Postfix Hide Client (MUA) System IP Address / Hostname

in Categories , , , , , , , , , last updated June 17, 2009

I‘ve central mail server gateway. All of our internal systems through this box. How do I remove or hide the hostnames and IP addresses of our internal systems from the messages headers before they go out to other users for security purpose?

Postfix MTA can filter headers using header_check (built-in content inspection) directive. Open main.cf file, enter:
# vi /etc/postfix/main.cf
Now, turn on local recipient checking in the SMTP server, specify the header_checks parameter specifies an optional table with patterns:

header_checks = regexp:/etc/postfix/header_checks

Save and close the file. Create /etc/postfix/header_checks file, enter:
# vi /etc/postfix/header_checks
Ignore 127.0.0.1, 10.24.55.1 and 192.168.0.[0-9] IP address (regex) from the headers :

/^Received:.*\[127\.0\.0\.1/      IGNORE
/^Received:.*\[10\.24\.55\.1/ IGNORE
/^Received:.*\[192\.168\.0\.[0-9]/      IGNORE

# postmap /etc/postfix/header_check
# service postfix reload
OR
# service postfix restart
See header_check(5) man page for further details.

Posted by: Vivek Gite

The author is the creator of nixCraft and a seasoned sysadmin, DevOps engineer, and a trainer for the Linux operating system/Unix shell scripting. Get the latest tutorials on SysAdmin, Linux/Unix and open source topics via RSS/XML feed or weekly email newsletter.

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5 comment

  3. Hi Expert,
    In my case, i want to remove (Postfix) pattern to hide my mail system brand
    ===by mail.domain.com (Postfix) with ESMTPSA id 7C24D5E37B===
    How can i change to:
    ===by mail.domain.com with ESMTPSA id 7C24D5E37B===

    Received: from Simon-Vs-MBCuiPap.local (unknown [118.69.224.5])
    (using TLSv1 with cipher DHE-RSA-CAMELLIA256-SHA (256/256 bits))
    (No client certificate requested)
    (Authenticated sender: user@domain.com)
    by mail.domain.com (Postfix) with ESMTPSA id 7C24D5E37B
    for ; Wed, 16 May 2012 15:40:33 +0800 (SGT)

    1. Hi Simon

      Currently i am having same issues.if you do have fixed it please let me know.
      But as i check my log file it shows my relaymail server hostname and its ip address.
      or do you have idea how do i check my postfix config is working?

  4. Is searching by the IP rage [0-9] working for anyone? I had it work once but can’t get it work after a while. For the life of me, I can’t figure out if the syntax is right or not.

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