Subject: Bug#745800: can't stop banned notifications

From: Daniel Pocock <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 2014 10:22:30 +0200

Package: amavisd-new
Version: 1:2.7.1-2
Severity: important

I get far too many emails such as:

   BANNED contents (application/x-msdos-program,.dat,test1.exe) in mail
FROM ...

The default configuration sends a copy of all these to postmaster

I found this email:
http://permalink.gmane.org/gmane.mail.virus.amavis.user/37395

which suggests adding

$banned_admin = undef;

to the configuration.  I tried adding that immediately under $virus_admin and it didn't help (I did restart amavisd too).

It seems that all banned emails are treated the same as virus/quarantine emails, even if the messages says "No virus found", so as a workaround I set

$virus_admin = undef;

and then I don't get the notifications at all - but this is not desirable either, as they end up in the quarantine directory wasting disk space.

Given the amount of rubbish email these days, it would be better if the default configuration was able to simply bounce everything to sender (where sender address is legitimate) and drop everything else without wasting the postmaster's time.

---

From: Henrique de Moraes Holschuh <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 2014 12:11:06 -0300

> and then I don't get the notifications at all - but this is not desirable either, as they end up in the quarantine directory wasting disk space.

Then disable quarantine for these.

> Given the amount of rubbish email these days, it would be better if the
> default configuration was able to simply bounce everything to sender

We must attempt to avoid generating backscatter by default.  You never
bounce viruses back, ever.  You discard them.  And by default, you
quarantine them to help prevent data loss due to miscategorization by the
antivirus, or due to configuration errors.

The real issue here is why the banned stuff is being considered a virus in
the first place.

-- 
  "One disk to rule them all, One disk to find them. One disk to bring
  them all and in the darkness grind them. In the Land of Redmond
  where the shadows lie." -- The Silicon Valley Tarot
  Henrique Holschuh

---

From: Matus UHLAR - fantomas <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 29 Apr 2019 14:35:13 +0200

Hello,

according to amavisd changelog, this bug should be fixed in 2.8.0
https://www.ijs.si/software/amavisd/release-notes.txt

amavisd-new-2.8.0 release notes

- removed an old compatibility measure: default value of @banned_admin_maps
  was changed from:
    @banned_admin_maps = (\$banned_admin, \%virus_admin, \$virus_admin);
  to a more consistent:
    @banned_admin_maps = (\$banned_admin);
  The previous default value of @banned_admin_maps tried to maintain
  compatibility with versions before the setting was separated from
  its companion @virus_admin_maps. Now this compatibility is no longer
  considered necessary and contributes to some confusion, so it was dropped.

-- 
Matus UHLAR - fantomas, [email-masked] ; http://www.fantomas.sk/
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