SAP Knowledge Base Article - Public

3780212 - Bounce Notification Received After Using Nudge a Team Member - Onboarding

Symptom

After using the Nudge feature from the Onboarding Dashboard or the New Hire Details page, the sender receives a bounce notification (Non-Delivery Report) from their email system. The Nudge notification itself was delivered successfully to the intended recipient.

Error: 554 5.7.1 Recipient address rejected: Access denied

  • The bounce message references system@successfactors.eu (or system@successfactors.com) as the rejected recipient address.
  • The rejecting server is identified as a SuccessFactors mail server (for example, mail57a.sapsf.eu).
  • The bounce occurs after the original Nudge notification was confirmed as delivered.

Environment

SAP SuccessFactors Onboarding

Reproducing the Issue

  1. From the Onboarding Dashboard or the New Hire Details page, locate a task assigned to a team member.
  2. Select Nudge and click Send to dispatch the reminder notification.
  3. Confirm that the recipient receives the Nudge notification email.
  4. Observe that the sender subsequently receives a bounce notification with SMTP error 554 5.7.1 "Recipient address rejected: Access denied." The rejecting server is a SuccessFactors mail server.

Cause

SAP SuccessFactors sends all outbound system notifications, including Nudge reminders, from the system address system@successfactors.eu (EU data centers) or system@successfactors.com (other data centers). These addresses are outbound only. The SuccessFactors mail infrastructure does not process inbound mail addressed to these system addresses and is configured to reject any messages sent to them with SMTP error 554 5.7.1.

The bounce occurs when an email is sent back to the system address after the Nudge notification is delivered. The two most common triggers are independent and require different actions:

CAUSE 1: The recipient has an out-of-office auto-reply configured. When the Nudge notification arrives, the auto-reply system sends a response addressed to the FROM address of the notification (system@successfactors.eu or system@successfactors.com), which the SAP mail server rejects.

CAUSE 2: The user who sent the Nudge manually replies to the notification email in their inbox. The reply is addressed to the system sender address, which does not accept inbound mail.

Resolution

This behavior is by design. The system@successfactors.eu and system@successfactors.com addresses are outbound only and are not configured to accept inbound mail, as documented in KBA 2087468. The bounce notification does not indicate a problem with the Nudge feature or with email delivery. No configuration change in SAP SuccessFactors can enable inbound mail to these system addresses.

To prevent recurrence, identify the source of the reply and apply the corresponding resolution below.

RESOLUTION 1 (Out-of-office auto-reply):

    1. Confirm whether the recipient had an active out-of-office auto-reply configured at the time the Nudge was sent. Note: This is the most common cause. Any email platform configured to auto-reply to incoming messages will generate a bounce notification each time a SuccessFactors notification arrives while the auto-reply is active, because the reply is addressed to the system sender address.
    2. No action is required on the SAP SuccessFactors side. The bounce notifications stop automatically once the recipient disables or deactivates the out-of-office auto-reply.

    RESOLUTION 2 (Manual reply to the notification email):

      1. Inform the user who sent the Nudge not to reply directly to SuccessFactors notification emails. Replies addressed to system@successfactors.eu or system@successfactors.com are not accepted.
      2. To follow up with the task assignee, use the standard email application or an alternative communication channel rather than replying to the Nudge notification.

      After identifying and addressing the source of the reply, no further bounce notifications for this scenario should occur. If the issue persists and neither cause above applies, review the email headers in the bounce message to identify which message triggered the rejection, and contact SAP Support with those details for further investigation.

      See Also

      Keywords

      SAP SuccessFactors Onboarding, nudge, Nudge a Team Member, bounce notification, Non-Delivery Report, NDR, system@successfactors.eu, system@successfactors.com, no-reply, email bounce, 554 5.7.1, recipient address rejected, access denied, SMTP error, out-of-office, auto-reply, email notification, OBX, LOD-SF-OBX-NHA , KBA , LOD-SF-OBX-NHA , New Hire Activities (activities, tasks, buddy, equipment) , Problem

      Product

      SAP SuccessFactors Onboarding all versions