Exchange Updates – March 2020

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The Exchange Team released the quarterly Cumulative Updates for Exchange Server 2019 as well as Exchange 2016. Like the previous Cumulative Updates, these require .NET Framework 4.8. Apart from fixes as well as security updates included from the previous CU, these update contain the following changes for Exchange 2019 CU5:

  • Updated Exchange calculator (v10.4).
  • Fixes an issue with Manage-MetaCacheDatabase.ps1 to configure MCDB.
  • Fixes partial word searches when using Outlook in online mode.

Links to the updates as well as a description of changes and fixes are described below.

VersionBuildKBDownloadUMLPSchema
Exchange 2019 CU515.2.595.3KB4537677VLSC N
Exchange 2016 CU1615.1.1979.3KB4537678DownloadUMLPN

Exchange 2019 CU5 fixes:

  • 4552472 Exchange Server 2019 Sizing Calculator version 10.4 is available
  • 4536552 Export-ModernPublicFolderStatistics.ps1 is not working in Exchange Server 2019
  • 4538303 Exchange 2019 Setup Prerequisite Check fails for .NET 4.8 Framework in CU4 on Windows builds 1909 and 1903
  • 4547705 Authentication loop between msft.sts.microsoft.com/adfs and OWA in Exchange Server 2019
  • 4547706 Birthday isn’t correctly synced to iOS native mail app in Exchange Server 2019
  • 4547708 Elevation of privileges possible when Active Directory permissions role is granted in Exchange Server 2019
  • 4547709 InternetWebProxyBypassList is ignored by Mailbox Replication service in Exchange Server 2019
  • 4547710 New-MailboxSearch with In-Place Hold enabled replaces all values in msExchUserHoldPolicies if adding a value in Exchange Server 2019
  • 4547711 Public folder permissions aren’t applied from Outlook in Exchange Server 2019 hybrid environment
  • 4547712 Outlook on the web (OWA) exposes junk operations even if disabled via OwaMailboxPolicy in Exchange Server 2019
  • 4547713 IsOnlineMeeting is always false for Teams-only meetings in Exchange Server 2019
  • 4547714 Can’t add remote shared mailbox using ECP into distribution group in Exchange Server 2019 hybrid environment
  • 4547715 New created search folder retention policy is changed in Exchange Server 2019
  • 4547719 MCDB status is “Offline” and SSDs are not formatted in Exchange Server 2019
  • 4547720 Partial word searches not working for mailboxes in Outlook online mode in Exchange Server 2019
  • 4547721 Exchange Sizing Calculator still supports mail.que database over 2 TB in Exchange Server 2019
  • 4547722 Can’t go from Office 365 to Enterprise in Exchange Server 2019 Exchange admin center (EAC) if Chrome SameSite Cookie is enabled
  • 4547723 Can’t sign in to Office 365 if configuring hybrid with Chrome SameSite Cookie enabled in Exchange Server 2019
  • 4536987 Description of the security update for Microsoft Exchange Server 2019: February 11, 2020

Exchange 2016 CU16 fixes:

  • 4547705 Authentication loop between msft.sts.microsoft.com/adfs and OWA in Exchange Server 2016
  • 4547706 Birthday isn’t correctly synced to iOS native mail app in Exchange Server 2016
  • 4547708 Elevation of privileges possible when Active Directory permissions role is granted in Exchange Server 2016
  • 4547709 InternetWebProxyBypassList is ignored by Mailbox Replication service in Exchange Server 2016
  • 4547710 New-MailboxSearch with In-Place Hold enabled replaces all values in msExchUserHoldPolicies if adding a value in Exchange Server 2016
  • 4547711 Public folder permissions aren’t applied from Outlook in Exchange Server 2016 hybrid environment
  • 4547712 Outlook on the web (OWA) exposes junk operations even if disabled via OwaMailboxPolicy in Exchange Server 2016
  • 4547713 IsOnlineMeeting is always false for Teams-only meetings in Exchange Server 2016
  • 4547714 Can’t add remote shared mailbox by using ECP into distribution group in Exchange Server 2016 hybrid environment
  • 4547715 New created search folder retention policy is changed in Exchange Server 2016
  • 4547722 Can’t go from Office 365 to Enterprise in Exchange Server 2016 Exchange admin center (EAC) if Chrome SameSite Cookie is enabled
  • 4547723 Can’t sign in to Office 365 if configuring hybrid with Chrome SameSite Cookie enabled in Exchange Server 2016
  • 4547716 Event ID 1325 and Test-ExchangeSearch crashes application pool with NullReferenceException in Exchange Server 2016
  • 4536987 Description of the security update for Microsoft Exchange Server 2016: February 11, 2020

Notes:

  • These Cumulative Updates do not contain schema changes compared to their previous Cumulative Update.
  • When upgrading from an n-2 or earlier version of Exchange, or an early version of the .NET Framework, consult Upgrade Paths for CU’s & .NET.
  • Don’t forget to put the Exchange server in maintenance mode prior to updating. Regardless, setup will put the server in server-wide offline mode post-analysis, before making actual changes.
  • When using Exchange hybrid deployments or Exchange Online Archiving (EOA), you are required to delay installing at most one version (n-1).
  • If you want to speed up the update process for systems without internet access, you can follow the procedure described here to disable publisher’s certificate revocation checking.
  • Cumulative Updates can be installed directly; no need to install RTM prior to installing Cumulative Updates.
  • Once installed, you can’t uninstall a Cumulative Update nor any of the installed Exchange server roles.
  • The order of installation shouldn’t matter with the “every server is an island” concept, yet recommended is to upgrade internet-facing, non-internet-facing servers first, followed by Edge Transports.

Caution:

As for any update, I recommend to thoroughly test updates in a test environment prior to implementing them in production. When you lack such facilities, hold out a few days and monitor the comments on the original publication or forums for any issues.

Security Updates Exchange 2010-2019 (Feb2020)

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A quick blog on recently published security updates for Exchange Server 2013 up to Exchange Server 2019 and Exchange Server 2010 as well. These fixes address the following vulnerabilities:

  • CVE-2020-0692: Microsoft Exchange Server Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability

An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists in Microsoft Exchange Server. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could gain the same rights as any other user of the Exchange server. This could allow the attacker to perform activities such as accessing the mailboxes of other users. Exploitation of this vulnerability requires Exchange Web Services (EWS) to be enabled and in use in an affected environment. To exploit the vulnerability, an attacker would need to change parameters in the Security Access Token and forward it to a Microsoft Exchange Server, thereby allowing impersonation of another Exchange user. To address this vulnerability, Microsoft has changed the way EWS handles these tokens.
This vulnerability does not apply to Exchange 2010.

  • CVE-2020-0688: Microsoft Exchange Memory Corruption Vulnerability

A remote code execution vulnerability exists in Microsoft Exchange Server when the server fails to properly create unique keys at install time. Knowledge of a the validation key allows an authenticated user with a mailbox to pass arbitrary objects to be deserialized by the web application, which runs as SYSTEM. The security update addresses the vulnerability by correcting how Microsoft Exchange creates the keys during install.

The CVE documents contain more details on the vulnerabilities. In addition, KB4536989 (Rollup 30) for Exchange 2010 and KB4536988 for Exchange 2013 also fixes the following issue:

  • KB4540267 MSExchangeDelivery.exe or EdgeTransport.exe crashes in Exchange Server 2013 and Exchange Server 2010

The exploits can be fixed by single security update, which you can find in the table below per current Exchange version.

ExchangeDownloadBuildKBSupersedes
Exchange 2019 CU4Download15.2.529.8KB4536987KB4523171
Exchange 2019 CU3Download15.2.464.11KB4536987KB4523171
Exchange 2016 CU15Download15.1.1913.7KB4536987KB4523171
Exchange 2016 CU14Download15.1.1847.7KB4536987KB4523171
Exchange 2013 CU23Download15.0.1497.6KB4536988KB4523171
Exchange 2010 SP3 RU30KB4536989KB4509410

Be advised that the Security Updates for Exchange 2013-2019 are Cumulative Update level specific. Unfortunately, the security update carries the same name for different CUs, and you cannot apply the update for Exchange 2016 CU15 to Exchange 2016 CU14. I would suggest tagging the Cumulative Update in the file name used, e.g. Exchange2016-CU15-KB4536987-x64-en.msp.

Also, run the Security Update from an elevated command prompt, to prevent issues during installation. And on a final note, as with any patch or update, I’d recommend to apply this in a acceptance environment first, prior to implementing it in production.

Exchange Updates – December 2019

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The Exchange Team released the quarterly Cumulative Updates for Exchange Server 2019 as well as Exchange 2016. One significant change with these updates is the requirement for .NET Framework 4.8, as announced earlier. Also, Exchange 2019 CU4 comes with an updated Exchange calculator. Links to the updates as well as a description of changes and fixes are described below.

VersionBuildKBDownloadUMLPSchema
Exchange 2019 CU415.2.529.5 KB4522149VLSC N
Exchange 2016 CU1515.1.1913.5 KB4522150DownloadUMLPN

Exchange 2019 CU4 fixes:

  • 4528696 Exchange PowerShell cmdlets take longer time to run in Exchange Server 2019
  • 4528695 Event ID 4009 when using SubjectOrBodyMatchesPatterns on Edge server in Exchange Server 2019
  • 4528694 Can’t open .ics file in Outlook on the web in Exchange Server 2019
  • 4528692 “A parameter was specified that isn’t valid” error when creating transport rule in Exchange Server 2019
  • 4523519 Set-SendConnector doesn’t work for Exchange Server in hybrid scenarios with Edge Server installed
  • 4528688 Only one recipient shows when saving draft by using Exchange ActiveSync version 16.0 in Exchange Server 2019
  • 4528693 Get-CalendarDiagnosticLog is proxied for queries within the same forest in Exchange Server 2019
  • 4528687 NotificationClient logs aren’t purged and consume lots of disk in Exchange Server 2019
  • 4528689 Outlook on the web shows MailTip when recipients equal the large audience size in Exchange Server 2019
  • 4528690 Can’t move or delete folder in Outlook online mode if the destination has a folder with the same name in Exchange Server 2019
  • 4532744 System.ArgumentNullException when you use Set-user to assign block legacy auth policy in Exchange Server 2019
  • 4532747 Address list separation not working for a user without a mailbox in Exchange Server 2019
  • 4523171 Description of the security update for Microsoft Exchange Server 2019, 2016, and 2013: November 12, 2019

Exchange 2016 CU15 fixes:

  • 4515256 “The function cannot be performed…” error when you send a message that’s open for a long time in Exchange Server 2016
  • 4528693 Get-CalendarDiagnosticLog is proxied for queries within the same forest in Exchange Server 2016
  • 4523519 Set-SendConnector doesn’t work for Exchange Server in hybrid scenarios with Edge Server installed
  • 4528690 Can’t move or delete folder in Outlook online mode if the destination has a folder with the same name in Exchange Server 2016
  • 4528687 NotificationClient logs aren’t purged and consume lots of disk in Exchange Server 2016
  • 4528689 Outlook on the web shows MailTip when recipients equal the large audience size in Exchange Server 2016
  • 4528688 Only one recipient shows when saving draft by using Exchange ActiveSync version 16.0 in Exchange Server 2016
  • 4528695 Event ID 4009 when using SubjectOrBodyMatchesPatterns on Edge server in Exchange Server 2016
  • 4528694 Can’t open .ics file in Outlook on the web in Exchange Server 2016
  • 4528692 “A parameter was specified that isn’t valid” error when creating transport rule in Exchange Server 2016
  • 4515257 Hash mismatch is reported for Exchange DLLs in the bin directory of Exchange Server 2016
  • 4528696 Exchange PowerShell cmdlets take longer time to run in Exchange Server 2016
  • 4532747 Address list separation not working for a user without a mailbox in Exchange Server 2016
  • 4523171 Description of the security update for Microsoft Exchange Server 2019, 2016, and 2013: November 12, 2019

Notes:

  • These Cumulative Updates do not contain schema changes compared to their previous Cumulative Update.
  • When upgrading from an n-2 or earlier version of Exchange, or an early version of the .NET Framework, consult Upgrade Paths for CU’s & .NET.
  • Don’t forget to put the Exchange server in maintenance mode prior to updating. Regardless, setup will put the server in server-wide offline mode post-analysis, before making actual changes.
  • When using Exchange hybrid deployments or Exchange Online Archiving (EOA), you are required to delay installing at most one version (n-1).
  • If you want to speed up the update process for systems without internet access, you can follow the procedure described here to disable publisher’s certificate revocation checking.
  • Cumulative Updates can be installed directly; no need to install RTM prior to installing Cumulative Updates.
  • Once installed, you can’t uninstall a Cumulative Update nor any of the installed Exchange server roles.
  • The order of installation shouldn’t matter with the “every server is an island” concept, yet recommended is to upgrade internet-facing, non-internet-facing servers first, followed by Edge Transports.

Caution:

As for any update, I recommend to thoroughly test updates in a test environment prior to implementing them in production. When you lack such facilities, hold out a few days and monitor the comments on the original publication or forums for any issues.

Blocking Self-Service Purchases

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On October 23rd, Microsoft announced – a little out of the blue – they were going to introduce self-service purchase options for users on November 19th. The details of this change were put forward in a post in the message center, article MC193609 to be exact. In short, this option would introduce the following changes for commercial tenants:

  • Allow end users to purchase Power Platform related subscriptions using their own payment method, e.g. Power Apps, Automate (formerly Flow) or PowerBI Pro.
  • These subscriptions could be made in their employee’s tenant, with the exception of government, non-profit and education.
  • It would not end with Power Platform subscriptions.
  • To make purchases, end users would be able to open a restricted view of the Microsoft 365 Admin Center.

While a handful individuals cheered ‘Power to the end user’, the vast majority of organizations were very unhappy with this development to say the least. This adoption booster would not only be opposing Microsoft’s own ‘Cloud on your terms’ and ‘Your tenant, your data’ principles they have been telling customers for years, it could also severely impact enterprise security and governance policies (or absence thereof), let alone lead to discussions when people expense their PowerBI Pro purchase. And I’m not even talking about the absence of admin controls.

So, swiftly after the massive backlash on social media, UserVoice as well as other channels, the announcement was altered, and a FAQ was published, which you can read here. The change itself was postponed until January 14th, 2020, and organizations would be handed controls to turn self-service purchases off before roll out.

Rather quietly, details on how to disable self-service purchase have been added to the FAQ. To read on how to accomplish this, continue reading my original blog post over at ENow by clicking here.

Security Updates Exchange 2013-2019 (Nov2019)

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Exchange2019LogoA quick blog on recently published security updates for Exchange Server 2013 up to Exchange Server 2019. These fixes address the following vulnerabilities:

  • CVE-2019-1373: Microsoft Exchange Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

The CVE documents contain more details on the vulnerabilities. The exploits can be fixed by single security update, which you can find in the table below per current Exchange version.

ExchangeDownloadBuildKBSupersedes
Exchange 2019 CU3Download15.2.464.7 KB4523171KB4515832
Exchange 2019 CU2Download15.2.397.9 KB4523171 KB4515832
Exchange 2016 CU14Download15.1.1847.5 KB4523171 KB4515832
Exchange 2016 CU13Download15.1.1779.7 KB4523171 KB4515832
Exchange 2013 CU23Download15.0.1497.4 KB4523171 KB4509409

Be advised that the Security Updates for Exchange 2013-2019 are Cumulative Update level specific. Unfortunately, the security update carries the same name for different CUs, and you cannot apply the update for Exchange 2016 CU14 to Exchange 2016 CU13. I would suggest tagging the Cumulative Update in the file name when you store it, e.g. Exchange2016-CU14-KB4523171-x64-en.msp.

As with any patch or update, I’d recommend to apply this in a acceptance environment first, prior to implementing it in production.