[SPAM] RFC: SpamAssassin subject munging considered harmful :)

[Tristan Santore]

On 02/02/10 14:32, Todd Zullinger wrote:
> I noticed that a number of messages to the users list have been marked
> with [Spam] in the subjects since the list migration.  This appears to
> be due to the Spamassassin settings on bastion.  I think this subject
> munging is undesirable and would like to see it stopped.  Having
> legitimate messages sent to list members tagged as [SPAM] serves no
> good purpose.  If I were a list member I might wonder why my message
> was marked or why Fedora is forwarding on mail it thinks is spam.
>
> At the same time, it's worth noting that if the SpamAssassin settings
> are marking legitimate list mail as spam, they probably ought to be
> tweaked a bit.  If these messages had gone through bastion before
> hitting Mailman and were to a list with a rule to reject or discard on
> X-Spam-Flag (as I know several lists do, websites being one example),
> the messages would have been improperly discarded.
>
> This isn't to say I don't appreciate the job that SpamAssassin does
> nor the hard work put in by Warren and others upstream.  I just want
> to ensure that SpamAssassin does not act too aggressively at marking
> up the mail that comes through fedoraproject.org.
>
> I've attached an example of a recent users list message which was
> marked as spam improperly.  The relevant SpamAssassin headers:
>
> X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.3.0 (2010-01-18) on
>   bastion2.fedora.phx.redhat.com
> X-Spam-Flag: YES
> X-Spam-Level: *****
> X-Spam-Status: Yes, score=5.6 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_50,SPOOF_COM2COM,
>   SPOOF_COM2OTH autolearn=no version=3.3.0
> X-Spam-Report: *  2.7 SPOOF_COM2OTH URI: URI contains ".com" in middle *  2.0
>   SPOOF_COM2COM URI: URI contains ".com" in middle and end *  0.8 BAYES_50
>   BODY: Bayes spam probability is 40 to 60% *      [score: 0.5000]
>
>    
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> infrastructure mailing list
> infrastructure at lists.fedoraproject.org
> https://admin.fedoraproject.org/mailman/listinfo/infrastructure
I like the spam headers, and have yet to see a single message marked as 
spam, which originated from a user. And I am on multiple lists.
Also, without the headers of the message, it is hard to say what is 
causing said scoring. It could be the users end or maybe even their 
fault, i.e. using a SMTP they should not. As it happened to one of my 
clients. Also, just because it is marked [spam], does not mean it gets 
removed, and I believe most people can use common sense in that regard.


Regards,
Tristan

-- 
Tristan Santore BSc MBCS
TS4523-RIPE
Network and Infrastructure Operations
InterNexusConnect
Mobile +44-78-55069812
Tristan.Santore at internexusconnect.net

Former Thawte Notary
(Please note: Thawte has closed its WoT programme down,
and I am therefor no longer able to accredit trust)

For Fedora related issues, please email me at:
TSantore at fedoraproject.org

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