Child process shutting down due to fatal error: bad packet length

[freddieleeman]

I am also seeing these kind of messages in the log (74 in last 30 days). Can someone explain what is causing this and if it is something that needs fixing or ignoring?

Wed Jan  1 00:41:22 2020 authentication_milter[5668] Child process 5668 shutting down due to fatal error: bad packet length 50331695
Wed Jan  1 05:57:57 2020 authentication_milter[4546] Child process 4546 shutting down due to fatal error: bad packet length 4278215680
Wed Jan  1 15:22:45 2020 authentication_milter[5680] Child process 5680 shutting down due to fatal error: bad packet length 1195725856
Wed Jan  1 15:22:45 2020 authentication_milter[5628] Child process 5628 shutting down due to fatal error: bad packet length 369295616
Wed Jan  1 23:39:54 2020 authentication_milter[4555] Child process 4555 shutting down due to fatal error: bad packet length 4278215680
Thu Jan  2 02:37:24 2020 authentication_milter[4572] Child process 4572 shutting down due to fatal error: bad packet length 50331695
Thu Jan  2 07:28:03 2020 authentication_milter[5684] Child process 5684 shutting down due to fatal error: bad packet length 50331695
Thu Jan  2 20:14:04 2020 authentication_milter[4551] Child process 4551 shutting down due to fatal error: bad packet length 1195725856
Thu Jan  2 23:12:57 2020 authentication_milter[5681] Child process 5681 shutting down due to fatal error: bad packet length 50331695
Fri Jan  3 00:06:32 2020 authentication_milter[5658] Child process 5658 shutting down due to fatal error: bad packet length 4278215680

[marcbradshaw]

The packet length sent from the MTA is larger than the expected maximum. I will check that our maximum is legit and fix if necessary.