AV-SPAM v8.0 Released

We are pleased to announce the release of AV-SPAM v8.0, a major update to the email security module for BlueOnyx. This version replaces the legacy SpamAssassin-based engine with Rspamd, bringing significantly improved performance, accuracy, and feature depth to BlueOnyx mail servers.

Why the change?

The email threat landscape has shifted dramatically. Where spam was once a mere nuisance, today’s mail servers face constant barrages of sophisticated phishing, spoofing, malware, and outbound abuse. The legacy SpamAssassin stack, while reliable for years, was showing its age in terms of throughput, integration capabilities, and maintainability on modern distributions.

Rspamd addresses these limitations directly: it is event-driven, multi-threaded, and designed from the ground up for high-throughput environments. It also natively supports modern email authentication standards — SPF, DMARC, and ARC — that have become essential for deliverability and spoofing detection.

What is new

AV-SPAM v8.0 is not an incremental update. It is a clean-sheet rebuild that preserves the tight BlueOnyx GUI integration administrators expect, while replacing virtually every underlying component.

Engine and scoring

• Rspamd replaces SpamAssassin as the core spam classifier
• Bayesian learning backed by Redis/Valkey for adaptive, self-improving detection
• Neural network module (optional) for advanced pattern recognition
• Fuzzy hash matching to catch variants of known spam campaigns
• Greylisting with configurable thresholds

Authentication and reputation

• SPF validation at the SMTP envelope level
• DMARC enforcement to detect and handle spoofed sender domains
• ARC (Authenticated Received Chain) validation for forwarded mail
• Real-time blacklist lookups via RBL, SURBL, URIBL, and DBL

Access control and abuse prevention

• GeoIP country filtering — block or whitelist SMTP connections and logins by country
• Rate limiting with configurable burst, window, and daily maximums per site and per user
• Milter-GeoIP traffic accounting — monitor email volumes and enforce send limits

Usability

• Custom rules editor in the GUI — create server-wide, site-level, or personal rules without touching the command line
• Detailed statistics page with KPI cards, trend charts, searchable message history, and per-symbol hit counts
• Per-user delivery actions — users can choose to disable filtering, deliver, file to folder, or delete
• Subject rewriting and X-Spam headers for downstream filtering compatibility

What sets v8.0 apart

Three improvements stand out for both administrators and end users:

Scope-aware configuration and statistics

In previous versions, spam filtering settings were largely server-admin-only. AV-SPAM v8.0 changes this: SiteAdmins and end users can now configure their own sender lists, scoring overrides, and delivery actions directly in the GUI. Both groups also receive detailed traffic and filtering statistics scoped to their own level — previously unavailable.

Performance

Rspamd delivers a dramatic speed improvement. Where SpamAssassin typically required 20–40 seconds per message, Rspamd completes scanning in 0.5–2.5 seconds. This reduces mail queue backlogs and lowers server load during peak traffic.

Upgrade notes for existing customers

AV-SPAM v8.0 replaces the previous AV-SPAM installation cleanly. The update process uninstalls the legacy version before installing v8.0, ensuring a conflict-free transition.

Important: Existing custom SpamAssassin rules are not automatically migrated. Administrators should review and recreate their rules using the new Custom Rules editor, which supports Rspamd’s multimap syntax and SpamAssassin-compatible expressions.

The module requires Redis or Valkey (included in BlueOnyx 5210R–5212R) for Bayes learning, fuzzy checks, and history storage.

Availability

AV-SPAM v8.0 is available now for:

• BlueOnyx 5212R (recommended)
• BlueOnyx 5211R
• BlueOnyx 5210R

The module can be purchased through the BlueOnyx Shop. Existing customers with active maintenance can upgrade at no additional cost.

About SOLARSPEED.NET

Since 1998, SOLARSPEED.NET has developed and maintained software for Sausalito-based server platforms. AV-SPAM was first released in 2002 and has been continuously updated to address evolving email security threats.