reject any HELO that starts with a bracket or
>> looks like an IP. Legit hosts that use this form are very rare here
>> -- maybe one every couple years.
>> ...
>> There is  no built-in postfix restriction to compare the HELO to the
>> client hostname, and I would question the value of such a feature.
> 
> Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think you just made the case for
> the value of such a feature.

No. Here, near-zero legit clients use bracketed HELO. Looks as if
I've whitelisted 2 clients in the last ~5 years (I see one of them
has fixed their HELO sometime since then).  That's close enough to
zero for me.

My solution is to reject everyone that has a bracketed IP in the
HELO, using a simple check_helo_access pcre map.  I don't care if a
spambot is RFC compliant, I still don't want their mail.

I see zero value in testing to see if the HELO IP is forged, since
using any IP seems to be a very strong spambot indicator.

I know my spam is not your spam, so maybe you see something
different. Provide some evidence if you think this is useful.

To make a case that any new feature is needed, it must be of
widespread benefit, and provide something that cannot (easily) be
done using existing tools. Including sample code and documentation
helps.


I will note that I'm referring to random internet clients and not
authorized SMTP AUTH or mynetworks clients. Desktop mail clients
send all manner of cruft as their HELO, and doing *any* kind of HELO
tests on authorized clients is foolish.


>> Do you see
>> significant numbers of legit hosts using a bracketed IP HELO?
> 
> None so far.

The defense rests.


> 
> 
> Regards,
> rfg
> 



  -- Noel Jones

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