Absolute Beginners Guide For Finding P4 Bugs (With Real Example!)-Part 2

Hey guys! I’m back with some easy bugs to catch for beginners and I hope you’ll implemented if you’re starting out. So lets get into it.

DMARC stands for Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance. Quite mouthful; it is basically an email authentication protocol that helps organizations protect their domains from email spoofing, phishing attacks, and other email-based threats.

How does it work?

DMARC relies on two authentication mechanisms: SPF (Sender Policy Framework) and DKIM (Domain Keys Identified Mail).

SPF (Sender Policy Framework)

SPF is an email authentication protocol that allows domain owners to define which mail servers are authorized to send emails on behalf of their domain. When an email is received, the recipient’s mail server checks the SPF record of the sender’s domain to verify if the sending mail server is listed as an authorized sender. If the sending mail server is not listed in the SPF record, the email may be flagged as potentially spoofed or unauthorized. SPF helps prevent email spoofing and unauthorized use of domain names in email headers, thereby reducing the risk of phishing attacks and email fraud.

DKIM (Domain Keys Identified Mail)

DKIM is another email authentication mechanism that uses cryptographic signatures to verify the authenticity and integrity of email messages. DKIM signatures include a cryptographic hash of the email message’s content, which allows the recipient’s mail server to verify that the message has not been altered in transit. DKIM helps prevent email tampering, forgery, and modification during transit, ensuring that the content of the email remains intact and trustworthy. With DKIM, the sender’s mail server signs outgoing emails with a private key, and the recipient’s mail server can then verify the signature using the corresponding public key published in the sender’s DNS records.

How does DMARC Record look like?

It looks something like this —