HEADER_CHECKS(5) HEADER_CHECKS(5)
NAME
header_checks - Postfix built-in header/body inspection
SYNOPSIS
header_checks = pcre:/etc/postfix/header_checks
mime_header_checks = pcre:/etc/postfix/mime_header_checks
nested_header_checks = pcre:/etc/postfix/nested_header_checks
body_checks = pcre:/etc/postfix/body_checks
postmap -q "string" pcre:/etc/postfix/filename
postmap -q - pcre:/etc/postfix/filename <inputfile
DESCRIPTION
Postfix provides a simple built-in content inspection
mechanism that examines incoming mail one message header
or one message body line at a time. This feature is
implemented by the Postfix cleanup(8) server.
Postfix header or body_checks are designed to stop a flood
of mail from worms or viruses. They are not meant to be a
substitute for content filters that decode attachments and
that do other sophisticated content analyses.
Postfix supports four built-in content inspection classes:
header_checks
These are applied to each primary message header
(except for the MIME related headers).
mime_header_checks (default: $header_checks)
These are applied each MIME related message header
only.
nested_header_checks (default: $header_checks)
These are applied to each message header of
attached email messages (except for the MIME
related headers).
body_checks
These are applied to all other content, including
multi-part message boundaries.
Note: message headers are examined one logical header at a
time, even when a message header spans multiple lines.
Body lines are always examined one line at a time.
TABLE FORMAT
This document assumes that header and body_checks rules
are specified in the form of Postfix regular expression
lookup tables. Usually the best performance is obtained
with pcre (Perl Compatible Regular Expression) tables, but
the slower regexp (POSIX regular expressions) support is
more widely available. Use the command postconf -m to
find out what lookup table types your Postfix system sup-
ports.
The general format of Postfix regular expression tables is
given below. For a discussion of specific pattern or
flags syntax, see pcre_table(5) or regexp_table(5),
respectively.
/pattern/flags action
When pattern matches the input string, execute the
corresponding action. See below for a list of pos-
sible actions.
!/pattern/flags action
When pattern does not match the input string, exe-
cute the corresponding action.
if /pattern/flags
endif Match the input string against the patterns between
if and endif, if and only if the input string also
matches pattern. The if..endif can nest.
Note: do not prepend whitespace to patterns inside
if..endif.
if !/pattern/flags
endif Match the input string against the patterns between
if and endif, if and only if the input string does
not match pattern. The if..endif can nest.
blank lines and comments
Empty lines and whitespace-only lines are ignored,
as are lines whose first non-whitespace character
is a `#'.
multi-line text
A pattern/action line starts with non-whitespace
text. A line that starts with whitespace continues
a logical line.
TABLE SEARCH ORDER
For each line of message input, the patterns are applied
in the order as specified in the table. When a pattern is
found that matches the input line, the corresponding
action is executed and then the next input line is
inspected.
TEXT SUBSTITUTION
Substitution of substrings from the matched expression
into the action string is possible using the conventional
Perl syntax ($1, $2, etc.). The macros in the result
string may need to be written as ${n} or $(n) if they
aren't followed by whitespace.
Note: since negated patterns (those preceded by !) return
a result when the expression does not match, substitutions
are not available for negated patterns.
ACTIONS
Action names are case insensitive. They are shown in upper
case for consistency with other Postfix documentation.
DISCARD optional text...
Claim successful delivery and silently discard the
message. Log the optional text if specified, oth-
erwise log a generic message.
Note: this action disables further header or
body_checks inspection of the current message and
affects all recipients.
DUNNO Pretend that the input line did not match any pat-
tern, and inspect the next input line. This action
can be used to shorten the table search.
For backwards compatibility reasons, Postfix also
accepts OK but it is (and always has been) treated
as DUNNO.
FILTER transport:destination
Write a content filter request to the queue file
and inspect the next input line. After the com-
plete message is received it will be sent through
the specified external content filter. More infor-
mation about external content filters is in the
Postfix FILTER_README file.
Note: this action overrides the main.cf con-
tent_filter setting, and affects all recipients of
the message. In the case that multiple FILTER
actions fire, only the last one is executed.
HOLD optional text...
Arrange for the message to be placed on the hold
queue, and inspect the next input line. The mes-
sage remains on hold until someone either deletes
it or releases it for delivery. Log the optional
text if specified, otherwise log a generic message.
Mail that is placed on hold can be examined with
the postcat(1) command, and can be destroyed or
released with the postsuper(1) command.
Note: this action affects all recipients of the
message.
IGNORE Delete the current line from the input and inspect
the next input line.
REDIRECT user@domain
Write a message redirection request to the queue
file and inspect the next input line. After the
message is queued, it will be sent to the specified
address instead of the intended recipient(s).
Note: this action overrides the FILTER action, and
affects all recipients of the message. If multiple
REDIRECT actions fire, only the last one is exe-
cuted.
REJECT optional text...
Reject the entire message. Reply with optional
text... when the optional text is specified, other-
wise reply with a generic error message.
Note: this action disables further header or
body_checks inspection of the current message and
affects all recipients.
WARN optional text...
Log a warning with the optional text... (or log a
generic message) and inspect the next input line.
This action is useful for debugging and for testing
a pattern before applying more drastic actions.
BUGS
Many people overlook the main limitations of header and
body_checks rules. These rules operate on one logical
message header or one body line at a time, and a decision
made for one line is not carried over to the next line.
Message headers added by the cleanup(8) daemon itself are
excluded from inspection. Examples of such message headers
are From:, To:, Message-ID:, Date:.
CONFIGURATION PARAMETERS
body_checks
Lookup tables with content filter rules for message
body lines. These filters see one physical line at
a time, in chunks of at most $line_length_limit
bytes.
body_checks_size_limit
The amount of content per message body segment
(attachment) that is subjected to $body_checks fil-
tering.
header_checks
mime_header_checks (default: $header_checks)
nested_header_checks (default: $header_checks)
Lookup tables with content filter rules for message
header lines: respectively, these are applied to
the primary message headers (not including MIME
headers), to the MIME headers anywhere in the mes-
sage, and to the initial headers of attached mes-
sages.
Note: these filters see one logical message header
at a time, even when a message header spans multi-
ple lines. Message headers that are longer than
$header_size_limit characters are truncated.
disable_mime_input_processing
While receiving mail, give no special treatment to
MIME related message headers; all text after the
initial message headers is considered to be part of
the message body. This means that header_checks is
applied to all the primary message headers, and
that body_checks is applied to the remainder of the
message.
Note: when used in this manner, body_checks will
process a multi-line message header one line at a
time.
EXAMPLES
Header pattern to block attachments with bad file name
extensions.
/^content-(type|disposition):.*name[[:space:]]*=.*\.(exe|vbs)/
REJECT Bad attachment file name extension: $1
Body pattern to stop a specific HTML browser vulnerability
exploit.
/^<iframe src=(3D)?cid:.* height=(3D)?0 width=(3D)?0>$/
REJECT IFRAME vulnerability exploit
SEE ALSO
cleanup(8) canonicalize and enqueue Postfix message
pcre_table(5) format of PCRE tables
regexp_table(5) format of POSIX regular expression tables
postconf(1) Postfix configuration utility
postmap(1) Postfix lookup table management
postsuper(1) Postfix janitor
postcat(1) show Postfix queue file contents
LICENSE
The Secure Mailer license must be distributed with this
software.
AUTHOR(S)
Wietse Venema
IBM T.J. Watson Research
P.O. Box 704
Yorktown Heights, NY 10598, USA
HEADER_CHECKS(5)