XADM: Key Normalization Problem Causes Stack Corruption

ID: Q175733

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Exchange Server, version 5.0

SYMPTOMS

We cannot list any specific symptoms that you may encounter because the behavior of Exchange Server is unpredictable when this problem occurs.

CAUSE

Under certain circumstances, while formulating a key, Exchange Server will write to a random area on the stack. This occurs if the following steps occur:

Exchange Server is in the middle of formulating a key, but it has less than 9 bytes left in keyspace.

The next column to normalize is a binary column.

Can't fit the binary column.

At this point, Exchange Server encounters the problem and writes to a random area on the stack. If there are no more columns in the index, it likely avoids the problem because it exits the function. However, if there are more columns in the index, it stays in the function to examine the remaining columns. At this point, the stack has been corrupted and unpredictable behaviour ensues. This problem is likely to be hit if an index contains many columns.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Microsoft Exchange Server, version 5.0. This problem has been corrected in the latest U.S. Service Pack for Microsoft Exchange Server version 5.0. 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

Keywords : kbbug5.00 kbfix5.00.sp2 XADM
Version : WinNT:5.0
Platform : winnt
Issue type : kbbug