Inconsistent email headers

Question asked by igorinuk - 6/19/2018 at 3:25 AM

Unanswered

A header from one email:

X-SmarterMail-Spam: SPF_None, DK_None, DKIM_None

A header from another email on the same server:

X-SmarterMail-Spam: SPF_Pass, Bayesian Filtering, ISpamAssassin 0 [raw: 0], SpamAssassin 5 [raw: 3], DK_None, DKIM_None

The question is: Why does SmarterMail mention some spam filters in the 2nd message header and does not mention them in the 1st one?

I thought that if a filter gives a 0 spam weight then SM does not mention it. But it is not true. As you can see, ISpamAssassin gives 0 weight, but it is mentioned in one of the messages. In another message it gives the same weight, but is not mentioned in the header. Also both DK_None and DKIM_None have 0 weight on our server, but they are mentioned in both headers.

So, what is the idea and logic behind it?

5 Replies

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Paul Blank Replied

6/25/2018 at 5:20 AM

I, too, am interested in an explanation for this odd behavior.

Linda Pagillo Replied

6/26/2018 at 7:10 AM

Hi guys. I believe that SPF, DK and DKIM show up no matter what as you can see those 3 things in both headers. As for the other tests, I believe they show if they are triggered. For example, the 2nd header example..

X-SmarterMail-Spam: SPF_Pass, Bayesian Filtering, ISpamAssassin 0 [raw: 0], SpamAssassin 5 [raw: 3], DK_None, DKIM_None

This means that SPF passed, There was no DK or DKIM, Bayesian Filtering was triggered, ISpamAssassin (This is the pattern matching that is built into SmarterMail) it was triggered, but scored zero, SpamAssassin is the other components of the built-in SpamAssassin and it scored a 5.I believe "raw" is the raw URI prior to any cleaning.

SmarterTools may want to chime in here and correct me if I'm wrong, but these are my thoughts.

Linda Pagillo
Mail's Best Friend
Email: linda.pagillo@mailsbestfriend.com
Web: www.mailsbestfriend.com

Authorized SmarterTools Reseller

Authorized Message Sniffer Reseller

igorinuk Replied

6/27/2018 at 11:50 AM

Thank you Linda.

SpamAssassin is our external SpamAssassin server, not a built-in one.
ISpamAssassin is a built-in one.

The question is: Why does Smartermail trigger SpamAssassin and Bayesian for one email, but doesn't trigger for another?

Linda Pagillo Replied

6/27/2018 at 2:27 PM

I'm not sure if misunderstanding what you are trying to explain. To clarify, are you asking why SA and Bayes triggers on one email, but not another? If that is what you are asking, one of the possible answers is that one of those messages contained more spammy attributes than the other so SA and Bayes triggered on the spammier one. If I'm misunderstanding, I apologize in advance :)

Linda Pagillo
Mail's Best Friend
Email: linda.pagillo@mailsbestfriend.com
Web: www.mailsbestfriend.com

Authorized SmarterTools Reseller

Authorized Message Sniffer Reseller

igorinuk Replied

6/29/2018 at 10:17 AM

Linda, imagine that we have 2 spam filters only: SpamAssassin and DKIM.

As I understand, SM must process all emails with all spam filters. And indicate the results in the headers of all emails.

So, we have to see both SpamAssassin and DKIM in every message.

Another possible scenario is: SM runs all the filters (SpamAssassin and DKIM), but mentions in the headers only those of them which are not 0. In this case some email will have SpamAssassin (if its score is not 0) in their headers, others DKIM, others both of them or none of them.

But in the reality SM may write:
SpamAssassin 0 [raw: 0]
, but may also not mention SpamAssassin at all.

I do not understand why.

Does it process every message with SpamAssassin? If not - why? If yes, then why does not mention SpamAssassin score in every email?

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