[exim] random user filters being skipped - possible causes?

Top Page
Delete this message
Reply to this message
Author: Troy Engel
Date:  
To: exim-users
Subject: [exim] random user filters being skipped - possible causes?
I have a mail server with exim 4.42 running on a rather ancient Redhat
7.3 system, with SpamAssassin 3.01 and DSPAM 2.10.6. Randomly (as far as
I can tell) a user filter is getting skipped when returning from an
external call to SpamAssassin. Not always, but sometimes.

- the user's forward file is 100% correct
- sending the missed email through the filter my hand reports that it
will be filtered correctly (exim -d-all+filter -bf <filter> < email)
- the same user is working sometimes, not working others

Here's a log entry of a SPAM being tagged (subject) and filtered for
this user:

2004-11-08 14:51:11 1CRILo-0001Gw-Cj <= queasiest@??? U=mail
P=spam-scanned S=4251 id=110001c4c5e4$435ba43c$48749e1b@???
T="[*SPAM*] Re: Cum Hungry Teen exclusive inretnal cumosht videos"
2004-11-08 14:51:11 1CRILo-0001Gw-Cj => /home/b/bXXXXX/Maildir/.Junk/
<bXXXXX@???> R=userforward T=forward_delivery S=4366
2004-11-08 14:51:11 1CRILo-0001Gw-Cj Completed

then later, a failure:

2004-11-08 15:00:55 1CRIVC-0001Md-8q <= <> U=mail P=spam-scanned S=12932
id=200411082259.OAB13500@??? T="[*SPAM*] Returned
mail: Too many hops 27 (25 max): from <<bXXXXX@???>> via
portal.alchemy.co"
2004-11-08 15:00:55 1CRIVC-0001Md-8q => bXXXXX <bXXXXX@???>
R=localuser T=local_delivery S=13027
2004-11-08 15:00:55 1CRIVC-0001Md-8q Completed

What I can't seem to figure out is why the random skipping of the user's
forward file filtering in the second instance; the filter *does* catch
this second email if I run it by hand with -bf, so it's as if the
forward file is not even consulted.

Anyone have any ideas where to look next? I'm wondering if there are too
many mails in the queue Exim misbehaves, or if the volume of mail is too
high? It's so random, I would think a hardware problem under normal
circumstances.

thanks,
-te

--
Troy Engel | Systems Engineer
Fluid, Inc | http://www.fluid.com