Outbound SMTP connections are unrestricted

kers7754

• July 22, 2014 12:18

Using csf, I set this option: SMTP_BLOCK .. but doing so means that my wordpress sites that use google's smtp to send email stop working. If I remove that block, every thing works fine. What is the correct way to enable websites to send email through SMTP servers without opening my server up to the probability of email abuse? Should wordpress and joomla sites be using phpmail or sendmail?

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  Echelon17

  • July 23, 2014 00:38

  That is exactly the purpose of the SMTP_BLOCK feature - to stop scripts sending mail through external servers (such as Gmail). It is working exactly as intended. Since CSF is not part of cPanel I'd recommend contacting the script developer(s) directly for further assistance.

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  cPanelMichael

  • July 23, 2014 12:55

  Hello :) I believe you can utilize the "SMTP_ALLOWUSER" rule to allow specific users to circumvent the restriction implemented by CSF. You may want to post on the CSF support forums for clarifications on the best way to exclude certain users or mail servers. Thank you.

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  kers7754

  • July 24, 2014 22:53

  I assumed that using an external SMTP that you had to authenticate to was the most secure way to protect against email abuse. So should all email go through phpmail (MTA)? I guess if it does, it can be monitored.

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  Echelon17

  • July 24, 2014 23:03

  That's the point of the SMTP_BLOCK feature, to prevent people bypassing local mail restrictions by sending mail through a third party or external server directly. Authentication to the third party service does not make this secure at all, and chances are you won't even know mail is being sent out this way. If you want full control over all of your servers outbound e-mail you should enable this option. Please only do so if you are aware of what it does and how it will affect you. If in doubt, contact Configserver for more information.

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  boyla

  • September 22, 2020 13:16

  Hello, If the server is only me using, it is safe to disable SMTP_BLOCK in csf? because I want to use external SMTP server. Thanks

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