Here is everything I could think of that might pertain to this, as currently configured on my dedicated server. It's all fresh! :)
## SYSTEM ## Fedora 10 Postfix 2.55 Dovecot 1.2.rc2 Spamassassin 3.2.5 SELinux (no SELinux restrictions. Testing done with SELinux=permissive.) SASLAuthd (not required for local delivery) ## dovecot -n ## # 1.2.rc2: /usr/local/etc/dovecot.conf # OS: Linux 2.6.27.15-170.2.24.fc10.i686 i686 Fedora rel 10 (Cambridge) protocols: imaps listen: *:993 ssl_cert_file: /etc/pki/dovecot/certs/dovecot.pem ssl_key_file: /etc/pki/dovecot/private/dovecot.pem login_dir: /usr/local/var/run/dovecot/login login_executable: /usr/local/libexec/dovecot/imap-login first_valid_gid: 0 mail_location: maildir:~/Maildir auth default: passdb: driver: pam userdb: driver: passwd ## /usr/local/etc/dovecot.conf ## socket listen { master { path = /var/run/dovecot/auth-master mode = 0666 # user = group = dovecot } client { path = /var/run/dovecot/auth-client mode = 0666 # user = group = dovecot } } ## POSTFIX CONFIG ## /etc/postfix/main.cf: mailbox_transport = spamassassin /etc/postfix/master.cf: spamassassin unix - n n - - pipe user=spam:dovecot argv=/usr/bin/spamc -f -e /usr/libexec/dovecot/deliver -f ${sender} -d ${user} -m ${extension} ## PERMISSIONS / OWNERSHIP ## /usr/local/libexec/dovecot: -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 197513 2009-04-03 13:52 checkpassword-reply -rwxr-xr-x 1 root dovecot 4044835 2009-04-14 13:52 deliver -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 1044608 2009-04-03 13:52 dovecot-auth /var/run: drwxrwxrwx 3 root dovecot 4096 2009-04-14 12:07 dovecot /var/run/dovecot: drwxr-x--- 2 root dovecot 4096 2009-04-09 06:56 login /usr/bin/spamassassin: -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 27023 2008-09-04 14:51 spamassassin /home/user: drwx------ 4 user dovecot 4096 2009-04-14 12:00 user ## 'ps aux' OUTPUT (trimmed) ## root Ss 11:14 0:02 /usr/local/sbin/dovecot root S 12:07 0:00 dovecot-auth root S 12:07 0:00 dovecot-auth -w root Ss 11:14 0:31 /usr/bin/spamd -d -c -m5 -H --username spam -r \ /var/run/spamd.pid spam S 11:14 0:27 spamd child spam S 11:14 0:08 spamd child ## 'ps aux | grep deliver' numerous times until I caught one: ## postfix S 12:47 0:00 pipe -n spamassassin -t unix user=spam:dovecot \ argv=/usr/bin/spamc -f -e /usr/libexec/dovecot/deliver -f ${sender} \ -d ${user} -m ${extension} spam Ss 12:47 0:00 /usr/bin/spamc -f -e /usr/libexec/dovecot/deliver \ -f sen...@example.com -d user -m ## /var/log/maillog OUTPUT ## Apr 14 14:53:15 ltfs450 postfix/smtpd[23173]: connect from \ IP-ADD-RES-SS.dedicatedprovider.com[IP.ADD.RES.SS] Apr 14 14:53:15 ltfs450 postfix/smtpd[23173]: C7FB9FA00FA: \ client=IP-ADD-RES-SS.dedicatedprovider.com[IP.ADD.RES.SS] Apr 14 14:53:15 ltfs450 postfix/cleanup[23177]: C7FB9FA00FA: \ message-id=<49e4ea41.6020...@example-send.com> Apr 14 14:53:15 ltfs450 postfix/qmgr[23171]: C7FB9FA00FA: \ from=<sen...@example-send.com>, size=2215, nrcpt=1 (queue active) Apr 14 14:53:15 ltfs450 postfix/smtpd[23173]: disconnect from \ IP-ADD-RES-SS.dedicatedprovider.com[IP.ADD.RES.SS] Apr 14 14:53:16 ltfs450 spamd[4121]: spamd: connection from \ localhost.localdomain [127.0.0.1] at port 50035 Apr 14 14:53:16 ltfs450 spamd[4121]: spamd: processing message \ <49e4ea41.6020...@example-send.com> for spam:653 Apr 14 14:53:20 ltfs450 spamd[4121]: spamd: clean message (2.2/5.0) \ for spam:653 in 4.7 seconds, 2167 bytes. Apr 14 14:53:21 ltfs450 spamd[4121]: spamd: result: . 2 - \ AWL,RDNS_DYNAMIC,TVD_SPACE_RATIO scantime=4.7,size=2167,user=spam,\ uid=653,required_score=5.0,rhost=localhost.localdomain,raddr=127.0.0.1,\ rport=50035,mid=<49e4ea41.6020...@example-send.com>,autolearn=no Apr 14 14:53:21 ltfs450 deliver(user): Can't connect to auth server \ at /var/run/dovecot/auth-master: Permission denied Apr 14 14:53:21 ltfs450 postfix/pipe[23179]: C7FB9FA00FA: \ to=<u...@example-receive.com>, relay=spamassassin, delay=5.2, \ delays=0.01/0.01/0/5.2, dsn=4.3.0, status=deferred (temporary failure) Apr 14 14:53:21 ltfs450 spamd[4119]: prefork: child states: II