Cisco PIX Software Causes Strange Content in SMTP Messages

Administrators of the Microsoft Exchange Internet Mail Service (IMS) may notice SMTP content that once passed through a Cisco 'PIX' router, contains strings of 'XXXXXXXXXX's.

The issue is associated with Cisco bug # CSCDK46673. Cisco has a fix available.

Here is an excerpt from Cisco's bug report:

   Bug Id : CSCdk46673
   > Headline    PIX 4.2(2) - fixup smtp trashes E-mail when NOOP is issued
   >
   > Product    pix    Model
   > Component   pix-app   Duplicate of    </cgi-
      bin/bugtool/onebug.pl?bugid=>
   >
   > Severity    2    Status  </kobayashi/releases/bugstate.html>   R
   >
   > Version Found    4.2(2)    Fixed-in Version    4.2(3)
   > Release Notes In PIX 4.2(2), when a NOOP is issued by an SMTP server
   > behind a PIX when the fixup smtp command is enabled, portions of the
   > E-mail will be replaced by a series of ''X''s, which may render the
   > resulting message unreadable.