Messages are not delivered and NDRs are incorrectly generated when you send a message to many recipients in Exchange Server 2003 on a Windows Server 2003-based system

If you are running Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 on a Microsoft Windows Server 2003-based computer, and Exchange Server processes a message that has many recipients, the message is delivered to only some of the intended recipients. Exchange Server generates non-delivery reports (NDRs) for the other recipients. This issue occurs even if you resend the message.

This problem may occur if the following conditions are true:

• The Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) service in Windows Server 2003 uses pipelining to send a message that has many different recipients to another Exchange server that supports pipelining.
  
  Note By default, pipelining is used when Exchange servers communicate with other Exchange servers.
• The number of recipients that is specified in the message exceeds the maximum recipient limit that is specified on the receiving Exchange server.

In this scenario, the SMTP service incorrectly tracks the number of recipients who receive the "error 552" error message. This error message indicates that the maximum number of recipients on the receiving Exchange server has been exceeded. Therefore, NDRs are incorrectly generated for some of the recipients of the message.

Hotfix information

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.

Prerequisites

No prerequisites are required.

Hotfix replacement information

This hotfix does not replace any other hotfixes.

File information

The English version of this hotfix 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.

Windows Server 2003

Windows Server 2003, 64-Bit Edition

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.

For additional information about standard terminology that is used to describe Microsoft software updates, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: