Another Windows Server 2003 Security Issue?

[Charles Leonard]

I am having yet another issue with Windows Server 2003. This time, the web
service (a file import web service) appears to run except for one odd
message: "ActiveX component can't create object". There are no other
statements to indicate what object cannot be created. Otherwise, everything
on the test Windows Server 2003 works fine—all import data updates correctly.

Unfortunately, my normal development environment is not Windows Server 2003
but, instead, it is Windows XP Professional. I cannot duplicate this problem
within the Windows XP Professional environment. In my environment, of
course, the web service works fine (with no errors whatsoever).

So, I decided I need to put together a Windows Server 2003 development
environment—which I did. With this environment, if I am able to duplicate
the problem, I can debug it and find out what object is having the issue.

Unfortunately, Windows Server 2003 had other things in mind for me. I am
receiving odd problems where the web service threads appear to hang and won't
complete until either the interop COM component it references is shutdown or
a new file upload request is made—and when either of these conditions occur,
the web service finally completes, but, in an "unprocessed" state (i.e. most
of the control record updates fail to occur as well as no imported data).

So, to figure out what was happening, I entered the debugger only to find
out that everything works fine in the debugger. So, of course, I am a little
frustrated with Windows Server 2003 by this point.

My first inclination is to assume it is some type of security issue. But
there are no error messages anywhere to indicate this. The only thing that
leads me to believe it is some type of strange security issue is that my web
service works in the debugger. None of the Assembly DLL's I reference in my
web service exist in the GAC in my Windows Server 2003 development
environment. They all exist in the same "bin" directory of the web service.

Has anyone seen anything as strange as this on Windows Server 2003 and/or
does anyone have any suggestions that might help in trying to figure out what
in the heck is going on with this web service?

Noted attributes of the Web Service:

* Impersonation is implemented to access a shared file.
* No GAC assemblies in the development environment.
* No error messages occur to indicate that there is a security issue on the
development Windows Server 2003 machine.
* The web service works fine within the debugger.
* The web service never completes outside the debugger.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

--Charles