XFOR: MSMI Crashes Starting a New Thread, Reads a Null Pointer

• Microsoft Exchange Server, versions 4.0, 5.0

SYMPTOMS

The Microsoft Mail Connector interchange (MSMI) stops processing outbound mail. This can be evidenced by the following symptoms:

• A backlog builds in the message transfer agent's (MTA's) MSMI queue.



• In Performance Monitor, observe thread object "% processor time" counter for all MT.EXE threads. One or more threads above number 3 will show no processor utilization (threads 0 through 3 typically show no processor utilization except during startup, shutdown, or thread and data refresh).



• With MSMI logging set to maximum the application event log will cease logging "Sent" events (ID 2448) (although other MSMI events may still be logged).



• The service stops with no event log warning or DrWtsn32.LOG.



• The service may not respond to control functions nor appear stopped. In the severe, Kill.exe fails to free the service and the computer has to be restarted.

CAUSE

During thread restart, an exception occurs while accessing a [null] pointer in the thread environment block (TEB) that is supposed to hold a pointer to the thread's thread local storage (TLS) area.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Microsoft Exchange Server version 4.0. This problem has been corrected in the latest U.S. Service Pack for Microsoft Exchange Server version 4.0. For information on obtaining the Service Pack, query on the following word in the Microsoft Knowledge Base (without the spaces):

S E R V P A C K

S E R V P A C K

Additional query words:

Keywords : kbusage kbbug4.00 kbbug5.00 XFOR kbfix5.00.sp1
Version : winnt:4.0,5.0
Platform : winnt
Issue type : kbbug