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Re: [Asrg] MXs Used As Authentication - Why RMX?



On Mon, Aug 25, 2003 at 09:13:27AM +0100, Sabahattin Gucukoglu wrote
> Hi peeps,
> 
> I've tried hard to work out a requirement for an additional DNS RR (RMX - 
> Danisch Draft) for authentication, but can't understand why MXs alone 
> can't be used.  I must be missing something somewhere.  Why can't you just 
> resolve the given envelope sender domain, check all of the MXs hostnames 
> and see if any of them matches your connecting machine's IP after 
> resolution to addresses?  The hostname could come either from the SMTP 
> client greeting (helo/ehlo) or the sender domain, and MX resolution could 
> be recursive (including checks to ensure no infinite recursion).  Now, so 
> long as all possible output relays for a domain are an MX, there's no 
> problem, right? (Or is this not what happens in the real-world?)

  Real world example... me.  I got my own domain (waltdnes.org) while
changing ISPs.  When I realised all the lists I'd have to unsubscribe
from (old address) and resubscribe to (new address) plus all the people
I'd have to notify, I decided to make sure this would be the last time.
The only real guarantee of a "lifetime address" is one's own personal
domain.  So here's my situation...

  - I live in Toronto, Ontario
  - my "connectivity ISP" is IStop.com.
  - My email is generally sent from IStop.com's MTA.
  - IStop is owned by Ralph Doncaster; actually it's a subsidiary of
    DCI (Doncaster Consulting Inc)
  - Here's a "dig" on istop.com

; <<>> DiG 9.2.1 <<>> @dci.doncaster.on.ca istop.com any
;; global options:  printcmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 14615
;; flags: qr aa rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 5, AUTHORITY: 2, ADDITIONAL: 3

;; QUESTION SECTION:
;istop.com.                     IN      ANY

;; ANSWER SECTION:
istop.com.              86400   IN      NS      dci.doncaster.on.ca.
istop.com.              86400   IN      NS      ns.istop.com.
istop.com.              86400   IN      A       66.11.168.194
istop.com.              86400   IN      SOA     ns.doncaster.on.ca.  root.doncaster.on.ca. 2003082201 14400 720 604800 86400
istop.com.              86400   IN      MX      10 mail.istop.com.

;; AUTHORITY SECTION:
istop.com.              86400   IN      NS      dci.doncaster.on.ca.
istop.com.              86400   IN      NS      ns.istop.com.

;; ADDITIONAL SECTION:
dci.doncaster.on.ca.    864     IN      A       66.11.168.194
ns.istop.com.           86400   IN      A       66.11.168.199
mail.istop.com.         86400   IN      A       66.11.168.199

  - I usually send my email via smtp.istop.com, but that's not the
    primary name of that IP address

[waltdnes@m450 waltdnes]$ host smtp.istop.com
smtp.istop.com has address 66.11.168.194

[waltdnes@m450 waltdnes]$ host 66.11.168.194
194.168.11.66.in-addr.arpa domain name pointer dci.doncaster.on.ca.

  - Here's sample headers that the list sees coming from me...

Received: from dci.doncaster.on.ca ([66.11.168.194] helo=smtp.istop.com)
        by ietf-mx with esmtp (Exim 4.12)
        id 19ordy-0002mx-00
        for asrg@ietf.org; Mon, 18 Aug 2003 17:34:26 -0400
Received: from waltdnes.org (ip123-165.tor.istop.com [66.11.165.123])
        by smtp.istop.com (Postfix) with SMTP id D473A36974
        for <asrg@ietf.org>; Mon, 18 Aug 2003 17:34:20 -0400 (EDT)
Received: by waltdnes.org (sSMTP sendmail emulation); Mon, 18 Aug 2003 17:34:19 -0400

  The "fun" doesn't end here.  My personal domain is registered via
DomainDirect.com.  The default MX is in the waltdnes.org domain, but
it's just an alias for a cp.net (Critical Path) MTA, which then
re-directs to the ISP of my choosing.  I'm allowed to edit my zone file
(everything except SOA).  When South Korea started pounding on me with
multiple Korean-language spams per day, I got annoyed enough to pay for
another account that allows me to personally control DNSbls, etc, and
reject during the SMTP transaction (just after RCPT:).  Clss.net allows
me to point my MX record at them.  It has to be done that way for DNSbls
to work.  So here's the data on my domain...

; <<>> DiG 9.2.1 <<>> @ns1.domaindirect.com waltdnes.org any
;; global options:  printcmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 26521
;; flags: qr aa rd; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 6, AUTHORITY: 3, ADDITIONAL: 4

;; QUESTION SECTION:
;waltdnes.org.                  IN      ANY

;; ANSWER SECTION:
waltdnes.org.           3600    IN      MX      10 manson.clss.net.
waltdnes.org.           3600    IN      A       216.40.33.117
waltdnes.org.           3600    IN      NS      ns1.domaindirect.com.
waltdnes.org.           3600    IN      NS      ns2.domaindirect.com.
waltdnes.org.           3600    IN      NS      ns3.domaindirect.com.
waltdnes.org.           3600    IN      SOA     ns1.domaindirect.com.  hostmaster.domaindirect.com. 2084608802 10800 3600 2592000 86400

;; AUTHORITY SECTION:
waltdnes.org.           3600    IN      NS      ns1.domaindirect.com.
waltdnes.org.           3600    IN      NS      ns2.domaindirect.com.
waltdnes.org.           3600    IN      NS      ns3.domaindirect.com.

;; ADDITIONAL SECTION:
manson.clss.net.        148675  IN      A       65.211.158.2
ns1.domaindirect.com.   527     IN      A       216.40.33.21
ns2.domaindirect.com.   111264  IN      A       216.40.33.22
ns3.domaindirect.com.   268     IN      A       216.40.33.24

  To summarize, here's a real life example...
  - mail sent from dci.doncaster.on.ca, HELOing as "smtp.istop.com", both
    names have the same IP address
  - my MX record is currently manson.clss.net

  How would your system handle it ?

-- 
Walter Dnes <waltdnes@waltdnes.org>
Email users are divided into two classes;
1) Those who have effective spam-blocking
2) Those who wish they did

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