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Outlook Express does not use 3DES to encrypt mail when the recipient's capabilities are not known


View products that this article applies to.

This article was previously published under Q331488

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Symptoms

All versions of Outlook Express, including the version that is shipped with Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 1, use RC2 40-bit encryption when the recipient's encryption capabilities are unknown.

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Resolution

A supported hotfix is available from Microsoft. However, this hotfix is intended to correct only the problem that is described in this article. Apply this hotfix only to systems that are experiencing this specific problem. This hotfix might receive additional testing. Therefore, if you are not severely affected by this problem, we recommend that you wait for the next software update that contains this hotfix.

If the hotfix is available for download, there is a "Hotfix download available" section at the top of this Knowledge Base article. If this section does not appear, contact Microsoft Customer Service and Support to obtain the hotfix.

Note If additional issues occur or if any troubleshooting is required, you might have to create a separate service request. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for this specific hotfix. For a complete list of Microsoft Customer Service and Support telephone numbers or to create a separate service request, visit the following Microsoft Web site: Note The "Hotfix download available" form displays the languages for which the hotfix is available. If you do not see your language, it is because a hotfix is not available for that language. The English version of this fix has the file attributes (or later) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in coordinated universal time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time tool in Control Panel.
Date         Time   Version             Size   File name
   --------------------------------------------------------------
   02-May-2003  15:54  6.0.2800.1196   1,175,040  Msoe.dll
This fix permits you to use 3DES instead of 40-bit encryption when the recipient's encryption capabilities are not known.

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Status

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.

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More information

After you apply this hotfix, the following registry key is added. If you turn on this key, Outlook Express uses 3DES encryption for unknown capabilities.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Outlook Express\5.0\Required Settings

Value Name: Encrypt Using 3DES
Data Type : REG_DWORD
Value: 1
To activate the fix on Windows XP Service Pack 2, the following registry key must be created :
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Identities\your_user_name\Software\Microsoft\Outlook Express\5.0
Where "your_user_name" is your User name on your computer.

Value Name: Encrypt Using 3DES
Data Type : REG_DWORD
Value: 1

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Keywords: KB331488, kbqfe, kbie600presp2fix, kbfix, kbbug, kbqfe, kbhotfixserver, kbautohotfix

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Article Info
Article ID : 331488
Revision : 9
Created on : 11/15/2007
Published on : 11/15/2007
Exists online : False
Views : 332