FEATUREs for check_* in sendmail 8.9

Introduction

The section ANTI-SPAM CONFIGURATION CONTROL in cf/README from the sendmail 8.9 distribution explains all available features. The important new features are:

• Relaying is denied by default;
• Improved checking of sender address;
• Access database for various purposes;
• Header checks.
• Possible problems/shortcomings, new proposals

Access Map

sendmail 8.9 uses a general map which can be activated by
FEATURE(access_db)
that is used for several purposes:

reject:

to reject mail from domains and e-mail addresses (RHS: REJECT or a specific error message). If the RHS is DISCARD, the e-mail will be silently discarded. This isn't recommended. The map is also used in check_relay to control access to the system. The name and the IP address of the connecting system are compared against the map.

accept:

to accept mail even though it might be rejected by other checks within the same ruleset (RHS: OK)

relay:

to allow relaying through your server (RHS: RELAY). This implies that the mail is accepted.

Relaying

FEATUREs wrt relaying are:

1. FEATURE(relay_entire_domain) allow relaying for every system in class m, which may cause a problem if it is set incorrectly.
2. FEATURE(relay_hosts_only) allow relaying only for hosts with exact match in the access map or class R not for subdomains.
3. FEATURE(relay_based_on_MX) compare the option _ISMX_.
4. FEATURE(loose_relay_check) see a discussion about relaying.
5. FEATURE(relay_local_from) will allow relaying if the sender specifies a domain in the envelope sender MAIL FROM which is a local domain. This a not recommended as it will allow to abuse a mail server by simply forging a local sender address. For roaming users, another solution based on POP authentification should be realized.
6. FEATURE(promiscuous_relay) relay everything, don't activate this unless you absolutely have to do it.

Check Sender Information

1. has an unresolvable domain part. This can be disabled by
   FEATURE(accept_unresolvable_domains)
   (which is the opposite of the option _DNSVALID_. )
2. is not fully qualified. This can be turned off by
   FEATURE(accept_unqualified_senders)
   (compare _CHECK_FROM_; it's not the same, but a bit similar. )
3. matches an entry in the access map. There can be different entries:
   1. domain names, e.g.,
      spammer.domain REJECT
   2. full e-mail addresses, e.g.,
      spammer@domain REJECT
   3. local part of e-mail addresses, e.g.,
      spammer@ REJECT
   Instead of REJECT an explicit error message can be given:

   spammer.domain	"501 No e-mail from this domain."
   spammer@domain	"501 No e-mail from your address."
   spammer@		"501 Get a real address."
   

   or even DISCARD as explained before.

sendmail 8.9 can make use of the Realtime Blackhole List by selecting
FEATURE(rbl)
(compare _MAPS_RBL_.) The RBL lookup occurs in the check_relay ruleset after the access map has been consulted. However, there is a bug in 8.9.{0,1}, which can be fixed by a patch for cf/m4/proto.m4 or by using 8.9.2.

Check Recipient

badlocaluser		550 Mailbox disabled for this username
host.mydomain	550 That host does not accept mail
user@otherhost.mydomain	550 Mailbox disabled for this recipient

Some Hints about the Access Map

The default location for the access map is /etc/mail/access, which can be overridden by an argument like:
FEATURE(access_db,`btree -o /etc/access_db')

The access map can have

1. domain names,
2. e-mail addresses,
3. local parts of e-mail addresses,
4. IP addresses (complete or subnets),

FRIEND@SOME.DOMAIN	OK
SOME.DOMAIN		REJECT

The RHS of the access map can consist of

OK

accept e-mail even if other rules in the current ruleset would reject it.

RELAY

Allow domain to relay through the mail server. RELAY implies OK.

REJECT

reject the e-mail with a general error message.

DISCARD

silently discard the message completely.

XYZ some other text

where XYZ is an RFC 821 compliant error code and "some other text" is an error message.