XCON: MTA Terminates Unexpectedly in Large Nested DL Expansion (153103)

SYMPTOMS

The Microsoft Exchange Message Transfer Agent (MTA) version 5.0 may terminate unexpectedly when performing distribution list (DL) expansion on a large, nested DL. An event similar to the following may be logged in the application event log:

Event ID:9405
Source:MSExchangeMTA
Type:Error
Category:Field Engineering
Description:
An unexpected error has occurred which may cause the MTA to terminate. Error: Access violation (0xc0000005) at Address 0x775e5a50 reading from 0xc. [BASE DISP:FANOUT 15] (16)

MORE INFORMATION

This problem may occur if, for example, there are 26 DLs nested beneath a single DL where the number of members to any one of the nested DLs may range from 0 to 600 or more. When a message is sent to the DL that contains the 26 nested DLs, the MTA may terminate unexpectedly with the 9405 event ID.

The following event may occur and the MTA may stop before logging a 9405 event:

   message NMI2171: Internal Processing Error, severity 14

   (DB Server DISP:FANOUT(12) Proc 26) 04-18-97 02:13:47pm
   Error reading attribute
   Called from MTA Proc 223
   Database error code     ODXOINIU - Object does not exist
   Object at fault         06000000
   Attribute identifier    28
   Value number            44
   Referenced object       00000000     (00000000 => N/A)
   Referenced object error 0

The DISP:FANOUT indicates a problem expanding an object, in this case, a large distribution list that contains a number of other distribution lists. The presence of the 06000000 as the Object at Fault is another indication of this particular issue.

STATUS

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