Spf smtp status permerror MTA option

SPF MTA options: (2, 4, or 5)
The  MTA  option controls whether  DNS permanent errors attempting SPF lookups are ignored (considered as successes), interpreted as temporary failures, or (the default) interpreted as permanent failures, with values of 2, 4, or (the default) 5, respectively, controlling this. (To emphasize, this option is controlling the interpretation of DNS level errors in the attempted SPF lookups, not the interpretation of "failed to verify" results from an SPF lookup; for that, instead see the   and   MTA options.) The default value is 5, meaning that such DNS level errors are considered to correspond to permanent SPF failures and result in rejection of the message.

The point in the SMTP dialogue at which the SPF lookup is attempted, hence at which the DNS error is encountered, will influence what error is returned; see the ,  , and    channel options. So with  set on an incoming channel, if the SPF lookup of the domain specified on the client&#x27;s HELO or EHLO command encounters a permanent DNS error, then with    set, the SMTP server would issue a permanent rejection: 500 5.5.2 Permanent error in SPF verification of HELO domain whereas with  set, the SMTP server would instead issue a temporary rejection: 451 4.4.3 Permanent error in SPF verification of HELO domain At the MAIL FROM: and RCPT TO: stages of the SMTP dialogue, the error text also is configurable via the    and   MTA options. So with  or    set on an incoming channel, if the SPF lookup of the domain from the MAIL FROM: command encounters a permanent DNS error, then with    set the SMTP server would issue a permanent rejection (default text): 550 5.5.0 permanent error in SPF verification of MAIL FROM domain (domain-name) or using whatever text is configured via the   MTA option: 550 5.5.0 error_text_spf_permerror_5 whereas with  set,  such an error would result in merely a temporary rejection at the MAIL FROM: stage  such as (default text): 450 4.5.1 permanent error in SPF verification of MAIL FROM domain (domain-name) or at the RCPT TO: stage such as: 452 4.5.1 permanent error in SPF verification of MAIL FROM domain (domain-name) or using whatever error text is explicitly configured via the  MTA option,  hence at the MAIL FROM: stage: 450 4.5.1 error_text_spf_permerror_4 or at the RCPT TO: stage: 452 4.5.1 error_text_spf_permerror_4

See also:
 * SPF MTA options
 * spfhelo Option
 * spfmailfrom Option
 * spfrcptto Option
 * error_text_spf_permerror_4 MTA Option
 * error_text_spf_permerror_5 MTA Option
 * spf_smtp_status_fail MTA Option
 * spf_smtp_status_fail_all MTA Option