> On 15 Jul 2021, at 10:41 am, post...@ptld.com wrote:
> 
> "The time limit for sending a Postfix SMTP server response and for receiving 
> a remote SMTP client request."


The amount of time that smtpd(8) is willing to wait for a network write
to write some data when writing a command-response, or for a network read
to return some data when reading an SMTP command.

As elaborated under:

    http://www.postfix.org/postconf.5.html#smtpd_per_record_deadline

    Change the behavior of the smtpd_timeout and smtpd_starttls_timeout
    time limits, from a time limit per read or write system call,
    to a time limit to send or receive a complete record (an SMTP
    command line, SMTP response line, SMTP message content line,
    or TLS protocol message). This limits the impact from hostile
    peers that trickle data one byte at a time.

Thus the default timeout is per read or write, rather than the complete
requested operation.  With the deadline timer the timeout applies to
the entire I/O operation, possibly spanning multi reads or writes.

However, even then it is never the transmission of an entire message
body, rather it would be a logical data fragment, an SMTP command or
response, a body content line, a TLS protocol record, ... which
partly mitigates "Slowloris" attacks,

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slowloris_(computer_security)

meaningful progress must be made within the deadline timer, just
sending a few characters per 300s is not enough.

-- 
        Viktor.

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