Can DMARC reports be sent without RUA or RUF addresses?
Matthew Whittaker
Co-founder & CTO, Suped
Published 25 Jun 2025
Updated 19 Aug 2025
6 min read
When setting up DMARC, two key tags often come up: RUA (Reporting URI for Aggregate data) and RUF (Reporting URI for Forensic data). These tags are where you specify the email addresses to which DMARC reports should be sent. The question then arises, can DMARC reports be sent without RUA or RUF addresses in your DMARC record? While technically optional in the DMARC specification, their absence significantly impacts your ability to gain insights into your email ecosystem.
For email administrators and marketers, DMARC reports are invaluable for monitoring email authentication, identifying legitimate sending sources, and detecting unauthorized use of their domain. Without these reporting addresses, you're essentially flying blind, unable to see which emails are passing, failing, or being spoofed. Let's delve into why these tags are critical and what happens when they are omitted.
RUA and RUF are the backbone of DMARC's reporting capabilities. They dictate where email receiving servers (like Gmail or Outlook) should send the detailed reports about emails that claim to be from your domain. Without them, there's no designated recipient for this crucial feedback.
RUA: aggregate reports
Aggregate reports provide a high-level overview of all email traffic using your domain. They typically arrive daily and show the volume of emails, IP addresses of senders, DMARC, SPF, and DKIM authentication results, and policy actions (none, quarantine, reject). These reports are essential for understanding your email ecosystem at a macro level and identifying legitimate sending services.
Visibility: See which IPs are sending emails on behalf of your domain.
Compliance: Verify if your legitimate emails are passing DMARC authentication checks, including SPF and DKIM alignment.
Monitoring: Track the volume and status of emails, which helps in identifying any anomalous sending patterns.
RUF: forensic reports
Forensic reports are more detailed and are sent only when an email fails DMARC authentication and the reporting server chooses to send one. These reports can include redacted copies of the failed email, including headers and sometimes even the message body. Due to privacy concerns, most email providers, including Google and Yahoo, rarely send RUF reports. However, when available, they are invaluable for pinpointing specific issues or phishing attempts.
Detail: Provide specifics about individual email failures for deep analysis.
Threat detection: Help identify and investigate spoofing or phishing attempts targeting your domain.
For a comprehensive look at the information contained within these reports, you can explore what information is contained in DMARC RUA and RUF reports.
Understanding the DMARC record without RUA/RUF
A DMARC record without RUA or RUF tags is syntactically valid according to the DMARC specification. This means your domain's DMARC policy will still be applied (e.g., p=none, p=quarantine, or p=reject) by receiving mail servers. For instance, a record might look like this:
Example DMARC record without RUA/RUFDNS
v=DMARC1; p=none;
While such a record is valid, the primary purpose of DMARC—to provide feedback on email authentication—is negated without the reporting tags. You won't receive aggregate data about your email traffic or forensic details of spoofing attempts. This makes it impossible to gain the visibility needed to move from a passive p=none policy to a stricter one, like p=quarantine or p=reject. Essentially, you're missing out on the core benefit of DMARC: actionable intelligence.
Many sources, including discussions on ServerFault, confirm that while syntactically valid, omitting RUA and RUF renders the DMARC policy largely ineffective for monitoring purposes. You can learn more about the specific requirements for RUA and RUF to ensure optimal DMARC implementation.
Why you might still receive reports (and why it's unusual)
Occasionally, someone might report receiving a DMARC report even without RUA or RUF addresses explicitly defined in their record. This is highly unusual for major email providers. While the DMARC specification technically allows for these tags to be omitted, providers like Microsoft, Google, and Yahoo are designed to send reports only to the addresses specified in these tags. If you're seeing unexpected reports, it warrants a closer look.
One common explanation for receiving DMARC reports without RUA/RUF configured is a historical or cached DMARC record. If a previous DMARC record for your domain included these tags and was later removed, some mail servers might still have that older record cached, leading to a sporadic report being sent to a now-unused address. However, this is generally not a sustained behavior for active reporting. It's also possible that reports are being forwarded from an old, configured address you no longer monitor directly.
Another, more concerning, possibility is that the report itself is not legitimate. Phishing attempts often mimic legitimate emails to trick users. If you receive a DMARC report to an address not listed in your DMARC record, or if the report's content seems suspicious, it could be a fraudulent message designed to gather information or lead you to a malicious site. Always verify the source of such emails carefully.
Warning: be wary of phishing
If you receive DMARC reports to an email address not explicitly listed in your DMARC record's RUA or RUF tags, proceed with extreme caution. This behavior is highly suspicious, especially if the reports claim to be from major providers like AOL, Yahoo, or Gmail. It is very likely a phishing attempt. Always verify the sender and email headers if you suspect fraudulent activity.
In essence, while a DMARC record can exist without RUA or RUF tags, it won't yield the reports necessary for effective DMARC monitoring and domain protection. If you are receiving such reports without specifying the addresses, investigate the source to ensure it's not a security risk.
The importance of DMARC reporting for deliverability
Omitting RUA and RUF tags undermines the entire purpose of implementing DMARC. DMARC isn't just about setting a policy, it's about gaining insights into your email traffic to continuously improve your email security posture and deliverability. Without reports, you can't tell if legitimate emails are failing authentication or if your domain is being used for nefarious purposes.
These reports are crucial for making informed decisions on how to adjust your DMARC policy. When you start with a p=none policy, aggregate reports show you which sources are authenticating correctly. This allows you to gradually move to p=quarantine or p=reject, knowing you won't block legitimate emails. Without this data, increasing your policy strength becomes a risky endeavor that could lead to widespread deliverability issues or even landing on a spam blocklist or blacklist.
Ultimately, DMARC's effectiveness hinges on its reporting. Ignoring the RUA and RUF tags means you're missing out on the primary benefit of DMARC: the ability to observe and secure your domain's email traffic. If your aim is to protect your domain and ensure optimal email deliverability, then configuring these reporting addresses is not just recommended, it's essential. This is particularly relevant given recent changes, such as new DMARC RUA requirements introduced by major mailbox providers.
Views from the trenches
Best practices
Always include RUA tags in your DMARC record to receive aggregate reports and gain visibility.
Utilize DMARC reporting tools to simplify the analysis of complex XML aggregate reports.
Carefully review any unexpected DMARC reports for signs of phishing or misconfigurations.
Ensure your DMARC record is published correctly, including the 'mailto:' prefix for email addresses.
Common pitfalls
Omitting RUA/RUF tags, leading to a lack of visibility into email authentication results.
Failing to verify the legitimacy of DMARC reports received from unknown or suspicious sources.
Not configuring email forwarding properly for DMARC report addresses, causing them to be lost.
Assuming DMARC is fully protecting your domain without regularly reviewing reports.
Expert tips
If you receive a DMARC report when you don't have RUA/RUF configured, treat it with extreme suspicion.
Even if a DMARC report looks legitimate, verify the full email headers for authenticity.
Mailbox providers like Google and Yahoo/AOL strictly adhere to DMARC standards for sending reports.
An old, forwarded email address might inadvertently receive DMARC reports from cached policies.
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks says that their first thought when hearing about unexpected DMARC reports without RUA/RUF configured is that it's likely a phishing attempt.
2020-02-18 - Email Geeks
Marketer view
Marketer from Email Geeks says that even if the unexpected email matches the format of a normal DMARC report, further investigation is required.
2020-02-18 - Email Geeks
Final thoughts on DMARC reporting
While DMARC records can technically exist without RUA or RUF addresses, doing so defeats the primary purpose of DMARC implementation. These reporting tags are essential for receiving the aggregate and forensic data that allows you to monitor email authentication, identify unauthorized senders, and refine your DMARC policy. Without this feedback, you cannot effectively protect your domain from spoofing and phishing, nor can you optimize your email deliverability. For robust email security, always include RUA and RUF tags in your DMARC record and regularly review the incoming reports.
Google and Yahoo, rarely send RUF reports. However, when available, they are invaluable for pinpointing specific issues or phishing attempts.
Microsoft, 
Google, and 
Yahoo are designed to send reports only to the addresses specified in these tags. If you're seeing unexpected reports, it warrants a closer look.
AOL, 
