I'm getting the following error:
2026-04-15T00:13:46.607535-07:00 clientmail sm-mta[8049]:
63F7ABQQ008049: [61.179.73.179] did not issue MAIL/EXPN/VRFY/ETRN during
connection to MTA-v4
2026-04-15T00:13:48.678813-07:00 clientmail sm-mta[8050]:
63F7ACVg008050: milter_sys_read(spamassassin): cmd read returned 71,
expecting 1397768524
2026-04-15T00:13:48.679060-07:00 clientmail sm-mta[8050]:
63F7ACVg008050: Milter (spamassassin): to error state
2026-04-15T00:13:48.679149-07:00 clientmail sm-mta[8050]:
63F7ACVg008050: Milter (spamassassin): init failed to open
2026-04-15T00:13:48.679251-07:00 clientmail sm-mta[8050]:
63F7ACVg008050: Milter (spamassassin): to error state
2026-04-15T00:13:48.684820-07:00 clientmail sm-mta[8054]:
63F7AWUo008054: milter_sys_read(spamassassin): cmd read returned 71,
expecting 1397768524
2026-04-15T00:13:48.685048-07:00 clientmail sm-mta[8054]:
63F7AWUo008054: Milter (spamassassin): to error state
2026-04-15T00:13:48.685131-07:00 clientmail sm-mta[8054]:
63F7AWUo008054: Milter (spamassassin): init failed to open
2026-04-15T00:13:48.685210-07:00 clientmail sm-mta[8054]:
63F7AWUo008054: Milter (spamassassin): to error state
Machine particulars:
root@clientmail:/var/log# lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 24.04.4 LTS
Release: 24.04
Codename: noble
root@clientmail:/var/log#
root@clientmail:/var/log# sendmail -d0.1 -bv root
Version 8.18.1
Compiled with: DNSMAP IPV6_FULL LDAPMAP LDAP_NETWORK_TIMEOUT
LDAP_REFERRALS LOG MAP_REGEX MATCHGECOS MAXDAEMONS=64
MILTER
MIME7TO8 MIME8TO7 NAMED_BIND NETINET NETINET6 NETUNIX
NEWDB=5.3
NIS NISPLUS PIPELINING SASLv2 SCANF SOCKETMAP STARTTLS
TCPWRAPPERS TLS_EC TLS_VRFY_PER_CTX USERDB
USE_LDAP_INIT XDEBUG
============ SYSTEM IDENTITY (after readcf) ============
(short domain name) $w = clientmail
(canonical domain name) $j = clientmail.jennyjenny.net
(subdomain name) $m = jennyjenny.net
(node name) $k = clientmail
========================================================
root... deliverable: mailer local, user root
root@clientmail:/var/log#
root@clientmail:/var/log# ps -ef | grep spamd
root 7854 1 0 00:02 ? 00:00:02 /usr/bin/perl -T -w
/usr/sbin/spamd --pidfile=/run/spamd.pid --create-prefs --max-children 5
--helper-home-dir /var/lib/spamassassin -s
/var/log/spamassassin/spamd.log --socketpath=/var/run/spamass.sock
--socketowner=debian-spamd --socketgroup=debian-spamd --socketmode=0660
root 7857 7854 0 00:02 ? 00:00:01 spamd child
root 7858 7854 0 00:02 ? 00:00:01 spamd child
root 7859 7854 0 00:02 ? 00:00:01 spamd child
root 7876 7854 0 00:03 ? 00:00:01 spamd child
root 7877 7854 0 00:03 ? 00:00:01 spamd child
root 8375 1308 0 00:22 pts/1 00:00:00 grep --color=auto spamd
root@clientmail:/var/log#
root@clientmail:/etc/mail# cat sendmail.mc
divert(-1)dnl
#-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
# $Sendmail: debproto.mc,v 8.18.1 2024-03-15 01:52:07 cowboy Exp $
#
# Copyright (c) 1998-2010 Richard Nelson. All Rights Reserved.
#
# cf/debian/sendmail.mc. Generated from sendmail.mc.in by configure.
#
# sendmail.mc prototype config file for building Sendmail 8.18.1
#
# Note: the .in file supports 8.15.0 - 9.0.0, but the generated
# file is customized to the version noted above.
#
# This file is used to configure Sendmail for use with Debian systems.
#
# If you modify this file, you will have to regenerate /etc/mail/sendmail.cf
# by running this file through the m4 preprocessor via one of the following:
# * make (or make -C /etc/mail)
# * sendmailconfig
# * m4 /etc/mail/sendmail.mc > /etc/mail/sendmail.cf
# The first two options are preferred as they will also update other files
# that depend upon the contents of this file.
#
# The best documentation for this .mc file is:
# /usr/share/doc/sendmail-doc/cf.README.gz
#
#-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
divert(0)dnl
#
# Copyright (c) 1998-2005 Richard Nelson. All Rights Reserved.
#
# This file is used to configure Sendmail for use with Debian systems.
#
define(`_USE_ETC_MAIL_')dnl
include(`/usr/share/sendmail/cf/m4/cf.m4')dnl
VERSIONID(`$Id: sendmail.mc, v 8.18.1-2 2024-03-15 01:52:07 cowboy Exp $')
OSTYPE(`debian')dnl
DOMAIN(`debian-mta')dnl
dnl # Items controlled by /etc/mail/sendmail.conf - DO NOT TOUCH HERE
undefine(`confHOST_STATUS_DIRECTORY')dnl #DAEMON_HOSTSTATS=
dnl # Items controlled by /etc/mail/sendmail.conf - DO NOT TOUCH HERE
dnl #
dnl # General defines
dnl #
dnl # SAFE_FILE_ENV: [undefined] If set, sendmail will do a chroot()
dnl # into this directory before writing files.
dnl # If *all* your user accounts are under /home then use that
dnl # instead - it will prevent any writes outside of /home !
dnl # define(`confSAFE_FILE_ENV', `')dnl
dnl #
dnl # Daemon options - restrict to servicing LOCALHOST ONLY !!!
dnl # Remove `, Addr=' clauses to receive from any interface
dnl # If you want to support IPv6, switch the commented/uncommentd lines
dnl #
FEATURE(`no_default_msa')dnl
dnl DAEMON_OPTIONS(`Family=inet6, Name=MTA-v6, Port=smtp, Addr=::1')dnl
DAEMON_OPTIONS(`Family=inet, Name=MTA-v4, Port=smtp, Addr=127.0.0.1')dnl
DAEMON_OPTIONS(`Family=inet, Name=MTA-v4, Port=smtp, Addr=86.75.30.9')dnl
dnl DAEMON_OPTIONS(`Family=inet6, Name=MSP-v6, Port=submission, M=Ea,
Addr=::1')dnl
DAEMON_OPTIONS(`Family=inet, Name=MSP-v4, Port=submission, M=Ea,
Addr=127.0.0.1')dnl
dnl #
dnl # Be somewhat anal in what we allow
define(`confPRIVACY_FLAGS',dnl
`needmailhelo,needexpnhelo,needvrfyhelo,restrictqrun,restrictexpand,nobodyreturn,authwarnings')dnl
dnl #
dnl # Define connection throttling and window length
define(`confCONNECTION_RATE_THROTTLE', `15')dnl
define(`confCONNECTION_RATE_WINDOW_SIZE',`10m')dnl
dnl #
dnl # Features
dnl #
dnl # use /etc/mail/local-host-names
FEATURE(`use_cw_file')dnl
dnl #
dnl # The access db is the basis for most of sendmail's checking
FEATURE(`access_db', , `skip')dnl
dnl #
dnl # The greet_pause feature stops some automail bots - but check the
dnl # provided access db for details on excluding localhosts...
FEATURE(`greet_pause', `1000')dnl 1 seconds
dnl #
dnl # Delay_checks allows sender<->recipient checking
FEATURE(`delay_checks', `friend', `n')dnl
dnl #
dnl # If we get too many bad recipients, slow things down...
define(`confBAD_RCPT_THROTTLE',`3')dnl
dnl #
dnl # Stop connections that overflow our concurrent and time connection
rates
FEATURE(`conncontrol', `nodelay', `terminate')dnl
FEATURE(`ratecontrol', `nodelay', `terminate')dnl
dnl #
dnl # If you're on a dialup link, you should enable this - so sendmail
dnl # will not bring up the link (it will queue mail for later)
dnl define(`confCON_EXPENSIVE',`True')dnl
dnl #
dnl # Dialup/LAN connection overrides
dnl #
include(`/etc/mail/m4/dialup.m4')dnl
include(`/etc/mail/m4/provider.m4')dnl
dnl #
FEATURE(virtusertable, `hash -o /etc/mail/virtusertable')
dnl # Default Mailer setup
include(`/etc/mail/spamassassin/spamassassin.m4')dnl
MAILER_DEFINITIONS
MAILER(`local')dnl
MAILER(`smtp')dnl
root@clientmail:/etc/mail#
root@clientmail:/var/log# cat /etc/mail/spamassassin/spamassassin.m4
dnl
dnl Process mail through spamassassin
dnl
define(`confMILTER_MACROS_ENVFROM', `i, {auth_type}, {auth_authen},
{auth_ssf}, {auth_author}, {mail_mailer}, {mail_host}, {mail_addr}, r,
b, v, Z')dnl
INPUT_MAIL_FILTER(`spamassassin', `S=local:/var/run/spamass.sock, F=,
T=C:15m;S:4m;R:4m;E:10m')dnl
root@clientmail:/var/log#
root@clientmail:/var/log# tail -20 /var/log/spamassassin/spamd.log
Wed Apr 15 00:28:40 2026 [7876] warn: spamd: bad protocol: header error:
\x{00}\x{00}\x{00}\rO\x{00}\x{00}\x{00}\x{06}\x{00}\x{00}\x{01}\x{FF}\x{00}\x{1F}\x{FF}\x{FF}
Wed Apr 15 00:28:40 2026 [7876] info: spamd: got connection over
/var/run/spamass.sock
Wed Apr 15 00:28:40 2026 [7854] info: prefork: child states: BBBBB
Wed Apr 15 00:28:40 2026 [7854] info: prefork: server reached
--max-children setting, consider raising it
Wed Apr 15 00:28:45 2026 [7858] warn: spamd: bad protocol: header error:
\x{00}\x{00}\x{00}\rO\x{00}\x{00}\x{00}\x{06}\x{00}\x{00}\x{01}\x{FF}\x{00}\x{1F}\x{FF}\x{FF}
Wed Apr 15 00:28:45 2026 [7854] info: prefork: child states: BBBBB
Wed Apr 15 00:28:45 2026 [7858] info: spamd: got connection over
/var/run/spamass.sock
Wed Apr 15 00:28:45 2026 [7854] info: prefork: server reached
--max-children setting, consider raising it
Wed Apr 15 00:28:49 2026 [7859] warn: spamd: timeout: (30 second socket
timeout reading input from client)
Wed Apr 15 00:28:49 2026 [7854] info: prefork: child states: BBBBB
Wed Apr 15 00:28:49 2026 [7859] info: spamd: got connection over
/var/run/spamass.sock
Wed Apr 15 00:28:49 2026 [7854] info: prefork: server reached
--max-children setting, consider raising it
Wed Apr 15 00:28:55 2026 [7857] warn: spamd: timeout: (30 second socket
timeout reading input from client)
Wed Apr 15 00:28:55 2026 [7854] info: prefork: child states: BBBBB
Wed Apr 15 00:28:55 2026 [7857] info: spamd: got connection over
/var/run/spamass.sock
Wed Apr 15 00:28:55 2026 [7854] info: prefork: server reached
--max-children setting, consider raising it
Wed Apr 15 00:29:04 2026 [7877] warn: spamd: timeout: (30 second socket
timeout reading input from client)
Wed Apr 15 00:29:04 2026 [7877] info: spamd: got connection over
/var/run/spamass.sock
Wed Apr 15 00:29:04 2026 [7854] info: prefork: child states: BBBBB
Wed Apr 15 00:29:04 2026 [7854] info: prefork: server reached
--max-children setting, consider raising it
root@clientmail:/var/log#
What in the world does:
cmd read returned 71, expecting 1397768524
mean???
Thanks,
Ted
