[exim] Re: restricted characters in address

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Author: Viktor Dukhovni via Exim-users
Date:  
To: exim-users
Subject: [exim] Re: restricted characters in address
On Sat, Mar 09, 2024 at 09:26:39PM +0000, Julian Bradfield via Exim-users wrote:

> Secondly, is there really any reason nowadays for restricting % and ! ?
>
> The last time I saw a % address was in 1995, and the last time I saw a
> ! address was in 1994. (And of course, when I did see them, they had
> the original interpretations.) What is the kind of attack that could
> nowadays be prevented by restricting these characters in outgoing
> email?


When Exim or any other MTA relays mail with "%" or "!" addresses to an
internal MTA, that MTA might be configured to support legacy address
syntax forms. The combined front-end + internal system becomes an
open relay.

And by the way, by default Postfix still supports % and ! addresses:

    https://www.postfix.org/postconf.5.html#allow_percent_hack
    https://www.postfix.org/postconf.5.html#swap_bangpath


-- 
    Viktor.


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