Spam Assassin Changes

[GatorJosh]

Some of our reseller servers have been using an older transport method for spam assassin. Since the recent update pushed by cpanel to 11.25, the older spam assassin transport no longer works with boxtrapper. This will affect any account that has both Box Trapper and Spam Assassin enabled. If spam assassin is enabled for the account, boxtrapper will deliver the email without the required verification. We plan on migrating the rest of the reseller servers over tonight but there are a few changes you will see with how spam assassin scans emails. A few of these changes are,

1) Subject Rewrite: Users will no longer have the ability to change this feature. Spam emails will still have the subject rewritten to "[SPAM]" but users will not be able to change this. If an account has email filters setup involving spam assassin, cPanel attempts to migrate the filters so they continue to work. However, accounts with custom filters involving Subject Rewrites may need to manually update the filters in order for it to continue to work.

2) Header Changes: The Formatting is changed. The same information is still added but could have different header names.

3) Spam will no longer be included as an attachment. Spam Assassin will only change the headers at this point.

We will also try to keep this post updated as we address any other common issues.

The reseller servers affected by this are listed below.


350z
4runner
accord
achieva
acura
aerostar
aero
alero
aerio
alpina
alto
amigo
armada
astro
aurion
avanti
avalanche
avenger
astra
aura
azur
aztek
barrie
avalon
batmobile
beretta
beetle
bentley
boss
bravada
cadillac
bugatti
caliber
camry
caprice
carrera
cayman
cayenne
century
caravan
celica
charger
challenger
chevy
chicago
cimarron
cirrus
civic
city
cobra
commander
chevette
corolla
corsica
corvette
cobalt
cyclone
cypress
cutlass
datsun
denali
dodge
diplomat
doniphan
dubreville
desoto
dynasty
echo
eclipse
eagle
elantra
eldorado
electra
element
enclave
escalade
escape
equinox
eunos
evo
excursion
expedition
explorer
fairlane
ferrari
fiat
fiesta
firenza
focus
fusion
galant
g35
geo
golf
gremlin
gti
gt500
gtr
hamilton
gwiz
gto
highlander
houston
impulse
impala
infiniti
impreza
intrigue
isetta
integra
jaguar
jeep
jetta
isuzu
kia
justy
lada
lancer
lexus
lightning
lincoln
london
lotus
lucerne
legend
magnum
lumina
mach5
maserati
matrix
maxima
mazda
mercedes
metro
miata
mercury
mini
modena
mr2turbo
mustang
mx5sql5
murano
navigator
newyork
ninja
nissan
northbay
nsx
odyssey
omni
nova
oldsmobile
panoz
phaeton
peugeot
pantera
pilot
pathfinder
pontiac
pinto
porsche
prelude
prizm
prius
probe
prowler
puma
prodrive
quest
rabbit
rainier
ram
ranger
reatta
reliant
renault
reva
ridgeline
rodeo
s2000
saab
santafe
rx8
saleen
safari
saturn
scion
santro
shadow
shelby
sienna
sentra
sitestudio
skyline
solara
solstice
smartcar
sonoma
skylark
springfield
skittle
starfire
stratus
stingray
stylus
sunfire
stella
superbee
superleggera
suzuki
superbird
tacoma
swift
targa
taurus
tbird
tahoe
testarossa
tesla
terminator
timmins
torino
toronado
toronto
touareg
tribute
tundra
tsx
vanquish
versa
viper
vectra
volvo
volkswagen
vito
voyager
windstar
wrangler
yukon
yaris
xterra

[GatorCarl]

We are pushing out the changes shortly.

[GatorCarl]

Exim has been updated. Please let us know if you are on one of the servers listed and are having problems.

[bgsgrafix]

I am on the chevelle server and we were updated a few days ago. In the big post above you talk about spam assassin rewrites the word [SPAM] in the subject. This may be true as far as the headers go, but in the visual subject line that Outlook Express shows you do not see the [SPAM]

When we could specify the rewrite to something like *****SPAM***** we could create a message rule for Outlook Express and if it found *****SPAM***** in the subject, then move email to a certain folder.

With this new system Outlook Express cannot see the [SPAM] as it is not visible in the subject line?

So far we have both Box Trapper and Spam Assassin working together. Box Trapper is stopping mail and Spam Assassin is "Tagging" mail over 10 points (that is where we have it set). The only issue is Outlook Express cannot see the tag "[SPAM]".

If I look into the properties of the email I can see the [SPAM] tag on the subject line of the X-SPAM-Subject: [SPAM] yada yada yada

Why does Spam Assassin not rewrite the [SPAM] to the normal Subject line? That way Outlook Express would be able to filter using mail rules.

[ViragoTech]

I know that says resellers but since yesterday I can no longer send email, only recieve it.

I get unable to connect to SMPT server error messages and I know my mail client is set up right.

[tinytown]

Disappointed by these changes greatly.

Now I am forced to visually see all the spam I want to either check out or delete. I have know idea about any of the spam I get except now I get to see the Viagra messages with the naked women surrounded by pills. Putting the message in an attachment should be ALLOWED! So now how do I not see the message with out changing my configuration? I can't.

I think I adjusted the filters on the cpanel to work the way I wanted, but the rules in outlook express were the best way for me.

Really, really upset with these changes.

[GatorJosh]

ViragoTech: Only the servers listed in the first post were affected. Please email support and post your ticket ID here if it hasn't been resolved yet.


bgsgrafix: We found an issue that is causing the rewrites to not work on some of the servers. We are going to be pushing another update tonight so that all servers will have this feature. All servers listed in this ticket are rewriting the subject.

tinytown: We understand these changes can be frustrating and I am sure we can come up with a solution that works for you. Are you wanting emails marked as spam delivered to the accounts and then have outlook express filter the email from there? Do you have a ticket on this and could you give me the ticket id?

[Hoe]

Please update the help screens to reflect the changes. It still indicates that you can define the subject tag.

[bgsgrafix]

To GatorJosh
What tinytown is talking about is exactly what we were talking about at bgsgrafix. From what was said Spam Assassin was supposed to rewrite the subject with [SPAM]

If the update tonight works, that will solve many problems and we can then sort thru Message Rules in Outlook Express.

Currently if you go into the Properties of an email you will see the X-SPAM info and that is tagged, just not the visual Subject Line which Outlook Express sees and shows on screen and most importantly uses to sort using rules.

So, will all keep our fingers crossed that tonights update tags the visual subject line correctly and we can go on from there. PERIOD.

[GatorJosh]

Originally Posted by Hoe

Please update the help screens to reflect the changes. It still indicates that you can define the subject tag.

Thanks, we hope to have these updated within the next few days.

[GatorJosh]

Originally Posted by bgsgrafix

To GatorJosh
What tinytown is talking about is exactly what we were talking about at bgsgrafix. From what was said Spam Assassin was supposed to rewrite the subject with [SPAM]

If the update tonight works, that will solve many problems and we can then sort thru Message Rules in Outlook Express.

Currently if you go into the Properties of an email you will see the X-SPAM info and that is tagged, just not the visual Subject Line which Outlook Express sees and shows on screen and most importantly uses to sort using rules.

So, will all keep our fingers crossed that tonights update tags the visual subject line correctly and we can go on from there. PERIOD.

When I did some tests earlier today, I saw exactly what you were talking about, how the subject wasn't changed but was tagged in the header instead. I tested this on multiple servers so I am confident this will work. We are going to start the updates around 6:30pm CST tonight. You will likely see this change within an hour of that.

[bgsgrafix]

It's 9:09 PM EST and the update is working on the Chevelle server. Email that meets the threshold in Spam Assassin is being properly tagged on the subject line as [SPAM]

I have my customers that use this along with Outlook Express Mail Rules making the appropriate changes to recognize the change to [SPAM].

Thanks..........bgsgrafix

[GatorVincent]

All servers now have the new rules pushed out. We thank everyone for their patience with us.

[vermillion]

Oh, well that's why my spam wasn't highlighted red anymore...changed my highlight rule, back in business, thanks! haha.

[GatorJosh]

Originally Posted by Hoe

Please update the help screens to reflect the changes. It still indicates that you can define the subject tag.

The two videos have now been updated on our site. We also went through our KB and updated any related articles.

[tinytown]

Originally Posted by GatorJosh

tinytown: We understand these changes can be frustrating and I am sure we can come up with a solution that works for you. Are you wanting emails marked as spam delivered to the accounts and then have outlook express filter the email from there? Do you have a ticket on this and could you give me the ticket id?

Yes I do. QHJ-13108784

The agent assisting me was able to help me get by the lack of tagging in the subject and it seems the filters are working, but the under ++++++++++ spam that I want to manually filter once was in an attachment so I did not have to see the original email. I could go through the folder and read the subject and sender info to figure if it was legit or true spam. Now when I go through the messages I get to see the full spam message and some are extremely distasteful. So I wish it still put the spam in an attachment. I can live with the other change I guess.

[MikeC]

Originally Posted by tinytown

Yes I do. QHJ-13108784

The agent assisting me was able to help me get by the lack of tagging in the subject and it seems the filters are working, but the under ++++++++++ spam that I want to manually filter once was in an attachment so I did not have to see the original email. I could go through the folder and read the subject and sender info to figure if it was legit or true spam. Now when I go through the messages I get to see the full spam message and some are extremely distasteful. So I wish it still put the spam in an attachment. I can live with the other change I guess.

If I'm not mistaken, the SA option you're referring to (and is now set to '0' in the HG configurations) is the 'report_safe' option (Encapsulate Spam in Attachments) with a value setting of '1' (Use Attachments).

I to miss it being on and would like it back on.

Mike

[tinytown]

Originally Posted by MikeC

If I'm not mistaken, the SA option you're referring to (and is now set to '0' in the HG configurations) is the 'report_safe' option (Encapsulate Spam in Attachments) with a value setting of '1' (Use Attachments).

Yes that is it, the support agent added that option to my cpanel, but then realized the global setting for it is off and the addition would not help. Then I get no response for support here about the issue. I am rather disappointed now.

[GatorJosh]

We are sorry for the delay. At this time, we are unable to enable this option on our servers. We will continue to discuss this to see if this is something we can enable in the future. If this changes, we will be sure to post it here.

[tinytown]

Originally Posted by GatorJosh

We are sorry for the delay. At this time, we are unable to enable this option on our servers. We will continue to discuss this to see if this is something we can enable in the future. If this changes, we will be sure to post it here.

Not a happy customer anymore.

Why was this removed anyway? Is it a major load on the servers and causing alot of meltdowns?

[softwarecandy]

Originally Posted by tinytown

Really, really upset with these changes.

Perhaps a new approach on How To Stop Spam Email Correctly could help?

[tinytown]

Originally Posted by softwarecandy

Perhaps a new approach on How To Stop Spam Email Correctly could help?

Hmmmm...
Nice idea for personal website, I might even give it a try. The catch here is the current spam issue I am facing is through a business with several employees, and several email addresses. I do have unlimited addresses, but to get everyone to contact me every time they want to join and enter their email in a site could maybe be thousands after a year or 2.

[softwarecandy]

Originally Posted by tinytown

Hmmmm...
Nice idea for personal website, I might even give it a try.

Thank you.

Originally Posted by tinytown

The catch here is the current spam issue I am facing is through a business with several employees, and several email addresses. I do have unlimited addresses, but to get everyone to contact me every time they want to join and enter their email in a site could maybe be thousands after a year or 2.

I am working on improving the article and further clarifying this technique. You are correct that this is impractical for a case in which you need to announce your email address to thousands of site users.

My approach works better in a case where you give your email address to various websites. If it's always the same email address, you have no idea who started that barrage of spam... Using the technique I outlined, I was able to spot exactly who started spamming and kill that address. Sometimes the source of spam could be an innocent friend whose computer was hacked.

I am happy you found this tip worth consideration. At this point it is only a seed. I hope that you can develop it further and adapt it to your needs.

[MzKymz]

My clients and my personal domains are being bombareded with [SPAM] now. I can appreciate "progress" but I manage all of the domains on the reseller and I'm not happy about having to change and monitor all of the filters now when it's been working great for years.

Before I found this thread, I was told by one member of hostgator support that all of these domains were now getting spam from ..... "being part of newsletters, submitting to bogus web forms or, joining social networks".

"really?"

[mrcycling]

The markings on all of my SpamAssassin captured emails changed today, from [SPAM] to ***SPAM*** . Has SpamAssassin been reconfigured again ???