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3. Mail Transport-Level Protocol

3.1. Framework for the Internationalization Extension​

The following service extension is defined:

  1. The name of the SMTP service extension is "Internationalized Email".

  2. The EHLO keyword value associated with this extension is "SMTPUTF8".

  3. No parameter values are defined for this EHLO keyword value. In order to permit future (although unanticipated) extensions, the EHLO response MUST NOT contain any parameters for this keyword. The SMTPUTF8-aware SMTP client MUST ignore any parameters if they appear for this keyword; that is, the SMTPUTF8-aware SMTP client MUST behave as if the parameters do not appear. If an SMTP server includes SMTPUTF8 in its EHLO response, it MUST be fully compliant with this version of this specification.

  4. One OPTIONAL parameter, SMTPUTF8, is added to the MAIL command. The parameter does not accept a value. If this parameter is set in the MAIL command, it indicates that the SMTP client is SMTPUTF8-aware. Its presence also asserts that the envelope includes the non-ASCII address, the message being sent is an internationalized message, or the message being sent needs the SMTPUTF8 support.

  5. The maximum length of a MAIL command line is increased by 10 characters to accommodate the possible addition of the SMTPUTF8 parameter.

  6. One OPTIONAL parameter, SMTPUTF8, is added to the VERIFY (VRFY) and EXPAND (EXPN) commands. The SMTPUTF8 parameter does not accept a value. The parameter indicates that the SMTP client can accept Unicode characters in UTF-8 encoding in replies from the VRFY and EXPN commands.

  7. No additional SMTP verbs are defined by this extension.

  8. Servers offering this extension MUST provide support for, and announce, the 8BITMIME extension [RFC6152].

  9. The reverse-path and forward-path of the SMTP MAIL and RCPT commands are extended to allow Unicode characters encoded in UTF-8 in mailbox names (addresses).

  10. The mail message body is extended as specified in RFC 6532 [RFC6532].

  11. The SMTPUTF8 extension is valid on the submission port [RFC6409]. It may also be used with the Local Mail Transfer Protocol (LMTP) [RFC2033]. When these protocols are used, their use should be reflected in the trace field WITH keywords as appropriate [RFC3848].

3.2. The SMTPUTF8 Extension​

An SMTP server that announces the SMTPUTF8 extension MUST be prepared to accept a UTF-8 string [RFC3629] in any position in which RFC 5321 specifies that a <mailbox> can appear. Although the characters in the <local-part> are permitted to contain non-ASCII characters, the actual parsing of the <local-part> and the delimiters used are unchanged from the base email specification [RFC5321]. Any domain name to be looked up in the DNS MUST conform to and be processed as specified for Internationalizing Domain Names in Applications (IDNA) [RFC5890]. When doing lookups, the SMTPUTF8-aware SMTP client or server MUST either use a Unicode-aware DNS library, or transform the internationalized domain name to A-label form (i.e., a fully-qualified domain name that contains one or more A-labels but no U-labels) as specified in RFC 5890 [RFC5890].

An SMTP client that receives the SMTPUTF8 extension keyword in response to the EHLO command MAY transmit mailbox names within SMTP commands as internationalized strings in UTF-8 form. It MAY send a UTF-8 header [RFC6532] (which may also include mailbox names in UTF-8). It MAY transmit the domain parts of mailbox names within SMTP commands or the message header as A-labels or U-labels [RFC5890]. The presence of the SMTPUTF8 extension does not change the server-relaying behaviors described in RFC 5321.

If the SMTPUTF8 SMTP extension is not offered by the SMTP server, the SMTPUTF8-aware SMTP client MUST NOT transmit an internationalized email address and MUST NOT transmit a mail message containing internationalized mail headers as described in RFC 6532 [RFC6532] at any level within its MIME structure [RFC2045]. (For this paragraph, the internationalized domain name in A-label form as specified in IDNA definitions [RFC5890] is not considered to be "internationalized".) Instead, if an SMTPUTF8-aware SMTP client (sender) attempts to transfer an internationalized message and encounters an SMTP server that does not support the extension, the best action for it to take depends on other conditions. In particular:

  • If it is a Message Submission Agent (MSA) [RFC6409] [RFC5598], it MAY choose its own way to deal with this scenario using the wide discretion for changing addresses or otherwise fixing up and transforming messages allowed by RFC 6409. As long as the resulting message conforms to the requirements of RFC 5321 (i.e., without the SMTPUTF8 extension), the details of that transformation are outside the scope of this document.

  • If it is not an MSA or is an MSA and does not choose to transform the message to one that does not require the SMTPUTF8 extension, it SHOULD reject the message. As usual, this can be done either by generating an appropriate reply during the SMTP transaction or by accepting the message and then generating and transmitting a non-delivery notification. If the latter choice is made, the notification process MUST conform to the requirements of RFC 5321, RFC 3464 [RFC3464], and RFC 6533 [RFC6533].

  • As specified in Section 2.2.3 of RFC 5321, an SMTP client with additional information and/or knowledge of special circumstances MAY choose to requeue the message and try later and/or try an alternate MX host as specified in that section.

This document applies when an SMTPUTF8-aware SMTP client or server supports the SMTPUTF8 extension. For all other cases, and for addresses and messages that do not require an SMTPUTF8 extension, SMTPUTF8-aware SMTP clients and servers do not change the behavior specified in RFC 5321 [RFC5321].

If an SMTPUTF8-aware SMTP server advertises the Delivery Status Notification (DSN) [RFC3461] extension, it MUST implement RFC 6533 [RFC6533].

3.3. Extended Mailbox Address Syntax​

RFC 5321, Section 4.1.2, defines the syntax of a <Mailbox> entirely in terms of ASCII characters. This document extends <Mailbox> to add support of non-ASCII characters.

The key changes made by this specification include:

  • The <Mailbox> ABNF rule is imported from RFC 5321 and updated in order to support the internationalized email address. Other related rules are imported from RFC 5321, RFC 5234, RFC 5890, and RFC 6532, or are extended in this document.

  • The definition of <sub-domain> is extended to permit both the RFC 5321 definition and a UTF-8 string in a DNS label that conforms with IDNA definitions [RFC5890].

  • The definition of <atext> is extended to permit both the RFC 5321 definition and a UTF-8 string. That string MUST NOT contain any of the ASCII graphics or control characters.

The following ABNF rules imported from RFC 5321, Section 4.1.2, are updated directly or indirectly by this document:

  • <Mailbox>
  • <Local-part>
  • <Dot-string>
  • <Quoted-string>
  • <QcontentSMTP>
  • <Domain>
  • <Atom>

The following ABNF rule will be imported from RFC 6532, Section 3.1, directly:

  • <UTF8-non-ascii>

The following ABNF rule will be imported from RFC 5234, Appendix B.1, directly:

  • <DQUOTE>

The following ABNF rule will be imported from RFC 5890, Section 2.3.2.1, directly:

  • <U-label>

The following rules are extended in ABNF [RFC5234] as follows.

sub-domain   =/  U-label
 ; extend the definition of sub-domain in RFC 5321, Section 4.1.2

atext   =/  UTF8-non-ascii
 ; extend the implicit definition of atext in
 ; RFC 5321, Section 4.1.2, which ultimately points to
 ; the actual definition in RFC 5322, Section 3.2.3

qtextSMTP  =/ UTF8-non-ascii
 ; extend the definition of qtextSMTP in RFC 5321, Section 4.1.2

esmtp-value  =/ UTF8-non-ascii
 ; extend the definition of esmtp-value in RFC 5321, Section 4.1.2

3.4. MAIL Command Parameter Usage​

If the envelope or message being sent requires the capabilities of the SMTPUTF8 extension, the SMTPUTF8-aware SMTP client MUST supply the SMTPUTF8 parameter with the MAIL command. If this parameter is provided, it MUST not accept a value. If the SMTPUTF8-aware SMTP client is aware that neither the envelope nor the message being sent requires any of the SMTPUTF8 extension capabilities, it SHOULD NOT supply the SMTPUTF8 parameter with the MAIL command.

Because there is no guarantee that a next-hop SMTP server will support the SMTPUTF8 extension, use of the SMTPUTF8 extension always carries a risk of transmission failure. In fact, during the early stages of deployment for the SMTPUTF8 extension, the risk will be quite high. Hence, there is a distinct near-term advantage for ASCII-only messages to be sent without using this extension. The long-term advantage of casting ASCII [ASCII] characters (0x7f and below) as UTF-8 form is that it permits pure-Unicode environments.

3.5. Non-ASCII Addresses and Reply-Codes​

An SMTPUTF8-aware SMTP client MUST NOT send an internationalized message to an SMTP server that does not support SMTPUTF8. If the SMTP server does not support this option, then the SMTPUTF8-aware SMTP client has three choices according to Section 3.2 of this specification.

The three-digit reply-codes used in this section are based on their meanings as defined in RFC 5321.

When messages are rejected because the RCPT command requires an ASCII address, the reply-code 553 is returned with the meaning "mailbox name not allowed". When messages are rejected because the MAIL command requires an ASCII address, the reply-code 550 is returned with the meaning "mailbox unavailable". When the SMTPUTF8-aware SMTP server supports enhanced mail system status codes [RFC3463], reply-code "X.6.7" [RFC5248] (see Section 4) is used, meaning "Non-ASCII addresses not permitted for that sender/recipient".

When messages are rejected for other reasons, the server follows the model of the base email specification in RFC 5321; this extension does not change those circumstances or reply messages.

If a message is rejected after the final "." of the DATA command because one or more recipients are unable to accept and process a message with internationalized email headers, the reply-code "554" is used with the meaning "Transaction failed". If the SMTPUTF8-aware SMTP server supports enhanced mail system status codes [RFC3463], reply code "X.6.9" [RFC5248] (see Section 4) is used to indicate this condition, meaning "UTF-8 header message cannot be transmitted to one or more recipients, so the message must be rejected".

The SMTPUTF8-aware SMTP servers are encouraged to detect that recipients cannot accept internationalized messages and generate an error after the RCPT command rather than waiting until after the DATA command to issue an error.

3.6. Body Parts and SMTP Extensions​

The MAIL command parameter SMTPUTF8 asserts that a message is an internationalized message or the message being sent needs the SMTPUTF8 support. There is still a chance that a message being sent via the MAIL command with the SMTPUTF8 parameter is not an internationalized message. An SMTPUTF8-aware SMTP client or server that requires accurate knowledge of whether a message is internationalized needs to parse all message header fields and MIME header fields [RFC2045] in the message body. However, this specification does not require that the SMTPUTF8-aware SMTP client or server inspects the message.

Although this specification requires that SMTPUTF8-aware SMTP servers support the 8BITMIME extension [RFC6152] to ensure that servers have adequate handling capability for 8-bit data, it does not require non-ASCII body parts in the MIME message as specified in RFC 2045. The SMTPUTF8 extension MAY be used as follows (assuming it is appropriate given the body content):

  • with the BODY=8BITMIME parameter [RFC6152], or

  • with the BODY=BINARYMIME parameter, if the SMTP server advertises BINARYMIME [RFC3030].

3.7. Additional ESMTP Changes and Clarifications​

The information carried in the mail transport process involves addresses ("mailboxes") and domain names in various contexts in addition to the MAIL and RCPT commands and extended alternatives to them. In general, the rule is that, when RFC 5321 specifies a mailbox, this SMTP extension requires UTF-8 form to be used for the entire string. When RFC 5321 specifies a domain name, the internationalized domain name SHOULD be in U-label form if the SMTPUTF8 extension is supported; otherwise, it SHOULD be in A-label form.

The following subsections list and discuss all of the relevant cases.

3.7.1. The Initial SMTP Exchange​

When an SMTP connection is opened, the SMTP server sends a "greeting" response consisting of the 220 reply-code and some information. The SMTP client then sends the EHLO command. Since the SMTP client cannot know whether the SMTP server supports SMTPUTF8 until after it receives the response to the EHLO, the SMTPUTF8-aware SMTP client MUST send only ASCII (LDH label or A-label [RFC5890]) domains in the EHLO command. If the SMTPUTF8-aware SMTP server provides domain names in the EHLO response, they MUST be in the form of LDH labels or A-labels.

3.7.2. Mail eXchangers​

If multiple DNS MX records are used to specify multiple servers for a domain (as described in Section 5 of RFC 5321 [RFC5321]), it is strongly advised that all or none of them SHOULD support the SMTPUTF8 extension. Otherwise, unexpected rejections can happen during temporary or permanent failures, which users might perceive as serious reliability issues.

3.7.3. Trace Information​

The trace information <Return-path-line>, <Time-stamp-line>, and their related rules are defined in Section 4.4 of RFC 5321 [RFC5321]. This document updates <Mailbox> and <Domain> to support non-ASCII characters. When the SMTPUTF8 extension is used, the 'Reverse-path' clause of the Return-path-line may include an internationalized domain name that uses the U-label form. Also, the 'Stamp' clause of the Time-stamp-line may include an internationalized domain name that uses the U-label form.

If the messages that include trace fields are sent by an SMTPUTF8-aware SMTP client or relay server without the SMTPUTF8 parameter included in the MAIL commands, trace field values must conform to RFC 5321 regardless of the SMTP server's capability.

When an SMTPUTF8-aware SMTP server adds a trace field to a message that was or will be transmitted with the SMTPUTF8 parameter included in the MAIL commands, that server SHOULD use the U-label form for internationalized domain names in the new trace field.

The protocol value of the 'WITH' clause when this extension is used is one of the SMTPUTF8 values specified in the "IANA Considerations" section of this document.

3.7.4. UTF-8 Strings in Replies​

3.7.4.1. MAIL Command​

If an SMTP client follows this specification and sends any MAIL commands containing the SMTPUTF8 parameter, the SMTPUTF8-aware SMTP server is permitted to use UTF-8 characters in the email address associated with 251 and 551 reply-codes, and the SMTP client MUST be able to accept and process them. If a given MAIL command does not include the SMTPUTF8 parameter, the SMTPUTF8-aware SMTP server MUST NOT return a 251 or 551 response containing a non-ASCII mailbox. Instead, it MUST transform such responses into 250 or 550 responses that do not contain non-ASCII addresses.

3.7.4.2. VRFY and EXPN Commands and the SMTPUTF8 Parameter​

If the SMTPUTF8 parameter is transmitted with the VRFY and EXPN commands, it indicates that the SMTP client can accept UTF-8 strings in replies to those commands. The parameter with the VRFY and EXPN commands SHOULD only be used after the SMTP client sees the EHLO response with the SMTPUTF8 keyword. This allows an SMTPUTF8-aware SMTP server to use UTF-8 strings in mailbox names and full names that occur in replies, without concern that the SMTP client might be confused by them. An SMTP client that conforms to this specification MUST accept and correctly process replies to the VRFY and EXPN commands that contain UTF-8 strings. However, an SMTPUTF8-aware SMTP server MUST NOT use UTF-8 strings in replies if the SMTP client does not specifically allow such replies by transmitting this parameter with the VRFY and EXPN commands.

Most replies do not require that a mailbox name be included in the returned text, and therefore a UTF-8 string is not needed in them. Some replies, notably those resulting from successful execution of the VRFY and EXPN commands, do include the mailbox.

VERIFY (VRFY) and EXPAND (EXPN) command syntaxes are changed to:

vrfy = "VRFY" SP String
  [ SP "SMTPUTF8" ] CRLF
 ; String may include Non-ASCII characters

expn = "EXPN" SP String
  [ SP "SMTPUTF8" ] CRLF
 ; String may include Non-ASCII characters

The SMTPUTF8 parameter does not accept a value. If the reply to a VRFY or EXPN command requires a UTF-8 string, but the SMTP client did not use the SMTPUTF8 parameter, then the SMTPUTF8-aware SMTP server MUST use either the reply-code 252 or 550. Reply-code 252, defined in RFC 5321 [RFC5321], means "Cannot VRFY user, but will accept the message and attempt the delivery". Reply-code 550, also defined in RFC 5321 [RFC5321], means "Requested action not taken: mailbox unavailable". When the SMTPUTF8-aware SMTP server supports enhanced mail system status codes [RFC3463], the enhanced reply-code as specified below is used. Using the SMTPUTF8 parameter with a VRFY or EXPN command enables UTF-8 replies for that command only.

If a normal success response (i.e., 250) is returned, the response MAY include the full name of the user and MUST include the mailbox of the user. It MUST be in either of the following forms:

User Name <Mailbox>
 ; Mailbox is defined in Section 3.3 of this document.
 ; User Name can contain non-ASCII characters.

Mailbox
 ; Mailbox is defined in Section 3.3 of this document.

If the SMTP reply requires UTF-8 strings, but a UTF-8 string is not allowed in the reply, and the SMTPUTF8-aware SMTP server supports enhanced mail system status codes [RFC3463], the enhanced reply-code is "X.6.8" [RFC5248] (see Section 4), meaning "A reply containing a UTF-8 string is required to show the mailbox name, but that form of response is not permitted by the SMTP client".

If the SMTP client does not support the SMTPUTF8 extension, but receives a UTF-8 string in a reply, it may not be able to properly report the reply to the user, and some clients might mishandle that reply. Internationalized messages in replies are only allowed in the commands under the situations described above.

Although UTF-8 strings are needed to represent email addresses in responses under the rules specified in this section, this extension does not permit the use of UTF-8 strings for any other purposes. SMTPUTF8-aware SMTP servers MUST NOT include non-ASCII characters in replies except in the limited cases specifically permitted in this section.