554: bare LF or CR in the message
GMX refused the message because it contains a line feed or carriage return on its own. RFC 5322 requires them only as a CRLF pair.
- GMX, WEB.DE
- Provider
- Permanent (5xx)
- Class
- Sources checked
- Author
At a glance
- Code
- 554
- Provider
- GMX, WEB.DE and mail.com
- Temporary or permanent
- PermanentRefused for good: the message comes back to the sender, and resending it gets the same answer.
- Who has to act
- The sender. The fix is on the sending side: your domain, your server or your list.
- What the server says
554 Transaction failed
What it means
In email, every line must end with the pair CR LF (bytes 0x0D 0x0A). RFC 5322 section 2.3 says CR and LF must not appear on their own in the body. Case r1301 means your message has at least one bare LF or bare CR, so GMX calls it malformed and refuses it with 554. Lone line feeds usually come from software that writes Unix line endings straight into SMTP, or from content pasted into a message without conversion. GMX suggests changing the text or updating the email software.
Common causes
- A script or application writes Unix line endings (LF only) into the SMTP data.
- Content from another system is inserted into the message without converting line endings.
- An old or buggy mail client or library.
How to fix it
- 01Convert all line endings in the message to CRLF before sending.
- 02Update the mail client or library, or let it handle line endings itself.
- 03Send the message again.
Sources
What this page rests on, checked on 20 Oct 2026. The explanation is ours; the reply text is the server's.
- GMX Postmaster case r1301: 554 Transaction failed (bare LF or CR)postmaster.gmx.net
Related codes
- 554A header field has invalid syntax.GMX refused the message because a header, such as Date, From, Sender, Subject or To, is not written the way RFC 5322 and RFC 2047 require.
- 554Transaction failed.The server permanently refused the transaction, often after receiving the message data or straight away when the connection opened.
554 at other providers
- 554Permanent rejection (554).Yahoo or AOL rejected the message for good with a 554. Yahoo uses this code for several problems, from failed authentication to unacceptable content, so the wording of the reply tells you which.
- 554Failed authentication.Yahoo or AOL refused the message because it failed the checks that confirm the sending domain, such as DKIM against the domain's policy. Yahoo lists this among its permanent 553 and 554 errors.
- 554Recipient does not exist.The Yahoo or AOL account you wrote to does not exist. The failure is permanent: check the address with the recipient, and remove it from any list.
- 554No reverse DNS (PTR) record.Xfinity refused the connection because your sending IP has no PTR record. Every server sending to Xfinity needs valid reverse DNS, so the owner of the IP must add one.
- 554No reverse DNS for your IP.IONOS refused your mail because the IP address of your mail server has no domain name assigned to it in DNS (no PTR record).
- 554Reverse DNS does not meet IONOS policy.IONOS refused your mail because the PTR record of your IP does not meet its policy, typically a generic or dynamic-looking provider name.
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