[clue-tech] weird dns problem

[Charles Oriez]

I'm running into a weird problem that I hope is the way the ISP managing 
dns has configured dns.

Sierra Club has an email server for its activists called 
grassroots.sierraclub.org  The server then has mx records assigned to it 
various state.sierraclub.org subdomains.  Mail is acccepted incoming only 
and forwarded to an address on the virtusertable.  For instance, email to 
oriez at colorado.sierraclub.org would be forwarded to coriez at oriez.org. SMTP 
is not configured.  So if I want to send from oriez at colorado.sierraclub.org 
I send it through my nilenet.com mail server.

An MX record for the grassroots server for the missouri subdomain is at the 
bottom of this problem description.

We get weird results under certain specific conditions.  If the person 
sends his mail out as example at missouri.sierraclub.org, missouri is replaced 
with grassroots in the from line when it has arrived at the end recipient's 
mailbox.

The senders sent from ATT and Comcast. Maybe ATT and Comcast are checking 
something and replacing it
It only occurs when the sender includes their own address in the to or cc list
We got it to happen with Outlook Build 10.0.6626 & Apple Mail (2.619). I 
can not duplicate using Eudora 6.2.
[I'll test later today with my wife's outlook client to make sure that the 
problem is the mail client and not the originating ISP]

dns is managed by level3
server is sendmail 8.12.8
OS is Red Hat 9.0
We do not have SPF configured, I think
Suggestions appreciated. I'm hoping that Level3 did something fixable wrong 
with the DNS that is causing Comcast and ATT to replace the address.

   ; <<>> DiG 9.2.1 <<>> missouri.sierraclub.org mx
;; global options:  printcmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 46610
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 1

;; QUESTION SECTION:
;missouri.sierraclub.org.       IN      MX

;; ANSWER SECTION:
missouri.sierraclub.org. 3576   IN      MX      10 grassroots.sierraclub.org.

;; ADDITIONAL SECTION:
grassroots.sierraclub.org. 3576 IN      A       207.174.21.172

;; Query time: 4 msec
;; SERVER: 207.174.21.1#53(207.174.21.1)
;; WHEN: Wed Jan 12 06:50:21 2005
;; MSG SIZE  rcvd: 84




-- 
Charles Oriez     coriez at oriez.org  39 34' 34.4"N / 105 00' 06.3"W    AIM 
ID caoriez
We could certainly slow the aging process down if it had to work its way 
through Congress.           ~W.C. Fields