XCON: Linear Whitespaces Removed When Unfolding MIME Headers

 Last reviewed: October 31, 1997
Article ID: Q176045
The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Exchange Server, version 4.0

SYMPTOMS

The Microsoft Exchange Server Internet Mail Connector (IMC) might fail to convert an incoming internet mail message. The IMC will not correctly parse MIME headers that wrap across lines. The problem appears with MIME Content- Type headers where the boundary is broken into two lines.

CAUSE

When the IMC unwraps these headers, it removes all spaces. Although this conforms to the RFC, this creates a message with an invalid message header and thus the message cannot be processed.

For example, if the IMC receives a header similar to the following, it won't be able to decode MIME attachments: 

  Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="----
                 =_NextPart_000_01BC87E8.4103ECF0"
This header happens to have been generated by the IMC and comes back to an IMC that does not understand it. In this case, there was a Soft-Switch LMS 2.0 between the IMCs.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Microsoft Exchange Server, version 4.0.

A supported fix is now available, but has not been fully regression-tested and should be applied only to systems experiencing this specific problem. Unless you are severely impacted by this specific problem, Microsoft recommends that you wait for the next Service Pack that contains this fix. Contact Microsoft Technical Support for more information.

MORE INFORMATION

For more information about this problem in Microsoft Exchange Server, version 5.0, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 

   ARTICLE-ID: Q175236
   TITLE: XFOR: Failed Message Conversion Error on Inbound Messages

Additional query words:
Keywords : kbbug4.00 kbfix4.00.sp5 XCON buglist
Version : 4.0
Platform : winnt
Issue type : kbbug
Solution Type : kbfix kbpatch

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Last reviewed: October 31, 1997
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