lws@comm.wang.com (Lyle Seaman) (11/09/90)
Is this a good or bad place to post sendmail bugs?
This time, I'm posting here, if this is wrong, I won't do it again.
This is a subtle bug in 5.61, I don't know if it occurs in later
versions. When a connection is timed out, sendmail simulates a
protocol error. It puts a 5xx error in the session log, and bounces
the message back to the sender. According to RFC 821, 5xx errors
are supposed to be used for permanent conditions. A connection
timeout is a transient condition, and so should only result in a
4xx error. By the same token, the mail should not be returned to
sender, but should be queued for retry.
The bug is located in either (or both) sfgets() in util.c, or
markfailure() in deliver.c. I've hacked both and sendmail now
behaves properly, but I'm not proud of the changes.
--
Lyle Wang lws@comm.wang.com
508 967 2322 Lowell, MA, USA uunet!comm.wang.com!lws
The scum always rises to the top.