Re: [apps-discuss] Comments on Malformed Message BCP draft

Alessandro Vesely <vesely@tana.it> Fri, 15 April 2011 14:20 UTC

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Date: Fri, 15 Apr 2011 16:20:31 +0200
From: Alessandro Vesely <vesely@tana.it>
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Cc: apps-discuss <apps-discuss@ietf.org>
Subject: Re: [apps-discuss] Comments on Malformed Message BCP draft
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On 15/Apr/11 14:50, Keith Moore wrote:
> I'm strongly opposed to MTAs "fixing" malformed messages (other than
> submission servers fixing a small number of known problems caused by
> broken mail clients).

+1, standardizing fixes implies a standard status for malformed messages.

> If an MTA does anything at all when it thinks that a message is
> malformed, it should be to bounce it _exactly as it received it
> originally_.

Bouncing is not quite practical.  Rejecting is more viable, but it has
to be coordinated with any backup MX.

> MTAs trying to fix malformed messages, at best, mask problems further
> upstream that should be fixed.   At worst, they exacerbate existing
> problems and make such problems harder to diagnose.
> 
> Keith