ietf-822
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Re: a header authentication scheme

2004-10-20 03:43:47

The idea sounds good to me.

Laird Breyer writes:
For example, if the topmost Received: line (at M3) is

   Received: from 185129182.virtua.com.br (185129182.virtua.com.br
       [200.185.129.182]) by smtpin-3211.bay.webtv.net (WebTV_Postfix+sws)
       with SMTP id 7280B11DCC; Fri,  5 Mar 2004 19:00:48 -0800 (PST)

then a Processed: header of the form

   Processed: name="SpamAssassin"; location-ip="1.2.3.4";
       version="2.63"; function="spamcheck";
       auth-received="7280B11DCC"; result-tag="spam";

is guaranteed to have been added *after* the Received: line was inserted in the message, ie at or after M3. Such a Processed: line is unforgeable, unless the auth-received value can somehow be predicted with high probability.

Actually, the spammer only needs to try harder. If he can predict it with 1% accuracy, he only needs to deliver 150 spams to have 80% chance of passing the test. I've seen spammers try much more than 150 times.

But since the receiver can make predicting arbitrarily difficult, I think it's okay. SMTP receivers seem fairly eager make life difficult for spammers. Quelle surprise.

Arnt