Why are DMARC reports showing temperrors or softfails for Klaviyo despite passing DMARC?
Summary
What email marketers say11Marketer opinions
Email marketer from EmailOnAcid.com that says softfails/temperrors/permerrors which may pass DMARC could still be an indicator that the email servers are building a negative sender reputation, therefore they recommend investigating it more thoroughly.
Email marketer from Email Geeks mentions that Outlook often breaks Postmark's DKIM and that the temperror/permerror issue has been ongoing for months with many domains, typically without both SPF and DKIM failures occurring simultaneously, which allows DMARC to pass.
Email marketer from Klaviyo highlights that it's important to investigate even passing DMARC reports which have temperrors or softfails. These could indicate that the DMARC policy is too lenient or there could be a security risk where emails are being sent without authentication. They recommend regularly monitoring reports to improve email security and prevent malicious activity.
Email marketer from SuperUser forum advises ensuring both SPF and DKIM are properly configured and aligned with the sending domain. Even if DMARC passes with one, having both configured correctly provides a more robust email authentication setup and reduces the risk of deliverability issues.
Email marketer from Email Geeks says that Softfails can be due to forwarding, while Temperror or Permerror results are common with Yahoo and Microsoft. Advises Tabish to talk with Glockapps for a more broad analysis.
Email marketer from Litmus explains that even when DMARC technically passes, persistent SPF softfails or DKIM temperrors can negatively impact email deliverability over time. Email providers might start filtering emails as spam if they consistently see authentication issues, regardless of the DMARC pass.
Email marketer from MXToolbox recommends checking for consistent DNS propagation across different geographic locations. Inconsistent DNS records can lead to intermittent temperrors as some servers resolve the records correctly while others don't.
Email marketer from Reddit explains that SPF softfails often occur when an email is forwarded. The original SPF record might pass at the initial sending server, but when the email is forwarded, the new server's IP address might not be authorized in the original SPF record, leading to a softfail.
Email marketer from EmailGeek Community shares that DMARC can pass even if SPF or DKIM fail individually because DMARC requires only one of them to align with the 'From:' domain. If the email fails SPF but passes DKIM with proper alignment, DMARC will still pass.
Email marketer from StackOverflow points out that DKIM temperrors can arise if the DKIM selector used for signing the email doesn't match the selector published in the DNS records. This mismatch can cause temporary authentication failures as the receiving server cannot validate the signature.
Email marketer from EmailDeliverability.com advises checking with Klaviyo to make sure the correct SPF/DKIM records have been setup for their service. Additionally emails sent on your behalf, and the set up of third party DKIM/SPF/CNAME records for authentication purposes.
What the experts say6Expert opinions
Expert from Email Geeks suggests checking all DNS records, as the issue could stem from a rogue nameserver or improperly propagated DNS record, especially when encountering inconsistencies in DMARC reports.
Expert from Email Geeks says that the authentication failures are likely due to the domain not publishing a key at k1._domainkeys.freedom-grooming.com, further clarifying that neither k1 nor kl1 records are published.
Expert from Word to the Wise explains that temporary SPF and DKIM failures, even when DMARC passes, often point to underlying DNS issues or problems with key rotation. Monitoring these errors helps identify and address configuration problems that could eventually impact deliverability.
Expert from Email Geeks explains where to find the DKIM selector in the email header and emphasizes that all emails should be signed the same way. Shares information about how a mail server checks for DKIM by creating a hostname from the 'd=' and 's=' values in the DKIM signature.
Expert from Email Geeks suggests speaking with Glockapps about the meaning of the different error designations they provide in DMARC reports.
Expert from Spamresource.com says that sometimes DMARC passes despite underlying issues because of a 'permissive' policy, such as 'p=none'. They say that such a lax setup allows emails with authentication problems to reach inboxes, which is not secure.
What the documentation says5Technical articles
Documentation from RFC explains that exceeding the DNS lookup limit in SPF records can cause temperrors. If an SPF record requires too many DNS queries to evaluate, the check might fail temporarily, resulting in authentication issues.
Documentation from DMARC.org details that DMARC reports aggregate data about email authentication results. Temperrors and softfails indicate potential issues that, while not causing outright failures, signal areas for improvement in email authentication setup to enhance deliverability and security.
Documentation from Google Workspace Admin Help explains that a temporary error (temperror) means the receiving mail server temporarily couldn't authenticate the message, often due to a transient issue such as DNS problems or server overload. These errors are usually retried automatically by the sending server.
Documentation from Sendgrid emphasizes the necessity of ensuring that the DKIM key in your DNS settings is correctly configured with both the right selector and the matching public key content. An incorrectly configured DKIM record will lead to verification failures and cause DMARC to not fully authenticate emails sent from your domain.
Documentation from Microsoft explains that SPF temperrors can happen due to DNS lookup issues on the receiving server's end. If the receiver cannot properly resolve the domain's SPF record, a temperror occurs, indicating a temporary problem that might resolve itself.