1 From time to time, experimental features may be added to Exim.
2 While a feature is experimental, there will be a build-time
3 option whose name starts "EXPERIMENTAL_" that must be set in
4 order to include the feature. This file contains information
5 about experimental features, all of which are unstable and
6 liable to incompatible change.
9 Brightmail AntiSpam (BMI) support
10 --------------------------------------------------------------
12 Brightmail AntiSpam is a commercial package. Please see
13 http://www.brightmail.com for more information on
14 the product. For the sake of clarity, we'll refer to it as
18 0) BMI concept and implementation overview
20 In contrast to how spam-scanning with SpamAssassin is
21 implemented in exiscan-acl, BMI is more suited for per
22 -recipient scanning of messages. However, each messages is
23 scanned only once, but multiple "verdicts" for multiple
24 recipients can be returned from the BMI server. The exiscan
25 implementation passes the message to the BMI server just
26 before accepting it. It then adds the retrieved verdicts to
27 the messages header file in the spool. These verdicts can then
28 be queried in routers, where operation is per-recipient
29 instead of per-message. To use BMI, you need to take the
32 1) Compile Exim with BMI support
33 2) Set up main BMI options (top section of Exim config file)
34 3) Set up ACL control statement (ACL section of the config
36 4) Set up your routers to use BMI verdicts (routers section
38 5) (Optional) Set up per-recipient opt-in information.
40 These four steps are explained in more details below.
42 1) Adding support for BMI at compile time
44 To compile with BMI support, you need to link Exim against
45 the Brightmail client SDK, consisting of a library
46 (libbmiclient_single.so) and a header file (bmi_api.h).
47 You'll also need to explicitly set a flag in the Makefile to
48 include BMI support in the Exim binary. Both can be achieved
49 with these lines in Local/Makefile:
51 EXPERIMENTAL_BRIGHTMAIL=yes
52 CFLAGS=-I/path/to/the/dir/with/the/includefile
53 EXTRALIBS_EXIM=-L/path/to/the/dir/with/the/library -lbmiclient_single
55 If you use other CFLAGS or EXTRALIBS_EXIM settings then
56 merge the content of these lines with them.
58 Note for BMI6.x users: You'll also have to add -lxml2_single
59 to the EXTRALIBS_EXIM line. Users of 5.5x do not need to do
62 You should also include the location of
63 libbmiclient_single.so in your dynamic linker configuration
64 file (usually /etc/ld.so.conf) and run "ldconfig"
65 afterwards, or else the produced Exim binary will not be
66 able to find the library file.
69 2) Setting up BMI support in the Exim main configuration
71 To enable BMI support in the main Exim configuration, you
72 should set the path to the main BMI configuration file with
73 the "bmi_config_file" option, like this:
75 bmi_config_file = /opt/brightmail/etc/brightmail.cfg
77 This must go into section 1 of Exim's configuration file (You
78 can put it right on top). If you omit this option, it
79 defaults to /opt/brightmail/etc/brightmail.cfg.
81 Note for BMI6.x users: This file is in XML format in V6.xx
82 and its name is /opt/brightmail/etc/bmiconfig.xml. So BMI
83 6.x users MUST set the bmi_config_file option.
86 3) Set up ACL control statement
88 To optimize performance, it makes sense only to process
89 messages coming from remote, untrusted sources with the BMI
90 server. To set up a messages for processing by the BMI
91 server, you MUST set the "bmi_run" control statement in any
92 ACL for an incoming message. You will typically do this in
93 an "accept" block in the "acl_check_rcpt" ACL. You should
94 use the "accept" block(s) that accept messages from remote
95 servers for your own domain(s). Here is an example that uses
96 the "accept" blocks from Exim's default configuration file:
99 accept domains = +local_domains
104 accept domains = +relay_to_domains
109 If bmi_run is not set in any ACL during reception of the
110 message, it will NOT be passed to the BMI server.
113 4) Setting up routers to use BMI verdicts
115 When a message has been run through the BMI server, one or
116 more "verdicts" are present. Different recipients can have
117 different verdicts. Each recipient is treated individually
118 during routing, so you can query the verdicts by recipient
119 at that stage. From Exim's view, a verdict can have the
122 o deliver the message normally
123 o deliver the message to an alternate location
124 o do not deliver the message
126 To query the verdict for a recipient, the implementation
127 offers the following tools:
130 - Boolean router preconditions. These can be used in any
131 router. For a simple implementation of BMI, these may be
132 all that you need. The following preconditions are
135 o bmi_deliver_default
137 This precondition is TRUE if the verdict for the
138 recipient is to deliver the message normally. If the
139 message has not been processed by the BMI server, this
140 variable defaults to TRUE.
142 o bmi_deliver_alternate
144 This precondition is TRUE if the verdict for the
145 recipient is to deliver the message to an alternate
146 location. You can get the location string from the
147 $bmi_alt_location expansion variable if you need it. See
148 further below. If the message has not been processed by
149 the BMI server, this variable defaults to FALSE.
153 This precondition is TRUE if the verdict for the
154 recipient is NOT to deliver the message to the
155 recipient. You will typically use this precondition in a
156 top-level blackhole router, like this:
158 # don't deliver messages handled by the BMI server
164 This router should be on top of all others, so messages
165 that should not be delivered do not reach other routers
166 at all. If the message has not been processed by
167 the BMI server, this variable defaults to FALSE.
170 - A list router precondition to query if rules "fired" on
171 the message for the recipient. Its name is "bmi_rule". You
172 use it by passing it a colon-separated list of rule
173 numbers. You can use this condition to route messages that
174 matched specific rules. Here is an example:
176 # special router for BMI rule #5, #8 and #11
180 data = postmaster@mydomain.com
183 - Expansion variables. Several expansion variables are set
184 during routing. You can use them in custom router
185 conditions, for example. The following variables are
188 o $bmi_base64_verdict
190 This variable will contain the BASE64 encoded verdict
191 for the recipient being routed. You can use it to add a
192 header to messages for tracking purposes, for example:
197 headers_add = X-Brightmail-Verdict: $bmi_base64_verdict
198 transport = local_delivery
200 If there is no verdict available for the recipient being
201 routed, this variable contains the empty string.
203 o $bmi_base64_tracker_verdict
205 This variable will contain a BASE64 encoded subset of
206 the verdict information concerning the "rules" that
207 fired on the message. You can add this string to a
208 header, commonly named "X-Brightmail-Tracker". Example:
213 headers_add = X-Brightmail-Tracker: $bmi_base64_tracker_verdict
214 transport = local_delivery
216 If there is no verdict available for the recipient being
217 routed, this variable contains the empty string.
221 If the verdict is to redirect the message to an
222 alternate location, this variable will contain the
223 alternate location string returned by the BMI server. In
224 its default configuration, this is a header-like string
225 that can be added to the message with "headers_add". If
226 there is no verdict available for the recipient being
227 routed, or if the message is to be delivered normally,
228 this variable contains the empty string.
232 This is an additional integer variable that can be used
233 to query if the message should be delivered at all. You
234 should use router preconditions instead if possible.
236 $bmi_deliver is '0': the message should NOT be delivered.
237 $bmi_deliver is '1': the message should be delivered.
240 IMPORTANT NOTE: Verdict inheritance.
241 The message is passed to the BMI server during message
242 reception, using the target addresses from the RCPT TO:
243 commands in the SMTP transaction. If recipients get expanded
244 or re-written (for example by aliasing), the new address(es)
245 inherit the verdict from the original address. This means
246 that verdicts also apply to all "child" addresses generated
247 from top-level addresses that were sent to the BMI server.
250 5) Using per-recipient opt-in information (Optional)
252 The BMI server features multiple scanning "profiles" for
253 individual recipients. These are usually stored in a LDAP
254 server and are queried by the BMI server itself. However,
255 you can also pass opt-in data for each recipient from the
256 MTA to the BMI server. This is particularly useful if you
257 already look up recipient data in Exim anyway (which can
258 also be stored in a SQL database or other source). This
259 implementation enables you to pass opt-in data to the BMI
260 server in the RCPT ACL. This works by setting the
261 'bmi_optin' modifier in a block of that ACL. If should be
262 set to a list of comma-separated strings that identify the
263 features which the BMI server should use for that particular
264 recipient. Ideally, you would use the 'bmi_optin' modifier
265 in the same ACL block where you set the 'bmi_run' control
266 flag. Here is an example that will pull opt-in data for each
267 recipient from a flat file called
268 '/etc/exim/bmi_optin_data'.
272 user1@mydomain.com: <OPTIN STRING1>:<OPTIN STRING2>
273 user2@thatdomain.com: <OPTIN STRING3>
278 accept domains = +relay_to_domains
281 bmi_optin = ${lookup{$local_part@$domain}lsearch{/etc/exim/bmi_optin_data}}
284 Of course, you can also use any other lookup method that
285 Exim supports, including LDAP, Postgres, MySQL, Oracle etc.,
286 as long as the result is a list of colon-separated opt-in
289 For a list of available opt-in strings, please contact your
290 Brightmail representative.
295 SRS (Sender Rewriting Scheme) Support
296 --------------------------------------------------------------
298 Exiscan currently includes SRS support via Miles Wilton's
299 libsrs_alt library. The current version of the supported
300 library is 0.5, there are reports of 1.0 working.
302 In order to use SRS, you must get a copy of libsrs_alt from
304 https://opsec.eu/src/srs/
306 (not the original source, which has disappeared.)
308 Unpack the tarball, then refer to MTAs/README.EXIM
309 to proceed. You need to set
313 in your Local/Makefile.
315 The following main-section options become available:
322 srs_usetimestamp bool
324 The redirect router gains these options (all of type string, unset by default):
331 The following variables become available:
339 The predefined feature-macro _HAVE_SRS will be present.
340 Additional delivery log line elements, tagged with "SRS=" will show the srs sender.
341 For configuration information see https://github.com/Exim/exim/wiki/SRS .
347 --------------------------------------------------------------
348 Distributed Checksum Clearinghouse; http://www.rhyolite.com/dcc/
352 In order to build exim with DCC support add
356 to your Makefile. (Re-)build/install exim. exim -d should show
357 EXPERIMENTAL_DCC under "Support for".
362 In the main section of exim.cf add at least
363 dccifd_address = /usr/local/dcc/var/dccifd
365 dccifd_address = <ip> <port>
367 In the DATA ACL you can use the new condition
370 After that "$dcc_header" contains the X-DCC-Header.
373 fail for overall "R", "G" from dccifd
374 defer for overall "T" from dccifd
375 accept for overall "A", "S" from dccifd
377 dcc = */defer_ok works as for spamd.
379 The "$dcc_result" variable contains the overall result from DCC
380 answer. There will an X-DCC: header added to the mail.
384 to greylist with DCC.
386 If you set, in the main section,
387 dcc_direct_add_header = true
388 then the dcc header will be added "in deep" and if the spool
389 file was already written it gets removed. This forces Exim to
390 write it again if needed. This helps to get the DCC Header
391 through to eg. SpamAssassin.
393 If you want to pass even more headers in the middle of the
394 DATA stage you can set
395 $acl_m_dcc_add_header
396 to tell the DCC routines to add more information; eg, you might set
397 this to some results from ClamAV. Be careful. Header syntax is
398 not checked and is added "as is".
400 In case you've troubles with sites sending the same queue items from several
401 hosts and fail to get through greylisting you can use
402 $acl_m_dcc_override_client_ip
404 Setting $acl_m_dcc_override_client_ip to an IP address overrides the default
405 of $sender_host_address. eg. use the following ACL in DATA stage:
407 warn set acl_m_dcc_override_client_ip = \
408 ${lookup{$sender_helo_name}nwildlsearch{/etc/mail/multipleip_sites}{$value}{}}
409 condition = ${if def:acl_m_dcc_override_client_ip}
410 log_message = dbg: acl_m_dcc_override_client_ip set to \
411 $acl_m_dcc_override_client_ip
413 Then set something like
414 # cat /etc/mail/multipleip_sites
415 mout-xforward.gmx.net 82.165.159.12
416 mout.gmx.net 212.227.15.16
418 Use a reasonable IP. eg. one the sending cluster actually uses.
422 DSN extra information
423 ---------------------
424 If compiled with EXPERIMENTAL_DSN_INFO extra information will be added
425 to DSN fail messages ("bounces"), when available. The intent is to aid
426 tracing of specific failing messages, when presented with a "bounce"
427 complaint and needing to search logs.
430 The remote MTA IP address, with port number if nonstandard.
432 Remote-MTA: X-ip; [127.0.0.1]:587
434 Several addresses may correspond to the (already available)
435 dns name for the remote MTA.
437 The remote MTA connect-time greeting.
439 X-Remote-MTA-smtp-greeting: X-str; 220 the.local.host.name ESMTP Exim x.yz Tue, 2 Mar 1999 09:44:33 +0000
441 This string sometimes presents the remote MTA's idea of its
442 own name, and sometimes identifies the MTA software.
444 The remote MTA response to HELO or EHLO.
446 X-Remote-MTA-helo-response: X-str; 250-the.local.host.name Hello localhost [127.0.0.1]
448 Only the first line of a multiline response is recorded.
450 This string sometimes presents the remote MTA's view of
451 the peer IP connecting to it.
453 The reporting MTA detailed diagnostic.
455 X-Exim-Diagnostic: X-str; SMTP error from remote mail server after RCPT TO:<d3@myhost.test.ex>: 550 hard error
457 This string sometimes give extra information over the
458 existing (already available) Diagnostic-Code field.
461 Note that non-RFC-documented field names and data types are used.
466 LMDB is an ultra-fast, ultra-compact, crash-proof key-value embedded data store.
467 It is modeled loosely on the BerkeleyDB API. You should read about the feature
468 set as well as operation modes at https://symas.com/products/lightning-memory-mapped-database/
470 LMDB single key lookup support is provided by linking to the LMDB C library.
471 The current implementation does not support writing to the LMDB database.
473 Visit https://github.com/LMDB/lmdb to download the library or find it in your
474 operating systems package repository.
476 If building from source, this description assumes that headers will be in
477 /usr/local/include, and that the libraries are in /usr/local/lib.
479 1. In order to build exim with LMDB lookup support add or uncomment
481 EXPERIMENTAL_LMDB=yes
483 to your Local/Makefile. (Re-)build/install exim. exim -d should show
484 Experimental_LMDB in the line "Support for:".
486 EXPERIMENTAL_LMDB=yes
488 # CFLAGS += -I/usr/local/include
489 # LDFLAGS += -L/usr/local/lib
491 The first line sets the feature to include the correct code, and
492 the second line says to link the LMDB libraries into the
493 exim binary. The commented out lines should be uncommented if you
494 built LMDB from source and installed in the default location.
495 Adjust the paths if you installed them elsewhere, but you do not
496 need to uncomment them if an rpm (or you) installed them in the
497 package controlled locations (/usr/include and /usr/lib).
499 2. Create your LMDB files, you can use the mdb_load utility which is
500 part of the LMDB distribution our your favourite language bindings.
502 3. Add the single key lookups to your exim.conf file, example lookups
505 ${lookup{$sender_address_domain}lmdb{/var/lib/baruwa/data/db/relaydomains.mdb}{$value}}
506 ${lookup{$sender_address_domain}lmdb{/var/lib/baruwa/data/db/relaydomains.mdb}{$value}fail}
507 ${lookup{$sender_address_domain}lmdb{/var/lib/baruwa/data/db/relaydomains.mdb}}
512 Queuefile is a pseudo transport which does not perform final delivery.
513 It simply copies the exim spool files out of the spool directory into
514 an external directory retaining the exim spool format.
516 The spool files can then be processed by external processes and then
517 requeued into exim spool directories for final delivery.
518 However, note carefully the warnings in the main documentation on
521 The motivation/inspiration for the transport is to allow external
522 processes to access email queued by exim and have access to all the
523 information which would not be available if the messages were delivered
524 to the process in the standard email formats.
526 The mailscanner package is one of the processes that can take advantage
527 of this transport to filter email.
529 The transport can be used in the same way as the other existing transports,
530 i.e by configuring a router to route mail to a transport configured with
531 the queuefile driver.
533 The transport only takes one option:
535 * directory - This is used to specify the directory messages should be
538 The generic transport options (body_only, current_directory, disable_logging,
539 debug_print, delivery_date_add, envelope_to_add, event_action, group,
540 headers_add, headers_only, headers_remove, headers_rewrite, home_directory,
541 initgroups, max_parallel, message_size_limit, rcpt_include_affixes,
542 retry_use_local_part, return_path, return_path_add, shadow_condition,
543 shadow_transport, transport_filter, transport_filter_timeout, user) are
546 Sample configuration:
558 directory = /var/spool/baruwa-scanner/input
561 In order to build exim with Queuefile transport support add or uncomment
563 EXPERIMENTAL_QUEUEFILE=yes
565 to your Local/Makefile. (Re-)build/install exim. exim -d should show
566 Experimental_QUEUEFILE in the line "Support for:".
571 Specification: https://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-ietf-dmarc-arc-protocol-11
572 Note that this is not an RFC yet, so may change.
574 [RFC 8617 was published 2019/06. Draft 11 was 2018/01. A review of the
575 changes has not yet been done]
577 ARC is intended to support the utility of SPF and DKIM in the presence of
578 intermediaries in the transmission path - forwarders and mailinglists -
579 by establishing a cryptographically-signed chain in headers.
581 Normally one would only bother doing ARC-signing when functioning as
582 an intermediary. One might do verify for local destinations.
584 ARC uses the notion of a "ADministrative Management Domain" (ADMD).
585 Described in RFC 5598 (section 2.3), this is essentially a set of
586 mail-handling systems that mail transits that are all under the control
587 of one organisation. A label should be chosen to identify the ADMD.
588 Messages should be ARC-verified on entry to the ADMD, and ARC-signed on exit
592 Building with ARC Support
594 Enable using EXPERIMENTAL_ARC=yes in your Local/Makefile.
595 You must also have DKIM present (not disabled), and you very likely
596 want to have SPF enabled.
601 An ACL condition is provided to perform the "verifier actions" detailed
602 in section 6 of the above specification. It may be called from the DATA ACL
603 and succeeds if the result matches any of a given list.
604 It also records the highest ARC instance number (the chain size)
605 and verification result for later use in creating an Authentication-Results:
608 verify = arc/<acceptable_list> none:fail:pass
610 add_header = :at_start:${authresults {<admd-identifier>}}
612 Note that it would be wise to strip incoming messages of A-R headers
613 that claim to be from our own <admd-identifier>.
615 There are four new variables:
617 $arc_state One of pass, fail, none
618 $arc_state_reason (if fail, why)
619 $arc_domains colon-sep list of ARC chain domains, in chain order.
620 problematic elements may have empty list elements
621 $arc_oldest_pass lowest passing instance number of chain
624 logwrite = oldest-p-ams: <${reduce {$lh_ARC-Authentication-Results:} \
626 {${if = {$arc_oldest_pass} \
627 {${extract {i}{${extract {1}{;}{$item}}}}} \
631 Receive log lines for an ARC pass will be tagged "ARC".
636 arc_sign = <admd-identifier> : <selector> : <privkey> [ : <options> ]
637 An option on the smtp transport, which constructs and prepends to the message
638 an ARC set of headers. The textually-first Authentication-Results: header
639 is used as a basis (you must have added one on entry to the ADMD).
640 Expanded as a whole; if unset, empty or forced-failure then no signing is done.
641 If it is set, all of the first three elements must be non-empty.
643 The fourth element is optional, and if present consists of a comma-separated list
644 of options. The options implemented are
646 timestamps Add a t= tag to the generated AMS and AS headers, with the
648 expire[=<val>] Add an x= tag to the generated AMS header, with an expiry time.
649 If the value <val> is an plain number it is used unchanged.
650 If it starts with a '+' then the following number is added
651 to the current time, as an offset in seconds.
652 If a value is not given it defaults to a one month offset.
654 [As of writing, gmail insist that a t= tag on the AS is mandatory]
657 * There must be an Authentication-Results header, presumably added by an ACL
658 while receiving the message, for the same ADMD, for arc_sign to succeed.
659 This requires careful coordination between inbound and outbound logic.
661 Only one A-R header is taken account of. This is a limitation versus
662 the ARC spec (which says that all A-R headers from within the ADMD must
665 * If passing a message to another system, such as a mailing-list manager
666 (MLM), between receipt and sending, be wary of manipulations to headers made
668 + For instance, Mailman with REMOVE_DKIM_HEADERS==3 might improve
669 deliverability in a pre-ARC world, but that option also renames the
670 Authentication-Results header, which breaks signing.
672 * Even if you use multiple DKIM keys for different domains, the ARC concept
673 should try to stick to one ADMD, so pick a primary domain and use that for
674 AR headers and outbound signing.
676 Signing is not compatible with cutthrough delivery; any (before expansion)
677 value set for the option will result in cutthrough delivery not being
678 used via the transport in question.
683 TLS Session Resumption
684 ----------------------
685 TLS Session Resumption for TLS 1.2 and TLS 1.3 connections can be used (defined
686 in RFC 5077 for 1.2). The support for this can be included by building with
687 EXPERIMENTAL_TLS_RESUME defined. This requires GnuTLS 3.6.3 or OpenSSL 1.1.1
690 Session resumption (this is the "stateless" variant) involves the server sending
691 a "session ticket" to the client on one connection, which can be stored by the
692 client and used for a later session. The ticket contains sufficient state for
693 the server to reconstruct the TLS session, avoiding some expensive crypto
694 calculation and one full packet roundtrip time.
696 Operational cost/benefit:
697 The extra data being transmitted costs a minor amount, and the client has
698 extra costs in storing and retrieving the data.
700 In the Exim/Gnutls implementation the extra cost on an initial connection
701 which is TLS1.2 over a loopback path is about 6ms on 2017-laptop class hardware.
702 The saved cost on a subsequent connection is about 4ms; three or more
703 connections become a net win. On longer network paths, two or more
704 connections will have an average lower startup time thanks to the one
705 saved packet roundtrip. TLS1.3 will save the crypto cpu costs but not any
708 Since a new hints DB is used, the hints DB maintenance should be updated
709 to additionally handle "tls".
712 The session ticket is encrypted, but is obviously an additional security
713 vulnarability surface. An attacker able to decrypt it would have access
714 all connections using the resumed session.
715 The session ticket encryption key is not committed to storage by the server
716 and is rotated regularly (OpenSSL: 1hr, and one previous key is used for
717 overlap; GnuTLS 6hr but does not specify any overlap).
718 Tickets have limited lifetime (2hr, and new ones issued after 1hr under
719 OpenSSL. GnuTLS 2hr, appears to not do overlap).
721 There is a question-mark over the security of the Diffie-Helman parameters
722 used for session negotiation. TBD. q-value; cf bug 1895
725 New log_selector "tls_resumption", appends an asterisk to the tls_cipher "X="
728 Variables $tls_{in,out}_resumption have bits 0-4 indicating respectively
729 support built, client requested ticket, client offered session,
730 server issued ticket, resume used. A suitable decode list is provided
731 in the builtin macro _RESUME_DECODE for ${listextract {}{}}.
734 In a resumed session:
735 $tls_{in,out}_cipher will have values different to the original (under GnuTLS)
736 $tls_{in,out}_ocsp will be "not requested" or "no response", and
737 hosts_require_ocsp will fail
740 --------------------------------------------------------------
742 --------------------------------------------------------------