[Tickets #8781] Re: Vacation option drop message , when a mail without return path

[bugs at horde.org]

DO NOT REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE. THIS EMAIL ADDRESS IS NOT MONITORED.

Ticket URL: http://bugs.horde.org/ticket/8781
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  Ticket             | 8781
  Updated By         | Eric Rostetter <eric.rostetter at physics.utexas.edu>
  Summary            | Vacation option drop message , when a mail without
                     | return path
  Queue              | Vacation
  Version            | 3.2
  Type               | Bug
  State              | Feedback
  Priority           | 1. Low
  Milestone          |
  Patch              |
  Owners             |
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Eric Rostetter <eric.rostetter at physics.utexas.edu> (2009-12-18 10:27) wrote:

If I understand correctly, this is correct behaviour on the part of  
vacation, per RFC 3834.  If there is a problem, it is with Notes  
rather than vacation.  Per the RFC:

       Responders MUST NOT generate any response for which the
       destination of that response would be a null address (e.g., an
       address for which SMTP MAIL FROM or Return-Path is <>), since the
       response would not be delivered to a useful destination.
       Responders MAY refuse to generate responses for addresses commonly
       used as return addresses by responders - e.g., those with local-
       parts matching "owner-*", "*-request", "MAILER-DAEMON", etc.
       Responders are encouraged to check the destination address for
       validity before generating the response, to avoid generating
       responses that cannot be delivered or are unlikely to be useful.

So, if there is no return path, or there is an empty/null return path,  
we should not generate a reply.  More specifically, the RFC states:

    If the response is to be generated after delivery, and there is no
    Return-Path field in the subject message, there is an implementation
    or configuration error in the SMTP server that delivered the message
    or gatewayed the message outside of SMTP.  A Personal or Group
    responder SHOULD NOT deliver a response to any address other than
    that in the Return-Path field, even if the Return-Path field is
    missing.  It is better to fix the problem with the mail delivery
    system than to rely on heuristics to guess the appropriate
    destination of the response.  Such heuristics have been known to
    cause problems in the past.

So, IMHO, this says fix Notes, and leave vacation as is.