Can DMARC reports be sent without RUA or RUF addresses?

Summary

While the DMARC standard allows for records without RUA and RUF tags (specifying report recipients), industry experts and marketers overwhelmingly recommend including them. Documentation confirms these tags are optional, but omitting them means you won't receive aggregate or forensic reports. This loss of feedback impairs your ability to monitor authentication results, identify deliverability issues, manage domain reputation, and ultimately secure your email program. Some even suggest that a DMARC report received without these tags might be a phishing attempt, further underscoring the importance of proper configuration.

Key findings

  • Technically Valid: A DMARC record is syntactically valid without RUA/RUF tags.
  • Reports Blocked: Absence of RUA/RUF prevents the sending of aggregate and forensic reports.
  • Visibility Impaired: Missing tags result in a loss of visibility into authentication failures and potential security threats.
  • Reputation Impact: Lack of feedback makes domain reputation management more challenging.
  • Configuration error: DMARC reports not received due to missing RUA or RUF tags is a common misconfiguration.

Key considerations

  • Security: Implementing DMARC with reporting is crucial for email security.
  • Deliverability: DMARC reports provide data needed to improve email deliverability.
  • Oversight: Initial concerns about report volume and complexity should not outweigh the value of the insights gained.
  • Best Practice: Including RUA and RUF records is considered a best practice for DMARC implementation.

What email marketers say
5Marketer opinions

While DMARC records are technically valid without RUA and RUF tags (which specify where to send aggregate and forensic reports, respectively), omitting these tags prevents domain owners from receiving valuable feedback on email authentication results. This lack of feedback hinders the ability to monitor email sources, identify potential issues, and improve overall domain reputation and email deliverability.

Key opinions

  • DMARC Validity: A DMARC record is syntactically valid without RUA/RUF tags.
  • Reporting Blocked: Without RUA/RUF, no aggregate or forensic reports are generated or sent.
  • Visibility Loss: Absence of reporting hinders visibility into authentication failures and potential abuse.
  • Reputation Impact: Limited feedback impairs domain reputation management.

Key considerations

  • Implementation Complexity: Initially, the volume and complexity of DMARC reports might seem daunting.
  • Insight Importance: Recognize that insights from RUA/RUF reports are crucial for understanding email source validity.
  • Troubleshooting: Missing RUA/RUF tags are a common reason for not receiving DMARC reports, hindering troubleshooting of deliverability problems.
  • Visibility: If you want DMARC to work you need aggregate or forensic reporting (RUA and RUF tags) to gain visibility into email sources and potential authentication issues.
Marketer view

Email marketer from Reddit shares that they initially deployed DMARC without RUA/RUF tags due to concerns about report volume and parsing complexity, but later realized they were missing critical insights into legitimate email sources being misidentified.

March 2021 - Reddit
Marketer view

Email marketer from StackOverflow explains that a DMARC record without RUA/RUF is valid but prevents receiving valuable feedback on email authentication results, impacting domain reputation management.

March 2024 - StackOverflow
Marketer view

Email marketer from EmailSecurityGPT.com details that DMARC reports are not received due to missing RUA or RUF tags in the DNS record.

December 2023 - EmailSecurityGPT.com
Marketer view

Email marketer from mailhardener.com details that DMARC requires aggregate or forensic reporting (RUA and RUF tags) to gain visibility into email sources and potential authentication issues.

September 2023 - mailhardener.com
Marketer view

Email marketer from MXToolbox highlights that although a DMARC record is technically valid without RUA/RUF, not including these tags prevents a domain owner from receiving crucial feedback on email authentication results. This feedback is essential for identifying and resolving deliverability issues.

February 2022 - MXToolbox

What the experts say
3Expert opinions

Experts generally agree that while a DMARC record can be technically valid without RUA and RUF tags (which specify report recipients), excluding them means you won't receive crucial aggregate and forensic reports. This lack of reporting hinders your ability to monitor authentication results, identify potential security or deliverability issues, and ultimately secure and improve your email program. One expert initially suspected a report without these tags was a phishing attempt, highlighting the unusual nature of such a configuration.

Key opinions

  • DMARC Validity: A DMARC record can be technically valid without RUA/RUF tags.
  • Reporting Disabled: Without RUA/RUF, aggregate and forensic reports are not sent.
  • Feedback is Key: The primary purpose of DMARC is to gain the feedback, and therefore implement these tags.
  • Phishing Risk: The absence of RUA/RUF in a received DMARC report may be an indicator of phishing.

Key considerations

  • Security: Implementing DMARC is an important element of email security.
  • Deliverability Impact: DMARC reporting will allow the owner to improve the deliverability of email.
  • Risk of no tags: The reports without RUA and RUF may be a phishing risk.
  • Recommendations: It is highly recommended to include RUA and RUF records to get the forensic and aggregate feedback
Expert view

Expert from Spam Resource explains that while a DMARC record is valid without RUA and RUF tags, you won't receive aggregate or forensic reports, which are crucial for monitoring authentication results and identifying potential issues.

November 2023 - Spam Resource
Expert view

Expert from Email Geeks responds he hasn't seen DMARC reports sent without having a RUA or RUF address and thinks it might be phishing.

October 2022 - Email Geeks
Expert view

Expert from Word to the Wise explains that even though a DMARC record can exist without RUA and RUF records, including them is highly recommended, since this is required to get the forensic and aggregate feedback that will actually help the domain owner secure and improve their email program.

November 2021 - Word to the Wise

What the documentation says
3Technical articles

Official DMARC documentation confirms that RUA and RUF tags are optional within a DMARC record. These tags designate addresses for receiving aggregate and forensic reports, respectively. While a DMARC record remains functional without them, their absence means you will not receive any reports, losing critical visibility into email authentication performance and potential failures.

Key findings

  • Optional Tags: RUA and RUF tags are optional parameters in a DMARC record.
  • No Reports: Without RUA and RUF tags, you will not receive aggregate or forensic DMARC reports.
  • Visibility Loss: The absence of these tags means you lose visibility into authentication failures and email security.
  • Functionality: DMARC record can function without RUA and RUF tags.

Key considerations

  • Email Security: The importance of monitoring email security and authentication performance.
  • Authentication failures: The loss of visibility of authentication failures.
  • Purpose of the tags: Understand that the tags designate addresses for receiving aggregate and forensic reports.
Technical article

Documentation from RFC Editor outlines the DMARC standard, specifying that RUA and RUF tags are optional parameters. It notes that their absence simply means the sending mail server will not be instructed to send aggregate or forensic reports.

May 2024 - RFC Editor
Technical article

Documentation from DMARC.org details that the rua and ruf tags are optional in a DMARC record. The 'rua' tag specifies the address(es) to which aggregate reports should be sent, while 'ruf' specifies the address(es) for forensic reports. A DMARC record can function without them, but you won't receive reports.

April 2024 - DMARC.org
Technical article

Documentation from Google explains that while DMARC allows for records without RUA or RUF, these tags are crucial for receiving reports that help monitor and improve email authentication and security. Without them, you lose visibility into authentication failures.

January 2022 - Google Workspace Admin Help