Microsoft KB Archive/815009

= SMTP Service Uses 100 Percent of CPU Resources When Messages Are Processed =

Article ID: 815009

Article Last Modified on 10/26/2006

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 3
 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 2
 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 1
 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 3
 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 2
 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 1

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SYMPTOMS
You may experience a situation where the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol service (SMTP service, Inetinfo.exe) uses 100 percent of the CPU resources when messages are processed. This issue occurs when the server is under a heavy load. The issue is not resolved by restarting the server.



CAUSE
This issue occurs when a message property stream has been partially committed and the SMTP service tries to access properties that span multiple pages (for example, if the message contains many recipients) when the system is under a heavy load. This permits a race condition where the current page points back to itself. When a current page points back to itself, the server enters an infinite loop. Restarting the server causes the message queues to be enumerated, so 100 percent CPU usage continues to occur.

The issue occurs because of a loop condition in CPropertyTableItem::AddItem. The Windows SMTP service expects more property page fragments to be present and loops indefinitely until it finds them. The root cause of the stream corruption is not known.



Service Pack Information
To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Microsoft Windows 2000. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

260910 How to Obtain the Latest Windows 2000 Service Pack

Hotfix Information
A supported fix is now available from Microsoft, but it is only intended to correct the problem that is described in this article. Apply it only to computers that are experiencing this specific problem. This fix may receive additional testing. Therefore, if you are not severely affected by this problem, Microsoft recommends that you wait for the next Windows 2000 service pack that contains this hotfix.

To resolve this problem immediately, contact Microsoft Product Support Services to obtain the fix. For a complete list of Microsoft Product Support Services phone numbers and information about support costs, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/?ws=support

NOTE: In special cases, charges that are ordinarily incurred for support calls may be canceled if a Microsoft Support Professional determines that a specific update will resolve your problem. The typical support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for the specific update in question.

The English version of this fix has the file attributes (or later) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in coordinated universal time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time tool in Control Panel.   Date         Time   Version        Size     File name --  19-Feb-2003  16:14  5.0.2195.6654  322,320  Aqueue.dll 19-Feb-2003 16:14  5.0.2195.6666   67,344  Mailmsg.dll 19-Feb-2003 16:14  5.0.2195.6662   38,672  Ntfsdrv.dll 19-Feb-2003 16:14  5.0.2195.6662  442,640  Smtpsvc.dll



STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article. This problem was first corrected in Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4.



MORE INFORMATION
For additional information about how to obtain a hotfix for Windows 2000 Datacenter Server, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

265173 The Datacenter Program and Windows 2000 Datacenter Server Product

Additional query words: 100% utilization hangs Exchange

Keywords: kbbug kbfix kbwin2000presp4fix kbqfe kbwin2ksp4fix kbhotfixserver KB815009

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