[PLUG] MTA Rejecting .pdf Attachments

Aaron Burt aaron at bavariati.org
Wed Apr 12 16:37:47 UTC 2006


On Wed, Apr 12, 2006 at 08:50:54AM -0700, Rich Shepard wrote:
>   I've tried to send an email message with .pdf attachments to someone at an
> organization that runs only Microsoft. Apparently, whatever malware detector
> they've installed and configured sees that file extension as something
> dangersous, so the messages are not delivered to the intended recipient. I'm
> not the only one whose mail with innocuous attachments ends up in the bit
> bucket.
> 
>   Is this common in the Microsoft world, or could they have mis-configured
> whatever they're using?

Yes to both.  I haven't the faintest idea why they'd block PDFs, but
basically everything useful Winders users would want to attach to email
(.DOC, .XLS, .ZIP, .JPG) has been used to carry viruses/worms.

I've seen mail setups that filter most attachments, put 'em on a web
server and substitute an URL in the message.  Also helps with those
pesky "Ooh!  Everyone look at this 10MB video!" email storms.




More information about the PLUG mailing list