Slow Memory Leak in Proxy Server with Windows NT Authentication

• Microsoft Proxy Server version 2.0
• Microsoft Internet Information Server version 3.0

SYMPTOMS

When Proxy Server is configured to allow Microsoft Windows NT authentication, the computer stops serving requests. By tracking the amount of private bytes for Inetinfo.exe, it can be observed that over time it increases without decreasing. This is viewable using Windows NT Performance Monitor by monitoring the following counter:

Object: Process
Instance: INETINFO
Counter: Private Bytes

CAUSE

During client authentication on Windows NT servers that are not domain controllers, a lookup of the current Windows NT domain name is performed. A pointer to the Windows NT domain name is saved in a global location without freeing the previous Windows NT domain name already stored there.

Each time a proxy client (such as Microsoft Internet Explorer) connects to the server using sockets, a small memory leak occurs on the server. This eventually causes performance degradation and requires a restart to recover.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem:

• Upgrade from IIS 3.0 to IIS 4.0.
  
  or



• Install Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 4 (SP4) or later

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, follow these steps:

1. Open the Internet Information Server (IIS) Microsoft Management Console (MMC), and then right-click the default Web site.



2. Choose the property from the menu, and then click the Directory Security tab.



3. Under Anonymous Access and Authentication Control, click Edit.



4. Click the Allow Anonymous Access check box to select it. This should be the only check box selected.



5. Open the Proxy Server MMC, click the Permissions tab, and then click the Use Access Control check box to clear it.



6. Stop and restart the IISAdmin service.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Proxy Server version 2.0 and Microsoft Internet Information Server version 4.0.

MORE INFORMATION

This problem was initially addressed in the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q170509 Memory Leak in SERVICES.EXE Causes Performance Degradation

Additional query words: IIS hotfix hot fix qfe quick engineering patch proxysrv

Keywords : kbenv
Version : winnt:2.0,3.0
Platform : winnt
Issue type : kbbug