INS: Newsgroups with PLUS/MINUS SIGN Give UNIX INN Errors

• Microsoft Commercial Internet System, version 1.0

SYMPTOMS

If a UNIX INN News Server contains a newsgroup that starts with a PLUS SIGN (+) or a MINUS SIGN (-) and a Push (I-Have) newsfeed is set up to a Microsoft Internet News Server (INS), the INS rejects the feed with a "502 access denied" error message. In most cases, this causes the INN News Server to attempt the feed again which is rejected again by INS. This may cause the INN Server to go into an infinite loop and in extreme cases, it may cause the UNIX Server to stop responding (hang).

CAUSE

The problem occurs because the Microsoft Internet News Server does not recognize the PLUS SIGN and MINUS SIGN as legitimate characters and therefore rejects the feed.

RESOLUTION

This problem has been fixed in Microsoft Commercial Internet System, version 1.0 Service Pack 2 (SP2).

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Microsoft Commercial Internet System, version 1.0. We are researching this problem and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.