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Q168536: XCON: Event ID: 246 An Internal MTA Error Has Occurred

Article: Q168536
Product(s): Microsoft Exchange
Version(s): 5.0
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbusage
Last Modified: 05-MAY-1999

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Exchange Server, version 5.0 
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SUMMARY
=======

When you send a mail message from Microsoft Mail to a Microsoft Exchange Server
distribution list (DL), you may see the following error message:

  EventID:    246
  Source:     MSExchangeMTA
  Type:       Error
  Category:   Internal Processing

  An internal MTA error occurred. An attempt has been made to read beyond
  the end of an object. Attribute ID: 30. Object at fault: 060000NN.
  Offset reached: 1. Contact Microsoft Product Support Services. [MTA
  DISP:FANOUT 12 223] (14)

The referenced object in the error is not found in the Mtadata directory. The
referenced object may vary but the attribute ID and offset are the same in most
cases.

CAUSE
=====

The error occurs when the message transfer agent (MTA) looks on the message for
an attribute called Private Extensions. The MS Mail Interchange (MSMI) does not
create messages with this attribute, because it did not used to exist. The MTA
sees the value of this attribute has a length of 0 and so it records the error
246.

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 Server
5.0 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


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Keywords          : kbusage 
Technology        : kbExchangeSearch kbExchange500 kbZNotKeyword2
Version           : 5.0
Issue type        : kbbug

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