Email Authentication (SPF/DMARC)

What is Email Authentication (SPF/DMARC)?

Validates SPF, DKIM, and DMARC DNS records for email spoofing protection.

This vulnerability class falls under the Cryptography phase of the OWASP Testing Guide (WSTG-CONF). Security engineers prioritise cryptography checks early in an assessment because weaknesses here provide a foothold that amplifies the severity of vulnerabilities found in later phases.

Security Impact

Without email authentication, attackers can spoof your domain for phishing. This module verifies your email security configuration.

Left undetected, email authentication (spf/dmarc) issues can persist unnoticed for months. Continuous automated scanning ensures your team receives an alert the moment a regression or new exposure is introduced — long before an attacker discovers it through manual enumeration or automated offensive tooling.

How DygDog Detects It

DygDog audits server configuration, exposed file paths, HTTP methods, and deployment artefacts without sending malicious payloads, making the check safe to run continuously in production.

The Email Authentication (SPF/DMARC) check is implemented as a passive scan module, meaning it never sends dangerous payloads or modifies application state. Scans complete in approximately 2.0 s and run continuously in the background so your security posture reflects the current state of your site — not a point-in-time snapshot.

Remediation Approach

Harden server and framework defaults by disabling unused HTTP methods, removing version banners from response headers, and applying a principle-of-least-privilege to file permissions and deployment artefacts.

DygDog does not stop at detection. When a Email Authentication (SPF/DMARC) finding is confirmed, the platform generates infrastructure-aware, copy-paste-ready remediation snippets using frontier AI models. Instead of generic advice you need to adapt, you receive code that targets your exact server, framework, and configuration.

OWASP References

This check maps to the following OWASP Testing Guide test cases:

• WSTG-CONF-07View OWASP WSTG →

Related Cryptography Checks

These checks belong to the same testing phase and are often assessed together:

• DNS Security (CAA/DNSSEC)

  Checks DNS CAA records for certificate authority restrictions and DNSSEC deployment status.

• API Surface Discovery

  Identifies exposed API endpoints, GraphQL introspection, Swagger/OpenAPI documentation, and API versioning.

• CVE/EPSS Threat Intelligence

  Enriches findings with NVD CVSS scores, FIRST EPSS exploit probability, and CISA KEV status.

• Supply Chain Vulnerability Check

  Cross-references detected libraries against OSV.dev for known vulnerabilities in dependencies.