Exchange 2003 SP1? I can't remember the last time I saw SP1 on Exchange 2003. I would suggest that you upgrade to Exchange 2003 SP2 and then run Microsoft Update to get the post SP2 updates. The behaviour you are seeing is what I would expect. I don't recall Default being none by default. Public Folders are designed to be shared. Don't get confused with permission inheritance on sub folders. So if you create a folder at the top level, then set permissions, then create a sub folder below that, then it will inherit the permissions of the top level folder. Simon.Simon Butler, Exchange MVP Blog | Exchange Resources | In the UK? Hire Me.

You can't change the creator being the Owner. Contributor on Anonymous is the permission required for the folder to receive email from outside. You may be able to change the Author permission. Version of Exchange would help. Simon.Simon Butler, Exchange MVP Blog | Exchange Resources | In the UK? Hire Me.

We are using Exchange 2003 SP1. The reason I'm asking the question is that we suspect the behavior has changed recently (in the past we think the "Default" and "anonymous" user had no permissions) and we don't know if this is caused by a configuration change that we did ourselves (maybe accidentily) or a service pack upgrade or other security patch.

Exchange 2003 SP1? I can't remember the last time I saw SP1 on Exchange 2003. I would suggest that you upgrade to Exchange 2003 SP2 and then run Microsoft Update to get the post SP2 updates. The behaviour you are seeing is what I would expect. I don't recall Default being none by default. Public Folders are designed to be shared. Don't get confused with permission inheritance on sub folders. So if you create a folder at the top level, then set permissions, then create a sub folder below that, then it will inherit the permissions of the top level folder. Simon.Simon Butler, Exchange MVP Blog | Exchange Resources | In the UK? Hire Me.

Thanks for your update Simon.

When a new folder is created at the top level in the public folders, the following permissions are given: Anonymous: Contributor role Default: Author role User that created the public folder: Owner role Is there a possibility to configure this behavior?