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Large number of small files filling out /var/spool/exim/input directory

Discussion in 'E-mail Discussion' started by kavos1332, Apr 29, 2014.

  1. kavos1332

    kavos1332 Active Member

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    Hello experts,

    I have newly detected that on my server, a large number of small files are excessively filling out the /var/spool/exim/input directory which had caused my disk to run out of inodes while had planty of disk space. The number of files constantly growing EVEN when exim service is stopped. I know this directory belongs to mail queue but its so strange that creating new files does not stop when exim is stopped.

    Please help me to fix this strange issue.
    TIA
     
    #1 kavos1332, Apr 29, 2014
  2. vanessa

    vanessa Well-Known Member
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    Those are exim queue files. Would help for you to review their contents to see what exactly is dumping them in there.

    exim -bp (lists contents of the queue)

    exim -Mvh $message_id (shows header contents of the message in question)
     
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    #2 vanessa, Apr 29, 2014
  3. cPanelMichael

    cPanelMichael Technical Support Community Manager
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    Hello :)

    How many messages are in your mail queue? You can review the messages in your queue via WHM if you are not comfortable with the command line:

    "WHM Home » Email » Mail Queue Manager"

    Thank you.
     
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    #3 cPanelMichael, Apr 30, 2014
  4. kavos1332

    kavos1332 Active Member

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    Hi

    Exim is continuously trying to receive mails which are intended to be sent to non-existent mail accounts on existing domains. So queue is constantly filled out by message sent to accounts not exist on the server and they are left in the queue. Currently there are more than 500,000+ messages in the queue which is growing every minute. Obviously server is under a huge spam.

    How do I stop this?
    Please help me ASAP!
     
    #4 kavos1332, Apr 30, 2014
  5. cPanelMichael

    cPanelMichael Technical Support Community Manager
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    Twitter:
    You should ensure the "Default Address" for your domain names is configured to "Discard with error to sender" so that the emails bounce to the senders. This is configured using the "Default Address" option in cPanel. You can search for and delete the existing messages in the mail queue with "Mail Queue Manager" in WHM.

    Thank you.
     
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    #5 cPanelMichael, Apr 30, 2014
  6. kavos1332

    kavos1332 Active Member

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    How can I set this option for all domains massively at once?
     
    #6 kavos1332, Apr 30, 2014
  7. kavos1332

    kavos1332 Active Member

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    Default Address in all accounts is already set to the option you mentioned. Stopping exim does not stop creating new files in this dir!
     
    #7 kavos1332, Apr 30, 2014
  8. kavos1332

    kavos1332 Active Member

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    The issue is I cannot keep exim service stopped It starts by itself. I have disabled exim and eximstats in WHM->Service Manager.
     
    #8 kavos1332, Apr 30, 2014
  9. cPanelPeter

    cPanelPeter Technical Analyst III
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    Hello,

    Feel free to open a support ticket using the link in my signature. Then please paste the ticket number here so we can update this thread accordingly.
     
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    #9 cPanelPeter, May 1, 2014
  10. kavos1332

    kavos1332 Active Member

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    Hi

    I have configured my firewall (CSF) to allow only 100 incoming connections per 60 seconds on port 25. But when I check the count of files in /var/spool/exim/input using "ls -la | wc -l" command, I see hundreds of new files are constantly added within a very few seconds. Its more malicious than to be a large spam attack!

    Please help me to investigate this issue.
    TIA
     
    #10 kavos1332, May 4, 2014
  11. vanessa

    vanessa Well-Known Member
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    Mail logs, bro.

    /var/log/exim_mainlog

    You should see what's dumping all that email into the queue.
     
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    #11 vanessa, May 4, 2014
  12. kavos1332

    kavos1332 Active Member

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    The problem is that Exim does not discard email coming to users that does not exist. Instead, it freezes the message in the mail queue. So al large number of messages are frozen and stored in the queue. The bellow is what is logged for each incoming message:

    Code:
    2014-05-06 22:39:00 1WhjnX-0008RS-VB ** juana_spears@karmano.co R=virtual_aliases: No Such User Here
2014-05-06 22:39:00 1WhjnX-0008RS-VB Frozen (delivery error message)
    How do I configure Exim to discard theses messages? How do I stop this attack?
     
    #12 kavos1332, May 6, 2014
  13. cPanelMichael

    cPanelMichael Technical Support Community Manager
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    Is this happening even after the queue was cleared, or is the queue filled with messages when this happens?

    Thank you.
     
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    #13 cPanelMichael, May 6, 2014
  14. kavos1332

    kavos1332 Active Member

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    Hi

    While server is online messages are coming and become frozen and are stored there. When I clear the queue manually by rm command, it fills again within a few seconds. When I stop exim, it starts again and same happens. The only when I could find was to manually make a typo in exim.conf so it cannot start automatically. In that case queue stays free.
     
    #14 kavos1332, May 6, 2014
  15. cPanelMichael

    cPanelMichael Technical Support Community Manager
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    Twitter:
    At this point, the best course of action in my opinion would be to investigate the source of the abusive emails. Have you tried blocking the IP addresses of the mail servers that are sending these messages with a firewall?

    Thank you.
     
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    #15 cPanelMichael, May 7, 2014
  16. kavos1332

    kavos1332 Active Member

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    How do I see the source IP? Should I do it by viewing each file located in /var/spool/exim/input/ ?
     
    #16 kavos1332, May 7, 2014
  17. cPanelMichael

    cPanelMichael Technical Support Community Manager
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    Twitter:
    Check the recent Exim activity with a command such as:

    Code:
    tail -500 /var/log/exim_mainlog
    Also, yes, you could review the actual message headers with a command such as:

    Code:
    exim -Mvh messageID
    Thank you.
     
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    #17 cPanelMichael, May 7, 2014
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