XFOR: Message Submitted to Pickup Folder with Folded Header Goes to Badmail (234244)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server
  • the operating system: Microsoft Windows 2000
This article was previously published under Q234244

SYMPTOMS

When you are using the Microsoft SMTP service, if a message is submitted to the Pickup directory (Inetpub\Mailroot\Pickup) and has folded header fields, it is placed in the Badmail folder (Inetpub\Mailroot\Badmail).

CAUSE

The SMTP service does not properly parse address headers (From, To, Bcc) that are folded to several lines.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft SMTP service that is included with Microsoft Windows 2000 and Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server.

MORE INFORMATION

The following excerpt from Request for Comments (RFC) 822 explains the concept of folding.

3.1.1.  LONG HEADER FIELDS

        Each header field can be viewed as a single, logical  line  of
        ASCII  characters,  comprising  a field-name and a field-body.
        For convenience, the field-body  portion  of  this  conceptual
        entity  can be split into a multiple-line representation; this
        is called "folding".  The general rule is that wherever  there
        may  be  linear-white-space  (NOT  simply  LWSP-chars), a CRLF
        immediately followed by AT LEAST one LWSP-char may instead  be
        inserted.  Thus, the single line

            To:  "Joe & J. Harvey" <ddd @Org>, JJV @ BBN

        can be represented as:

            To:  "Joe & J. Harvey" <ddd @ Org>,
                    JJV@BBN

        and

            To:  "Joe & J. Harvey"
                            <ddd@ Org>, JJV
             @BBN

        and

            To:  "Joe &
             J. Harvey" <ddd @ Org>, JJV @ BBN

        The process of moving  from  this  folded   multiple-line
        representation  of a header field to its single line represen-
        tation is called "unfolding".  Unfolding  is  accomplished  by
        regarding   CRLF   immediately  followed  by  a  LWSP-char  as
        equivalent to the LWSP-char.

        Note:  While the standard  permits  folding  wherever  linear-
               white-space is permitted, it is recommended that struc-
               tured fields, such as those containing addresses, limit
               folding  to higher-level syntactic breaks.  For address
               fields, it  is  recommended  that  such  folding  occur
               between addresses, after the separating comma.
Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:4/25/2005
Keywords:kbbug kbnofix KB234244
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