Detecting 'Open Relays'

[bidware]

Is it possible to detect Open Relays on the server? It seems that some of our outgoing email can't get through, as it has been added to several blacklists. Doesn't cPanel normally create hosting accounts that are secure? Any suggestions? Thanks.

[jalal]

Do a google for 'open relay checker', you will find several sites that will check for you.

cPanel sites are normally setup secure.

HTH

[bidware]

Thanks. However, I tried some of the sites, and the sites say that my servers is not open. But, some emails are not getting sent due to blacklisting. Is there any way in cPanel to check for this. Any ideas?

[chirpy]

Unless you've seriously messed around with the exim configuration editor or exim.conf yourself, then you won't have an open relay of your SMTP server. However, you could have a spammer on your server either using a form to email script, or some other compromise, to spam through your server and that's the most likely reason you've been blacklisted.

To track something like that down, you're going to need to pay attention to your eixm mainlog and check the usual places for spamming scripts. It's also a good idea to turn on extended exim logging to track back where exim was intitated from which will usually lead you to the offending script.

If you don't know how to do the above, do some more research on these forums, or hire someone who can help you with it as it's not a simple task.

[networxhosting]

Then why do my cpanel servers fail an open relay test. I haven't done anything to my exim.conf that would open them up to being relays.

RSET
503 sender not yet given
MAIL FROM: spam@cp3.hostserve.net
250 Reset OK
RCPT TO: test1@checkor.com
Test Failed, 250 OK

RSET
550-Verification failed for 550-Unrouteable address 550 Sender verify failed
MAIL FROM: spam@cp3.hostserve.net
250 Reset OK
RCPT TO: test1@checkor.com
Test Failed, 250 OK

RSET
550-Verification failed for 550-Unrouteable address 550 Sender verify failed
MAIL FROM: spam@cp3.hostserve.net
250 Reset OK
RCPT TO: test1@cp3.hostserve.net
Test Failed, 250 OK

RSET
550-Verification failed for 550-Unrouteable address 550 Sender verify failed
MAIL FROM: spam@cp3.hostserve.net
250 Reset OK
RCPT TO: "test1@test.com"@cp3.hostserve.net
Test Failed, 250 OK

RSET
550-Verification failed for 550-Unrouteable address 550 Sender verify failed
MAIL FROM: spam@cp3.hostserve.net
250 Reset OK
RCPT TO: @cp3.hostserve.net:spamtest@checkor.com
Test Failed, 250 OK

[chirpy]

That doesn't mean it is an open relay, just that the email wasn't rejected during RCPT but could have done so later. You'd have to check your exim_mainlog to see if the emails wree actually relayed. With a default cPanel configuration of exim they won't have been.