ietf-822
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Re: Comments on Malformed Message BCP draft

2011-04-15 09:34:45

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