Internet DRAFT - draft-kucherawy-email-auth-codes

draft-kucherawy-email-auth-codes






Network Working Group                                       M. Kucherawy
Internet-Draft                                          January 29, 2014
Intended status: Informational
Expires: August 2, 2014


                   Email Authentication Status Codes
                  draft-kucherawy-email-auth-codes-00

Abstract

   There is at present no way to return a status code to an email client
   that indicates a message is being rejected or deferred specifically
   because of email authentication failures.  This document registers
   codes for this purpose.

Status of This Memo

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   This Internet-Draft will expire on August 2, 2014.

Copyright Notice

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Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
   2.  New Status Codes  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
     2.1.  DKIM Failures Code  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
     2.2.  SPF Failures Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
   3.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
   4.  IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
   5.  Normative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
   Appendix A.  Notes to the RFC Editor  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
   Appendix B.  Acknowledgments  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5








































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1.  Introduction

   [RFC3463] introduced Enhanced Mail System Status Codes, and [RFC5248]
   created an IANA registry for these.

   [RFC6376] and [RFC4408] introduced, respectively, DomainKeys
   Identified Mail and Sender Policy Framework, two protocols for
   conducting email authentication.

   The current set of enhanced status codes does not include any code
   for indicating that a message is being rejected or deferred due to
   negative results in either of these two mechanisms.  This document
   introduces an enhanced status code for reporting those cases to
   clients.

2.  New Status Codes

   The following new status codes are defined:

2.1.  DKIM Failures Code


      Code:               X.7.19
      Sample Text:        DKIM signature failed to validate
      Associated basic status code:  5
      Description:        This status code is returned when a message
                          contained a valid DKIM signature, but the
                          signature failed to validate, contrary
                          to local policy requirements.
      Reference:          [this document]
      Submitter:          M. Kucherawy
      Change controller:  IESG


      Code:               X.7.20
      Sample Text:        DKIM signature absent
      Associated basic status code:  5
      Description:        This status code is returned when a message
                          contained no DKIM signature, contrary to
                          local policy requirements.
      Reference:          [this document]
      Submitter:          M. Kucherawy
      Change controller:  IESG








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2.2.  SPF Failures Code


      Code:               X.7.21
      Sample Text:        SPF validation failed
      Associated basic status code:  5
      Description:        This status code is returned when a message
                          failed an SPF check, contrary to local
                          policy requirements.
      Reference:          [this document]
      Submitter:          M. Kucherawy
      Change controller:  IESG

3.  Security Considerations

   Use of these codes reveals local policy with respect to email
   authentication, which can be useful information to actors attempting
   to deliver undesirable mail.  It should be noted that there is no
   specific obligation to use these codes; if an operator wishes not to
   reveal this aspect of local policy, it can continue using a generic
   result such as 5.7.7 or even 5.7.0.

4.  IANA Considerations

   Registration of two new enhanced status codes, for addition to the
   SMTP Enhanced Status Codes Registry, can be found in Section 2.

5.  Normative References

   [RFC3463]  Vaudreuil, G., "Enhanced Mail System Status Codes",
              RFC 3463, January 2003.

   [RFC4408]  Wong, M. and W. Schlitt, "Sender Policy Framework (SPF)
              for Authorizing Use of Domains in E-Mail, Version 1",
              RFC 4408, April 2006.

   [RFC5248]  Hansen, T. and J. Klensin, "A Registry for SMTP Enhanced
              Mail System Status Codes", BCP 138, RFC 5248, June 2008.

   [RFC6376]  Crocker, D., Hansen, T., and M. Kucherawy, "DomainKeys
              Identified Mail (DKIM) Signatures", STD 76, RFC 6376,
              September 2011.

Appendix A.  Notes to the RFC Editor

   [Please remove this section prior to publication.]

   [RFC4408] is in the RFC Editor queue as of this writing.  It will



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   need to updated at some point.

Appendix B.  Acknowledgments

   [TBD]

Author's Address

   Murray S. Kucherawy
   270 Upland Drive
   San Francisco, CA  94127
   USA

   EMail: superuser@gmail.com





































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