IT46176: EMAILINPUT NODE CAN LOOP FOREVER PROCESSING A MESSAGE WHICH CAN NOT BE PARSED

APAR status

• Closed as program error.

Error description

• If the EmailINput Node is unable to read the MIME content of an
  email message, for example if it is transferred in an
  unsupported code page, then this can result in an infinite
  message loop where the node repeatedly tries and fails to
  process the same message.
  
  
  For IMAP backout processing can be enabled using the
  environment variable MQSI_ARCHIVE_FAILED_EMAILS however this is
  not possible using POP3.
  

Local fix

Problem summary

• ****************************************************************
  USERS AFFECTED:
  All users of IBM App Connect Enterprise using the Email Input
  Node.
  
  
  Platforms affected:
  MultiPlatform
  
  ****************************************************************
  PROBLEM DESCRIPTION:
  If the EmailINput Node is unable to read the MIME content of an
  email message, for example if it is transferred in an
  unsupported code page, then this can result in an infinite
  message loop where the node repeatedly tries and fails to
  process the same message.
  
  
  For IMAP backout processing can be enabled using the environment
  variable MQSI_ARCHIVE_FAILED_EMAILS however this is not possible
  using POP3.
  

Problem conclusion

• This APAR makes the following changes.
  
  1.) When a message is propagated to the failure terminal of the
  Email Input Node it will have a new field in the Email Input
  Header named "FailedMessageContent" that will contain the raw
  bitstream content of the email.
  
  This allows a message flow designer to write a flow branch to
  handle malformed Email messages.
  
  2.)It is now possible to choose to discard an email that can not
  be processed to prevent poison message loops. Since when using
  pop3 this operation is destructive this new behaviour is opt-in
  and must be enabled by setting the env var
  MQSI_EMAIL_DISCARD_FAILED_EMAILS to any non-null value.
   <p>If an email is discarded in this manned a BIP4960 message is
  output to the error log. The EmailInput Node will make a best
  effort to fill in the email ID, subject and send date. Note that
  the sender email address is not logged as it may be considered
  personal information.</p><p>
  The full meta-data that is available for the message is place in
  the Email Input Header when the message is propagated down the
  failure terminal so the recommendation is for the flow to handle
  the failure rather than rely on the message being discarded. For
  example:</p><div style="text-align:start">
  2024-05-16 16:40:39.230640: BIP4960E: The EmailInput node
  'ComIbmEmailInputNode' has discarded a message because it could
  not be processed. The email ID is: '(Unknown ID)', the email
  subject is 'iso-8859-8-i message' and email send date was
  '(Unknown Send Date)'.</div>
  
  ---------------------------------------------------------------
  The fix is targeted for delivery in the following PTFs:
  
  Version    Maintenance Level
  v12.0      12.0.12.3
  
  The latest available maintenance can be obtained from:
  http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs=849&uid=swg27006041
  
  If the maintenance level is not yet available,information on
  its planned availability can be found on:
  http://www-1.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs=849&uid=swg27006308
  ---------------------------------------------------------------
  

Temporary fix

Comments

APAR Information

• APAR is sysrouted FROM one or more of the following:

• APAR is sysrouted TO one or more of the following:

Fix information

• Fixed component name

  APP CONNECT ENT

• Fixed component ID

  5724J0560

Applicable component levels