Microsoft has discovered a vulnerability that can be exploited when someone tries to connect to a Simple Messaging Application Programming Interface (SMAPI) port if, while the server is accepting the connection, that process is stopped. This action generates heap corruption that may cause the server to stop responding (hang).

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This problem occurs because SmpHandleConnectionRequest frees ClientContext after a successful call to NtAcceptConnectPort. When Smss.exe receives an LPC_PORT_CLOSED message, an exception is generated because it attempts to close the client handle, but ClientContext has already been closed.

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

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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 Windows 2000 Service Pack 1.

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For additional information about how to install Windows 2000 and Windows 2000 hotfixes at the same time, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

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