KB182040 - XFOR: Internet Mail Service Converts Two-Digit Years Incorrectly

Article ID: 182040

Article Last Modified on 10/28/2006

Microsoft Exchange Server 5.0 Standard Edition
Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5 Standard Edition

This article was previously published under Q182040

SYMPTOMS

When you receive a message that has a two-digit year field through the Internet Mail Service, the year may not be properly converted to four digits. This problem is not likely to occur before the year 2000.

CAUSE

The Internet Mail Service does not properly convert two-digit years to four digits for the year 2000.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Microsoft Exchange Server version 5.0.

A supported fix is now available, but has not been fully regression-tested and should be applied only to systems experiencing this specific problem. Unless you are severely impacted by this specific problem, Microsoft recommends that you wait for the next Service Pack that contains this fix. Contact Microsoft Technical Support for more information.

This fix has been posted to the following Internet location:

ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/bussys/exchange/exchange-public/fixes/Eng/Exchg5.0/Post-SP2-STORE/

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Microsoft Exchange Server version 5.5. This problem has been corrected in the latest U.S. Service Pack for Microsoft Exchange Server version 5.5. 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

MORE INFORMATION

After you apply the fix described in the Status section of this article, the two-digit years convert to four digits according to the following table:

   Two-digit year   Four-digit year
   --------------------------------
   00-49            2000-2049
   50-99            1950-1999

For additional information about date conversion problems with the Internet Mail Service, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

173491 XFOR: Message to IMC via Telnet with Year 1900

Additional query words: imail y2k

Keywords: kbhotfixserver kbqfe kbbug kbexchange500presp3fix kbfix KB182040