Audit 2026-10-12, stage 2c, the owner's decision of 2026-10-14: the check
decides by the address OpenDKIM signs for, whatever a display name or a
comment holds.
internal/milter/mailparse.go ports libopendkim's dkim_mail_parse() with
dkim_mail_first_special(), dkim_mail_token() and
dkim_mail_matching_paren() from Debian's opendkim 2.11.0~beta2-8+deb12u1,
line for line: the '<' form, group and list punctuation, an '@' before the
first ':', ';' or ',' deciding where the address starts, source routes
dropped, quoted strings and domain literals kept with their delimiters,
comments skipped, whitespace between atoms one space, no encoded word
decoded; and the C's own quirks ("@d" gives d as the local part too).
testdata/mailparse_harness.c compiles the C from the image's source; the
test feeds it and the port 200 019 lines (the hand-written cases and
200 000 random ones over the specials) - 93 443 parse and agree byte for
byte, 106 576 fail and agree on the error (on an error the C leaves its
in-place result unterminated, and OpenDKIM uses neither part then).
judge(): one From: field and one address stay required (moreAfter: only
list or group punctuation may follow); what OpenDKIM cannot read is
refused (mlfi_eoh() would not sign it); the address is lower-cased in
ASCII only, as dkimf_lowercase() and Postfix's tables do. Found reading
dkimf_apply_signtable(): OpenDKIM matches its refile SigningTable against
"user@domain" printed into MAXADDRESS + 1 = 257 bytes, so a longer address
is matched cut short - a quoted local part padded to end there in
"@another.tenant" would be signed with that tenant's key while its real
domain is the application's. Such an address (over 256 bytes) is refused;
one that fits is matched whole. The display-name and comment scan, the
"one @ outside quotes" rule and the SigningTable reader (Signers) go; the
check asks for header values with their leading space as OpenDKIM does
(OptHeaderLeadingSpace; Postfix keeps a v2 milter's event mask, milter8.c
milter8_negotiate()).
L8 closed: refused or passed no longer depends on other domains of the
server; security.md's accepted risk is struck. The shared other-sender
lines are now held to "never signed for the other sender": unit test (a
passed line is read at the application's domain) and e2e (a passed line
arrives signed for the application's domain, none for the other).
Documents: architecture "How the header is read", security's sender
check paragraph, the guide; the help topic per 2cf118c.
Stand (2026-10-15, make e2e, exit 0): sender_check_holds_the_from_line -
another sender's address in the display name now passes; a From: whose
quoted local part is padded so that, cut at 256 bytes, it ends in
"@other.e2e.test" is refused 550 5.7.1 "the address is longer than
OpenDKIM reads whole"; lines_naming_another_sender_never_signed_for_it
and passed_from_lines_signed_for_their_domain_only pass. go vet and go
test ./... pass on the server (24 packages); the differential test ran
there against the compiled C.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
SelfPost
Self-hosted SMTP relay with a web panel — one Docker image, no provider.
Postfix, OpenDKIM, and a small Go panel run together under supervisord; you
configure domains, DKIM keys, and SASL applications once, then point your apps
at the SMTP endpoint.
SelfPost sends mail straight to the internet from your own IP, with per-domain DKIM signing. No mailboxes or webmail. An optional inbound relay (backup-MX / forwarder on port 25) forwards to an upstream; it does not store mail.
For: operators who run their own VPS or home server and want a simple relay they control, without a third-party SMTP provider.
Key properties: one container, multi-domain DKIM, SASL per application, send log and DNS checks in the panel, encrypted backups.
Features
- Outbound SMTP (465/smtps; optional 587 submission) with per-domain DKIM signing
- Optional inbound relay on port 25 (backup-MX / forwarder; off by default)
- Optional DMARC aggregate report ingest on port 25 (off by default)
- In-panel Help: a page of topics, opened from the
?in the head of a box - Per-application client IP allow-list for SMTP AUTH (optional)
- Web panel grouped by mail direction — Overview, Outbound (domains, log, queue, DMARC reports), Inbound, Server (health, system log, backup, users, settings)
- Multi-domain relay — each SASL application is bound to one sending domain
- DNS status checks (PTR, SPF, DKIM, DMARC) with in-panel re-check
- Two-level rate limiting — IP backstop (Postfix), per-domain ceilings, and trusted-IP app overrides
- Full-server backup and single-domain export/import (optional password encryption)
- Single Docker image; production data in a
./databind mount (the quick start below uses a named Docker volume instead)
Documentation
| Document | Contents |
|---|---|
| Operator guide | Reverse proxy, environment variables, DNS, IP warmup, panel operations, rate limiting, backup/restore, ports, image tag |
| Product boundaries | Purpose, deployment assumptions, out-of-scope items, multi-domain model |
| Architecture | As-built technical design |
| Security design | Mandatory requirements, accepted risks, the CSRF ADR |
| Development | Building, testing, docs rules, model routing, commits |
| Roadmap | Open work (1.x+) — direction, not commitments |
| CHANGELOG | Release history |
Found a vulnerability? Do not open an issue — SECURITY.md has the private reporting channel and the scope.
Repository: https://github.com/mixeme/selfpost — source, issues, releases, and
the ghcr.io/mixeme/selfpost image.
Requirements
Providing these is the operator's job — SelfPost cannot fix a blocked port or a missing PTR record for you. Details: Operator guide.
Platform
- Docker + Compose v2 on the host
- A reverse proxy in front of the panel (SelfPost never terminates HTTPS itself)
- Rough sizing: 1 vCPU, 512 MB–1 GB RAM, 8–10 GB disk (send log and
rotated
mail.logare the main growth drivers; both sit in the./datavolume, and both are capped — 90 days and 14 files by default)
Network and IP
- Static IP address
- Outbound TCP port 25 unblocked (many consumer/cloud hosts block it by default)
- PTR/rDNS for that IP pointing at your mail hostname (
SELFPOST_HOSTNAME) - Reasonable starting IP reputation — a fresh IP still needs warmup
Per sending domain
For every domain you add in the panel:
- SPF TXT record authorizing this server
- DKIM TXT record (value shown on the domain page)
- DMARC
_dmarcTXT record
See Domain-level DNS in the operator guide.
Per inbound domain (optional)
Only if you turn on inbound relay (INBOUND_RELAY_ENABLE=true):
- MX record pointing at
SELFPOST_HOSTNAME(keep any existing primary MX if this host is backup-MX)
See Inbound relay in the operator guide.
Quick start
First boot — create the admin account. On a fresh container SelfPost prints a one-time setup URL (valid ten minutes). Open it in a browser to choose the administrator username and password. Until you do, the panel has no login. Production deploy: Full deployment in the operator guide.
One container, panel at http://127.0.0.1:8080 — no reverse proxy, no TLS
files, no compose files. Good for clicking through the UI on your machine;
outbound mail will not reach the real internet without DNS, PTR, and port 25.
The 2.x line is not published on ghcr.io yet (the newest image there is
1.3.0). Until it is, build the image from this checkout under the name the commands below anddeploy/docker-compose.ymluse; Docker then takes the local image and pulls nothing:docker build -f build/Dockerfile --build-arg VERSION=2.5.1 \ -t ghcr.io/mixeme/selfpost:2.5.1 .
docker run --rm -d --name selfpost-try \
-p 127.0.0.1:8080:8080 \
-e SELFPOST_HOSTNAME=mail.local.test \
-e PANEL_COOKIE_SECURE=false \
-v selfpost-try-data:/data \
ghcr.io/mixeme/selfpost:2.5.1
Get the setup URL (pick one):
docker logs selfpost-try 2>&1 | grep -m1 'http'
docker exec selfpost-try cat /data/setup-token
The printed URL is https://mail.local.test/setup/<token>. For this local
trial rewrite it to http://127.0.0.1:8080/setup/<token> (same path token;
PANEL_COOKIE_SECURE=false so the cookie works over plain HTTP). Open it
before it expires.
When finished:
docker rm -f selfpost-try && docker volume rm selfpost-try-data
More detail (limitations, optional throwaway TLS for local SMTP): Local trial in the operator guide.
Reference deploy
Production layout: one docker-compose.yml, a .env, persistent ./data, and
TLS PEM files at ./certs (read by Postfix on 465/587). The panel is reached
only through a reverse proxy on 443 — port 8080 is bound to localhost in the
default compose file.
Full walkthrough — fetching the base files, setting up a reverse proxy and TLS (Apache/nginx/Caddy/Traefik), starting the container, and wiring up DNS — lives in the operator guide's Full deployment section, with proxy-specific commands under Reverse proxy.
The compose file always publishes 465, 587, and 25; Postfix listens
on 587 only when SUBMISSION_ENABLE=true, and on 25 when
INBOUND_RELAY_ENABLE=true and/or DMARC_REPORTS_ENABLE=true (see
Ports). Bump the
pinned image tag deliberately when upgrading, never :latest (why). Optional
variables (TRUSTED_PROXY_CIDR, rate limits, retention): see Environment
variables.
License
Copyright © 2026 Mikhail Yenuchenko.
AGPL-3.0. The AGPL closes the "SaaS loophole": if you run a modified version as a network-accessible service, you must make the modified source available to its users — not only when you distribute copies of the code. Third-party notices: NOTICE.