On 12/3/2015 5:01 PM, Thomas Nagel wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> we implemented a smtpd_helo_restrictions check with this configuration:
> 
> smtpd_helo_restrictions =
>   permit_mynetworks,
>   permit_sasl_authenticated,
> # check_client_access hash:/etc/postfix/
>   check_helo_access hash:/etc/postfix/check_helo_access
>   reject_invalid_helo_hostname
> # reject_non_fqdn_helo_hostname
> # reject_invalid_helo_hostname
>   reject_unknown_helo_hostname
> 
> when implemting this, we had some problems with some sending
> mailservers that used HELOs which hat invalid or unknown HELOs - but
> needed to be let through - so we populated a whitelist. Since then -
> once a month a customer complains about not getting a mail from an
> external sender - we look those HELOs up in the log file and put it
> in the whitelist and inform the postmaster of the sending server
> about the configuration failure.
> 
> Spam has reduced  a lot since this measure.
> 
> But: since we only have reject_unknown_helo_hostname - there we send
> only temp (450) errors back even for adresses that don't even exist.
> How can we cope with this?
> Is it okay to change the error code in unknown_hostname_reject_code
> from the default (450) to some permanent 5xx code? In the manual it
> says "Do not change this unless you have a complete understanding of
> RFC 2821." - so I am careful and ask for help.

If you're reasonably sure that rule isn't rejecting too much legit
mail, you can change the reject code to 550.

Note that reject_unknown_helo_hostname is known to reject otherwise
legit mail from misconfigured sites -- occasionally including big
well known providers -- and many admins find the false positive rate
uncomfortably high.  But you can make that decision for yourself.


> 
> There are some servers that try and keep sending mail to non
> existent adresses - I think it has something today with the temp
> error code they are getting.


Most likely.  You can add the "reject_unlisted_recipient" rule
somewhere above the reject_unknown_helo_hostname to reject
non-existent recipients earlier.
http://www.postfix.org/postconf.5.html#reject_unlisted_recipient



  -- Noel Jones

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