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FIX: Communication over an IPsec connection is broken unexpectedly when a client reconnects to the IPsec server within four minutes after the client restarts

Article ID: 979272 - View products that this article applies to.

Hotfix Download Available

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SYMPTOMS

Consider the following scenario:

An Internet Protocol security (IPsec) client establishes an IPsec connection to a computer that is running Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 (SP2).
Both the IPsec client and the Windows Server 2003 IPsec server are located behind Network Address Translation (NAT) devices.
The client restarts and then reconnects to the server within four minutes.

In this scenario, communication over the new IPsec connection is broken unexpectedly.

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The expiration time of the IPsec connection entry is hard-coded to four minutes. The IPsec driver keeps the IPsec connection entry for Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) connections between the client and the server. The IPsec connection entry is valid for four minutes after the TCP connection is closed.

If the IPsec client reconnects to the IPsec server within four minutes after the client restarts, the IPsec connection entry is reused. After four minutes, the IPsec connection entry is deleted. Then, IPsec negotiation is conducted to obtain a new connection entry. In some environments, this negotiation fails, and then this issue occurs.

Note This issue occurs only when the first network packet is sent from the IPsec server to the IPsec client after the IPsec connection entry is deleted. This issue does not occur if the first network packet is sent from the IPsec client to the IPsec server after the IPsec connection entry is deleted.

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RESOLUTION

Hotfix information

A supported hotfix is available from Microsoft. However, this hotfix is intended to correct only the problem that is described in this article. Apply this hotfix only to systems that are experiencing the problem described in this article. This hotfix might receive additional testing. Therefore, if you are not severely affected by this problem, we recommend that you wait for the next software update that contains this hotfix.

If the hotfix is available for download, there is a "Hotfix download available" section at the top of this Knowledge Base article. If this section does not appear, contact Microsoft Customer Service and Support to obtain the hotfix.

Note If additional issues occur or if any troubleshooting is required, you might have to create a separate service request. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for this specific hotfix. For a complete list of Microsoft Customer Service and Support telephone numbers or to create a separate service request, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

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

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

Note The "Hotfix download available" form displays the languages for which the hotfix is available. If you do not see your language, it is because a hotfix is not available for that language.

Prerequisites

To apply this hotfix, you must be running Windows Server 2003 SP2. For more information about how to obtain a Windows Server 2003 service pack, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

889100

(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/889100/ )

How to obtain the latest service pack for Windows Server 2003

Restart requirement

You must restart the computer after you apply this hotfix.

Hotfix replacement information

This hotfix does not replace a previously released hotfix.

File information

The English (United States) version of this hotfix installs files that have the attributes that are listed in the following tables. The dates and the times for these files are listed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). The dates and the times for these files on your local computer are displayed in your local time together with your current daylight saving time (DST) bias. Additionally, the dates and the times may change when you perform certain operations on the files.

Windows Server 2003 file information notes

In addition to the files that are listed in these tables, this hotfix also installs an associated security catalog file (KBnumber.cat) that is signed with a Microsoft digital signature.