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XFOR: Malformed SMTP Messages in the Internet Mail Service

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This article was previously published under Q293288

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Symptoms

The Internet Mail Service may stop processing inbound or outbound SMTP mail and may stop responding (hang) in an uncontrollable state. If you attempt to restart the Internet Mail Service, the information store may stop responding and one or more of the following error messages may be generated:
Event ID: 4116
Source: MSExchangeIMC
An error was returned from the messaging software the Internet Mail Service uses to process messages on the Microsoft Exchange Server. It is possible that the piece of mail being processed at the time will be returned to the sender as a failed delivery instead of being delivered. The message will be moved to the "BAD" folder, if possible, and the error is not a temporary error. Otherwise it will be retried when the service is restarted. Use the appropriate utilities found in the SUPPORT directory of your Exchange CD to view and manipulate messages that have been moved to the "BAD" folder

Event ID: 3039
Source: MSExchangeIMC
The error 0x80040115 was encountered while trying to communicate with the message store. An attempt to refresh the connection will be made. If not successful, the service will be shut down. Data (Words) 0000: 00140667 80040115

Event ID 12007
Source: MSExchangeIS
Type: Error
Category: Content Engine
Description: Error 0-82000080 occurred while processing message (Long Message ID) with subject (The subject of the message) from (Sender's Name). The archive filename is 'VMS95LCZ'.

Event ID: 4182
Source: MSExchangeIMC
Type: Error
Category: Internal Processing
Description: An error was returned from the messaging software the Internet Mail Service uses to process messages on the Microsoft Exchange Server. As a result, the message in spool file HBWK2Q2P will be retried when the server is restarted.

Event ID: 4102
Source: MSExchangeIMC
Type: Error
Category: Internal Processing
Description: A serious error has occurred while trying to send mail into the Exchange Information Store. The Internet Mail Service is being shut down.

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Cause

This issue can occur on the Exchange Server computer that is running the Internet Mail Service if the header of a message contains malformed information:
--=_ Boundary 1-KTwEv4jY84Hk
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset = ""
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

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Resolution

To resolve this issue:
1.Use the error messages that are generated to identify the message IDs of the malformed messages.
2.In Windows Explorer, locate the Imcdata\In and Imcdata\Out folders and either move or delete the messages that you identified as malformed. Search for messages that come from the same domain name. (In one situation where this issue occurred, all of the malformed messages came from one domain.)
3.Either apply the information store post-Exchange Server 5.5 Service Pack 3 (SP3) fix or upgrade the information store to version 2653.22 or later. The best way to upgrade the information store is to apply Exchange Server 5.5 Service Pack 4 (SP4).
4.Restart the Internet Mail Service and see if the information store keeps running and if messages are processed successfully.
5.If the Internet Mail Service brings in more malformed messages that may cause the information store to hang again, change the Internet Mail Service to outbound only:
a. Open the Internet Mail Service properties, and then click the Connections tab.
b. Under Transfer Mode, click Outbound only.
c. Click OK, and then and stop and restart the Internet Mail Service.
6.Restart the Internet Mail Service. If the information store keeps running and processes all messages, reconfigure the Internet Mail Service to both inbound and outbound.
7.Identify the malformed messages again (see step 1) and move the malformed messages (see step 2). You can do this on the Connections tab.
8.Restart the Internet Mail Service.

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More information

For additional information, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
278320 XFOR: Inbound Internet Message with Blank CHARSET Causes Dr. Watson in Store.exe

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Keywords: KB293288, kbprb

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Article Info
Article ID : 293288
Revision : 5
Created on : 10/28/2006
Published on : 10/28/2006
Exists online : False
Views : 323