SPF: Multiple records detected

What this means

Multiple SPF records have been found in your domain with the same fully qualified domain name.

Why this is a problem

The SPF standard only permits one SPF record in a given email sending domain.

Email delivery which relies on passing SPF checks may not be delivered successfully to intended recipients. 

If one of your SPF records has an incorrect enforcement rule then this could increase the chances of spoofing emails being sent from your domain.

How to check if the problem is there

Check your DNS zone multiple TXT entries which begin with ‘v=spf1′ with the same name.

Usually, you will have one SPF record for your parent domain (for example, example.gov.uk) and SPF records for any subdomains from which you send email from (for example, mail.example.gov.uk).

You might want to use the following online tools to check for this issue:

• National Cyber Security Centre’s (NCSC) check your email security tool
• Hardenize’s domain report tool

How to fix this

You will need to remove your incorrect SPF record or merge the contents of both SPF records into a single entry, ensuring that the merged record does not exceed any limitations of SPF and is configured appropriately.

It is acceptable to have a separate SPF record for subdomains as these will have a different fully qualified domain name.