Mailinglist Archive: opensuse (5130 mails)

[Jim Flanagan <linuxjim@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Sandy Drobic wrote:
> Jim Flanagan wrote:
> > Sandy Drobic wrote:
> > > Jim Flanagan wrote:
> > > > Sandy Drobic wrote:
> > > > > Jim Flanagan wrote:
> > > > > > Ulf Rasch wrote:
> > > > > > > Jim Flanagan wrote:
> > > > > > > <snip>
> > > > > > >  
> > > > > > > > <linuxjim@xxxxxxxxxx>:
> > > > > > > > 24.238.237.18 failed after I sent the message.
> > > > > > > > Remote host said: 550 Error: improper use of 8-bit data in 
> > > > > > > > message body
> > > > > > > >     
> > > > > > > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > That should be the reason. Have a look at the settings of your MUA
> > > > > > > (email client).
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Ulf
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > >   
> > > > > > Hi Ulf,
> > > > > >
> > > > > > I don't understand what you mean here. I did notice that part you 
> > > > > > quoted, but I don't know what it means. What bearing would my 
> > > > > > email client have on a message being bounced by apparently my 
> > > > > > server? These are not messages I've sent.
> > > > >
> > > > > That would be typical for a Postfix/Cyrus setup where Cyrus would 
> > > > > reject the mail when it is not correctly encoded, let's say, a 
> > > > > subjectline with extended characters.
> > > > > Postfix has restrictions that will reject such mails.
> > > > >
> > > > > strict_8bitmime
> > > > > strict_8bitmime_body
> > > > >
> > > > > Check your mail log /var/log/mail for the error message and check 
> > > > > the output of "postconf -n" for these settings.
> > > > >
> > > > > Sandy
> > > > Thanks everyone for the pointers. Yes, the test message did not 
> > > > bounce, but two of the original OP messages did. The same thing 
> > > > happened on some of the spamassassin list mails as well with the 
> > > > same error message.
> > > >
> > > > postconf -n returns...
> > > > strict_8bitmime = yes
> > > > strict_rfc821_envelopes = no
> > > >
> > > > No mention of   strict_8bitmime_body   listed.
> > > >
> > > > I believe this is standard Suse postfix setup, I did not change 
> > > > this setting. I am using Cyrus IMAP, does this have any bearing on 
> > > > this matter?
> > >
> > > Could be. You need to find out exactly which application has 
> > > rejected the mail. Check your logs. Postfix logs to /var/log/mail as 
> > > default, Cyrus to /var/log/messages.
> > >
> > > Cyrus can also reject messages:
> > >
> > >  reject8bit: 0
> > >             If enabled, lmtpd rejects messages with 8-bit charac-
> > >             ters in the headers.  Otherwise, 8-bit characters are
> > >             changed to 'X'.   (A  proper  solution  to  non-ASCII
> > >             characters  in headers is offered by RFC 2047 and its
> > >             predecessors.)
> > >
> > > Do you use amavisd-new perhaps? That one could probably also reject 
> > > mails in such a way. Without the log message that will tell exactly 
> > > what application caused the rejection it is a bit difficult.
> > >
> > > > Will changing strict_8bitmime = no in /etc/postfix/main.cf (and 
> > > > postfix reload) likely fix this problem? Any repercussions with Cyrus?
> > >
> > > I recommend to set "reject8bit: no" in /etc/imapd.conf. Though that 
> > > still is no explanation for the rejection with the bad mail body 
> > > mime encoding.
> > > That would only resolve bad header lines.
> > >
> > > > Also, if you have time, what is the purpose of making this setting 
> > > > to yes? I take it that it prevents malformed email of some sort. 
> > > > But what is the drawback to not having this check set to strict? 
> > > > What are the known sloppy email clients (er, Outlook Express??!!).
> > >
> > > The sloppiest ones are probably web applications where sometimes 
> > > some parts of created mails are not correctly encoded.
> > OK, I've made no changes to my config files so far. Searching logs I 
> > found the following in /var/log/mail...
> >
> > ------------
> > Apr 15 15:20:51 cammee postfix/smtpd[27154]: connect from 
> > lists.suse.de[195.135.221.131]
> > Apr 15 15:20:51 cammee postfix/smtpd[27154]: A481F2FF14: 
> > client=lists.suse.de[195.135.221.131]
> > Apr 15 15:20:51 cammee postfix/cleanup[27161]: A481F2FF14: 
> > message-id=<E1FUrG2-0002Q6-Bt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> > Apr 15 15:20:51 cammee postfix/cleanup[27161]: A481F2FF14: reject: 
> > mime-error improper use of 8-bit data in   message body: ?In the last 
> > two years I have seen it go from, ?well let?s look at what from   
> > lists.suse.de[195.135.221.131]; 
>
> Yes, that's the one we needed to find. I just looked up the restriction:
>
> -------------------------------------------------------
> strict_8bitmime (default: no)
>
>     Enable both strict_7bit_headers and strict_8bitmime_body.
>
>     This feature should not be enabled on a general purpose mail 
> server, because it is likely to reject legitimate email.
>
>     This feature is available in Postfix 2.0 and later.
>
>
> strict_8bitmime_body (default: no)
>
>     Reject 8-bit message body text without 8-bit MIME content encoding 
> information. This blocks mail from poorly written applications.
> -------------------------------------------------------
>
> So, now we know, why the mail was rejected. I suggest to remove the 
> parameter from your setup.
>
> Sandy
OK Sandy, many many thanks for the good help. I've made that change to 
strict_8bitmime, and done nothing regarding srict_8bitmimie_body as it 
is not in the main.cf anyway. I guess I may get another ezmlm warning or 
two, from what happend 10 or so days ago, but that's not big deal, since 
this should allow current messages to pass thru. If I get any past this 
weekend I'll let you know, but I don't expect to.

Again, many thanks,

Jim F