XFOR: Replies to Some Internet Mail Messages Fail (198563)



The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Exchange Server 5.0
  • Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5

This article was previously published under Q198563

SYMPTOMS

When an Exchange Server recipient replies to some Internet messages, he or she may receive a non-delivery report (NDR) indicating an invalid domain name. The original in-bound message the recipient received from the Internet contains a sender with an address similar to the following:

<user@correct.domain.com>@incorrect.domain.com


In this example, "@incorrect.domain.com" is a non-existent domain name that has been appended to the correct address, "user@correct.domain.com." The domain "@correct.domain.com" is the valid domain name.

These additional domain name or names cause the message not be delivered. The additional domain names may be added to the sender's address as a result of some foreign mail configurations.

CAUSE

In Internet Mail Service outbound mail, the domain name is found by looking for the last @ sign in the address. In this case this is "@incorrect.domain.com."

The Internet Mail Service tries to resolve "incorrect.domain.com," which does not exist, and fails. Thus, the message gets returned to the Exchange Server sender as an NDR.

Now, on the way into the information store from the Internet Mail Service, the address is checked to make sure it is usable. The check looks for the < and > symbols, and clears out everything else except what is inside these symbols. As a result, the message is cleaned up, and resent.

WORKAROUND

The Exchange Server sender should resend the message from the NDR; it will work.


Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:4/21/2005
Keywords:kbprb KB198563