Upgrading Spring Boot from 1.3.7 to 1.4.0 causing NullPointerException in AuthenticatorBase.getJaspicProvider - spring

Question

This is somewhat caused by the tomcat-embed-core version 8.5.4 that comes with the spring-boot-starter-jersey. It generates an error shown below on all integration tests. It will only work if I override the pom to use tomcat-embed-core version 8.0.36. What's weird is, that's the only error message I get.
java.lang.NullPointerException: null
at org.apache.catalina.authenticator.AuthenticatorBase.getJaspicProvider(AuthenticatorBase.java:1140)
at org.apache.catalina.authenticator.AuthenticatorBase.invoke(AuthenticatorBase.java:431)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardHostValve.invoke(StandardHostValve.java:140)
at org.apache.catalina.valves.ErrorReportValve.invoke(ErrorReportValve.java:79)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardEngineValve.invoke(StandardEngineValve.java:87)
at org.apache.catalina.connector.CoyoteAdapter.service(CoyoteAdapter.java:349)
at org.apache.coyote.http11.Http11Processor.service(Http11Processor.java:1110)
at org.apache.coyote.AbstractProcessorLight.process(AbstractProcessorLight.java:66)
at org.apache.coyote.AbstractProtocol$ConnectionHandler.process(AbstractProtocol.java:785)
at org.apache.tomcat.util.net.NioEndpoint$SocketProcessor.doRun(NioEndpoint.java:1425)
at org.apache.tomcat.util.net.SocketProcessorBase.run(SocketProcessorBase.java:49)
at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1142)
at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:617)
at org.apache.tomcat.util.threads.TaskThread$WrappingRunnable.run(TaskThread.java:61)
at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:745)
Here's my dependecy tree:
[INFO] --- maven-dependency-plugin:2.10:tree (default-cli) # sample-services ---
[INFO] com.sample:sample-services:jar:1.0.0-SNAPSHOT
[INFO] +- com.sample:sample-customer:jar:1.0.0-SNAPSHOT:compile
[INFO] | +- com.sample:sample-core:jar:1.0.0-SNAPSHOT:compile
[INFO] | | +- org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-data-jpa:jar:1.4.0.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] | | | +- org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-aop:jar:1.4.0.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] | | | | \- org.aspectj:aspectjweaver:jar:1.8.9:compile
[INFO] | | | +- org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-jdbc:jar:1.4.0.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] | | | | +- org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-jdbc:jar:8.5.4:compile
[INFO] | | | | | \- org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-juli:jar:8.5.4:compile
[INFO] | | | | \- org.springframework:spring-jdbc:jar:4.3.2.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] | | | +- org.hibernate:hibernate-core:jar:5.0.9.Final:compile
[INFO] | | | | +- org.hibernate.javax.persistence:hibernate-jpa-2.1-api:jar:1.0.0.Final:compile
[INFO] | | | | +- antlr:antlr:jar:2.7.7:compile
[INFO] | | | | +- org.jboss:jandex:jar:2.0.0.Final:compile
[INFO] | | | | +- dom4j:dom4j:jar:1.6.1:compile
[INFO] | | | | | \- xml-apis:xml-apis:jar:1.4.01:compile
[INFO] | | | | \- org.hibernate.common:hibernate-commons-annotations:jar:5.0.1.Final:compile
[INFO] | | | +- org.hibernate:hibernate-entitymanager:jar:5.0.9.Final:compile
[INFO] | | | +- javax.transaction:javax.transaction-api:jar:1.2:compile
[INFO] | | | +- org.springframework.data:spring-data-jpa:jar:1.10.2.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] | | | | \- org.springframework:spring-orm:jar:4.3.2.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] | | | \- org.springframework:spring-aspects:jar:4.3.2.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] | | +- org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-logging:jar:1.4.0.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] | | | +- ch.qos.logback:logback-classic:jar:1.1.7:compile
[INFO] | | | | \- ch.qos.logback:logback-core:jar:1.1.7:compile
[INFO] | | | +- org.slf4j:jcl-over-slf4j:jar:1.7.21:compile
[INFO] | | | +- org.slf4j:jul-to-slf4j:jar:1.7.21:compile
[INFO] | | | \- org.slf4j:log4j-over-slf4j:jar:1.7.21:compile
[INFO] | | +- commons-collections:commons-collections:jar:3.2.2:compile
[INFO] | | +- com.h2database:h2:jar:1.4.192:compile
[INFO] | | +- org.postgresql:postgresql:jar:9.4.1209.jre7:compile
[INFO] | | +- javax:javaee-api:jar:7.0:compile
[INFO] | | | \- com.sun.mail:javax.mail:jar:1.5.5:compile
[INFO] | | | \- javax.activation:activation:jar:1.1:compile
[INFO] | | +- org.apache.commons:commons-lang3:jar:3.4:compile
[INFO] | | +- commons-codec:commons-codec:jar:1.10:compile
[INFO] | | +- org.apache.httpcomponents:httpcore:jar:4.4.5:compile
[INFO] | | +- org.joda:joda-money:jar:0.10.0:compile
[INFO] | | \- com.sun.jna:jna:jar:3.0.9:compile
[INFO] | +- org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-data-elasticsearch:jar:1.4.0.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] | | \- org.springframework.data:spring-data-elasticsearch:jar:2.0.2.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] | | +- org.springframework:spring-tx:jar:4.3.2.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] | | +- org.springframework.data:spring-data-commons:jar:1.12.2.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] | | +- commons-lang:commons-lang:jar:2.6:compile
[INFO] | | \- org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch:jar:2.3.4:compile
[INFO] | | +- org.apache.lucene:lucene-core:jar:5.5.0:compile
[INFO] | | +- org.apache.lucene:lucene-backward-codecs:jar:5.5.0:compile
[INFO] | | +- org.apache.lucene:lucene-analyzers-common:jar:5.5.0:compile
[INFO] | | +- org.apache.lucene:lucene-queries:jar:5.5.0:compile
[INFO] | | +- org.apache.lucene:lucene-memory:jar:5.5.0:compile
[INFO] | | +- org.apache.lucene:lucene-highlighter:jar:5.5.0:compile
[INFO] | | +- org.apache.lucene:lucene-queryparser:jar:5.5.0:compile
[INFO] | | | \- org.apache.lucene:lucene-sandbox:jar:5.5.0:compile
[INFO] | | +- org.apache.lucene:lucene-suggest:jar:5.5.0:compile
[INFO] | | | \- org.apache.lucene:lucene-misc:jar:5.5.0:compile
[INFO] | | +- org.apache.lucene:lucene-join:jar:5.5.0:compile
[INFO] | | | \- org.apache.lucene:lucene-grouping:jar:5.5.0:compile
[INFO] | | +- org.apache.lucene:lucene-spatial:jar:5.5.0:compile
[INFO] | | | +- org.apache.lucene:lucene-spatial3d:jar:5.5.0:compile
[INFO] | | | \- com.spatial4j:spatial4j:jar:0.5:compile
[INFO] | | +- org.elasticsearch:securesm:jar:1.0:compile
[INFO] | | +- com.carrotsearch:hppc:jar:0.7.1:compile
[INFO] | | +- org.joda:joda-convert:jar:1.2:compile
[INFO] | | +- com.fasterxml.jackson.dataformat:jackson-dataformat-smile:jar:2.8.1:compile
[INFO] | | +- com.fasterxml.jackson.dataformat:jackson-dataformat-yaml:jar:2.8.1:compile
[INFO] | | +- io.netty:netty:jar:3.10.5.Final:compile
[INFO] | | +- com.ning:compress-lzf:jar:1.0.2:compile
[INFO] | | +- com.tdunning:t-digest:jar:3.0:compile
[INFO] | | +- org.hdrhistogram:HdrHistogram:jar:2.1.6:compile
[INFO] | | +- commons-cli:commons-cli:jar:1.3.1:compile
[INFO] | | \- com.twitter:jsr166e:jar:1.1.0:compile
[INFO] | +- com.google.guava:guava:jar:19.0:compile
[INFO] | +- org.apache.httpcomponents:httpclient:jar:4.5.2:compile
[INFO] | +- commons-httpclient:commons-httpclient:jar:3.1:compile
[INFO] | +- commons-io:commons-io:jar:2.5:compile
[INFO] | +- net.sf.uadetector:uadetector-core:jar:0.9.22:compile
[INFO] | | +- net.sf.qualitycheck:quality-check:jar:1.3:compile
[INFO] | | +- com.google.code.findbugs:jsr305:jar:2.0.3:compile
[INFO] | | \- javax.annotation:jsr250-api:jar:1.0:compile
[INFO] | +- net.sf.uadetector:uadetector-resources:jar:2014.10:compile
[INFO] | \- com.fasterxml.jackson.datatype:jackson-datatype-jsr310:jar:2.8.1:compile
[INFO] +- com.sample:sample-messaging:jar:1.0.0-SNAPSHOT:compile
[INFO] | +- com.amazonaws:aws-java-sdk-sns:jar:1.11.24:compile
[INFO] | \- com.amazonaws:aws-java-sdk-sqs:jar:1.11.24:compile
[INFO] +- org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-jersey:jar:1.4.0.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] | +- org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter:jar:1.4.0.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] | | \- org.yaml:snakeyaml:jar:1.17:compile
[INFO] | +- org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-tomcat:jar:1.4.0.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] | | +- org.apache.tomcat.embed:tomcat-embed-core:jar:8.5.4:compile
[INFO] | | +- org.apache.tomcat.embed:tomcat-embed-el:jar:8.5.4:compile
[INFO] | | \- org.apache.tomcat.embed:tomcat-embed-websocket:jar:8.5.4:compile
[INFO] | +- org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-validation:jar:1.4.0.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] | +- org.springframework:spring-web:jar:4.3.2.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] | | +- org.springframework:spring-aop:jar:4.3.2.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] | | +- org.springframework:spring-beans:jar:4.3.2.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] | | \- org.springframework:spring-context:jar:4.3.2.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] | +- org.glassfish.jersey.core:jersey-server:jar:2.23.1:compile
[INFO] | | +- org.glassfish.jersey.core:jersey-client:jar:2.23.1:compile
[INFO] | | +- org.glassfish.jersey.media:jersey-media-jaxb:jar:2.23.1:compile
[INFO] | | +- javax.annotation:javax.annotation-api:jar:1.2:compile
[INFO] | | +- org.glassfish.hk2:hk2-api:jar:2.4.0-b34:compile
[INFO] | | | +- org.glassfish.hk2:hk2-utils:jar:2.4.0-b34:compile
[INFO] | | | \- org.glassfish.hk2.external:aopalliance-repackaged:jar:2.4.0-b34:compile
[INFO] | | \- org.glassfish.hk2:hk2-locator:jar:2.4.0-b34:compile
[INFO] | | \- org.javassist:javassist:jar:3.20.0-GA:compile
[INFO] | +- org.glassfish.jersey.containers:jersey-container-servlet-core:jar:2.23.1:compile
[INFO] | +- org.glassfish.jersey.containers:jersey-container-servlet:jar:2.23.1:compile
[INFO] | +- org.glassfish.jersey.ext:jersey-spring3:jar:2.23.1:compile
[INFO] | | +- org.glassfish.hk2:hk2:jar:2.4.0-b34:compile
[INFO] | | | +- org.glassfish.hk2:config-types:jar:2.4.0-b34:compile
[INFO] | | | +- org.glassfish.hk2:hk2-core:jar:2.4.0-b34:compile
[INFO] | | | +- org.glassfish.hk2:hk2-config:jar:2.4.0-b34:compile
[INFO] | | | +- org.glassfish.hk2:hk2-runlevel:jar:2.4.0-b34:compile
[INFO] | | | \- org.glassfish.hk2:class-model:jar:2.4.0-b34:compile
[INFO] | | | \- org.glassfish.hk2.external:asm-all-repackaged:jar:2.4.0-b34:compile
[INFO] | | \- org.glassfish.hk2:spring-bridge:jar:2.4.0-b34:compile
[INFO] | \- org.glassfish.jersey.media:jersey-media-json-jackson:jar:2.23.1:compile
[INFO] | +- org.glassfish.jersey.ext:jersey-entity-filtering:jar:2.23.1:compile
[INFO] | +- com.fasterxml.jackson.jaxrs:jackson-jaxrs-base:jar:2.8.1:compile
[INFO] | \- com.fasterxml.jackson.jaxrs:jackson-jaxrs-json-provider:jar:2.8.1:compile
[INFO] | \- com.fasterxml.jackson.module:jackson-module-jaxb-annotations:jar:2.8.1:compile
[INFO] +- com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-databind:jar:2.8.1:compile
[INFO] | \- com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-core:jar:2.8.1:compile
[INFO] +- com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-annotations:jar:2.8.1:compile
[INFO] +- org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-web:jar:1.4.0.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] | +- org.hibernate:hibernate-validator:jar:5.2.4.Final:compile
[INFO] | | +- org.jboss.logging:jboss-logging:jar:3.3.0.Final:compile
[INFO] | | \- com.fasterxml:classmate:jar:1.3.1:compile
[INFO] | \- org.springframework:spring-webmvc:jar:4.3.2.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] | \- org.springframework:spring-expression:jar:4.3.2.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] +- com.amazonaws:aws-java-sdk-s3:jar:1.11.24:compile
[INFO] | +- com.amazonaws:aws-java-sdk-kms:jar:1.11.24:compile
[INFO] | \- com.amazonaws:aws-java-sdk-core:jar:1.11.24:compile
[INFO] | +- commons-logging:commons-logging:jar:1.1.3:compile
[INFO] | +- com.fasterxml.jackson.dataformat:jackson-dataformat-cbor:jar:2.8.1:compile
[INFO] | \- joda-time:joda-time:jar:2.9.4:compile
[INFO] +- com.wordnik:swagger-jersey2-jaxrs_2.10:jar:1.3.13:compile
[INFO] | +- com.wordnik:swagger-jaxrs_2.10:jar:1.3.13:compile
[INFO] | | +- com.wordnik:swagger-core_2.10:jar:1.3.13:compile
[INFO] | | | +- com.fasterxml.jackson.module:jackson-module-scala_2.10:jar:2.4.1:compile
[INFO] | | | | \- com.thoughtworks.paranamer:paranamer:jar:2.6:compile
[INFO] | | | +- com.fasterxml.jackson.module:jackson-module-jsonSchema:jar:2.4.1:compile
[INFO] | | | +- com.wordnik:swagger-annotations:jar:1.3.13:compile
[INFO] | | | +- org.json4s:json4s-ext_2.10:jar:3.2.11:compile
[INFO] | | | +- org.json4s:json4s-native_2.10:jar:3.2.11:compile
[INFO] | | | | \- org.json4s:json4s-core_2.10:jar:3.2.11:compile
[INFO] | | | | +- org.json4s:json4s-ast_2.10:jar:3.2.11:compile
[INFO] | | | | \- org.scala-lang:scalap:jar:2.10.0:compile
[INFO] | | | | \- org.scala-lang:scala-compiler:jar:2.10.0:compile
[INFO] | | | \- org.json4s:json4s-jackson_2.10:jar:3.2.11:compile
[INFO] | | \- org.reflections:reflections:jar:0.9.9:compile
[INFO] | | \- com.google.code.findbugs:annotations:jar:2.0.1:compile
[INFO] | \- org.glassfish.jersey.media:jersey-media-multipart:jar:2.1:compile
[INFO] | \- org.jvnet.mimepull:mimepull:jar:1.8:compile
[INFO] +- org.glassfish.jersey.ext:jersey-bean-validation:jar:2.23.1:compile
[INFO] | +- org.glassfish.hk2.external:javax.inject:jar:2.4.0-b34:compile
[INFO] | +- org.glassfish.jersey.core:jersey-common:jar:2.23.1:compile
[INFO] | | +- org.glassfish.jersey.bundles.repackaged:jersey-guava:jar:2.23.1:compile
[INFO] | | \- org.glassfish.hk2:osgi-resource-locator:jar:1.0.1:compile
[INFO] | +- javax.validation:validation-api:jar:1.1.0.Final:compile
[INFO] | +- javax.el:javax.el-api:jar:2.2.4:compile
[INFO] | +- org.glassfish.web:javax.el:jar:2.2.4:compile
[INFO] | \- javax.ws.rs:javax.ws.rs-api:jar:2.0.1:compile
[INFO] +- com.jayway.restassured:rest-assured:jar:2.9.0:test
[INFO] | +- org.codehaus.groovy:groovy:jar:2.4.7:test
[INFO] | +- org.codehaus.groovy:groovy-xml:jar:2.4.7:test
[INFO] | +- org.apache.httpcomponents:httpmime:jar:4.5.2:test
[INFO] | +- org.hamcrest:hamcrest-core:jar:1.3:test
[INFO] | +- org.hamcrest:hamcrest-library:jar:1.3:test
[INFO] | +- org.ccil.cowan.tagsoup:tagsoup:jar:1.2.1:test
[INFO] | +- com.jayway.restassured:json-path:jar:2.9.0:test
[INFO] | | +- org.codehaus.groovy:groovy-json:jar:2.4.7:test
[INFO] | | \- com.jayway.restassured:rest-assured-common:jar:2.9.0:test
[INFO] | \- com.jayway.restassured:xml-path:jar:2.9.0:test
[INFO] +- com.jayway.jsonpath:json-path:jar:2.2.0:compile
[INFO] | +- net.minidev:json-smart:jar:2.2.1:compile
[INFO] | | \- net.minidev:accessors-smart:jar:1.1:compile
[INFO] | | \- org.ow2.asm:asm:jar:5.0.3:compile
[INFO] | \- org.slf4j:slf4j-api:jar:1.7.21:compile
[INFO] +- org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-test:jar:1.4.0.RELEASE:test
[INFO] | +- org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-test:jar:1.4.0.RELEASE:test
[INFO] | +- org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-test-autoconfigure:jar:1.4.0.RELEASE:test
[INFO] | +- junit:junit:jar:4.12:test
[INFO] | +- org.mockito:mockito-core:jar:1.10.19:test
[INFO] | | \- org.objenesis:objenesis:jar:2.1:test
[INFO] | +- org.skyscreamer:jsonassert:jar:1.3.0:test
[INFO] | +- org.springframework:spring-core:jar:4.3.2.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] | \- org.springframework:spring-test:jar:4.3.2.RELEASE:test
[INFO] +- org.assertj:assertj-core:jar:3.2.0:compile
[INFO] +- org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-configuration-processor:jar:1.4.0.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] | \- org.json:json:jar:20140107:compile
[INFO] +- org.neo4j:neo4j-cypher-compiler-2.2:jar:2.2.5:compile
[INFO] | +- org.scala-lang:scala-library:jar:2.10.5:compile
[INFO] | +- org.scala-lang:scala-reflect:jar:2.10.5:compile
[INFO] | +- org.parboiled:parboiled-scala_2.10:jar:1.1.7:compile
[INFO] | | \- org.parboiled:parboiled-core:jar:1.1.7:compile
[INFO] | \- com.googlecode.concurrentlinkedhashmap:concurrentlinkedhashmap-lru:jar:1.4:compile
[INFO] \- org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-devtools:jar:1.4.0.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] +- org.springframework.boot:spring-boot:jar:1.4.0.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] \- org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-autoconfigure:jar:1.4.0.RELEASE:compile
And here's my Application class:
#EntityScan(basePackageClasses = { Application.class, Jsr310JpaConverters.class })
#EnableScheduling
#EnableAsync
#SpringBootApplication(scanBasePackages = "com.sample")
public class Application extends Loggable implements AsyncConfigurer {
/**
* This forces the SNS topics to be created and/or linked.
*/
#Autowired
#SuppressWarnings("all")
private TopicFactory topicFactory;
/**
* It all begins here.
*/
public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
SpringApplication application = new SpringApplication(Application.class);
application.setBanner(new SampleBanner());
application.run(args);
}
/**
* Returns the #Async executor.
*/
#Override
public Executor getAsyncExecutor() {
ThreadPoolTaskExecutor executor = new ThreadPoolTaskExecutor();
executor.setCorePoolSize(4);
executor.setMaxPoolSize(4);
executor.setQueueCapacity(0);
executor.setThreadNamePrefix("Async-");
executor.initialize();
return executor;
}
/**
* Returns the uncaught exception handler for #Async operations.
*/
#Override
public AsyncUncaughtExceptionHandler getAsyncUncaughtExceptionHandler() {
return (e, method, params) -> log.error("Uncaught async error", e);
}
}
If someone could point me out where to start or what's causing it to fail, it would be of great help.

Answer 1

Possible fixes:
1) Set authConfigFactory to default AuthConfigFactory implementation used by Tomcat 8.5 (example basic implementation):
package com.example;
import org.apache.catalina.authenticator.jaspic.AuthConfigFactoryImpl;
import org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication;
import org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.SpringBootApplication;
import javax.security.auth.message.config.AuthConfigFactory;
#SpringBootApplication
public class DemoApplication {
public static void main(String[] args) {
if (AuthConfigFactory.getFactory() == null) {
AuthConfigFactory.setFactory(new AuthConfigFactoryImpl());
}
SpringApplication.run(DemoApplication.class, args);
}
}
or
2) Remove duplicated AuthConfigFactory class from your classpath. In my case there were two different implementations of the same class:
org.apache.tomcat.embed/tomcat-embed-core/8.5.4/tomcat-embed-core-8.5.4.jar!/javax/security/auth/message/config/AuthConfigFactory.class
javax/javaee-api/7.0/javaee-api-7.0.jar!/javax/security/auth/message/config/AuthConfigFactory.class
javaee-api-7.0.jar has it's own AuthConfigFactory implementation which is not fully compatible with Tomcat 8.5 and causes that NullPointerException (in Tomcat's version there is constant which defines default jaspic implementation class)
Remove javaee-api dependency (or any other which contains different AuthConfigFactory implementation) from your gradle/mvn project (if you can)
or
3) Downgrade Tomcat to 8.0 or 7.0:
http://docs.spring.io/spring-boot/docs/current-SNAPSHOT/reference/htmlsingle/#howto-use-tomcat-7
Explanation:
The problem is related with Tomcat upgrade (from 8.0.x to 8.5.x) which has been made during Spring Boot upgrade from 1.3.x to 1.4.
The problem is that Tomcat 8.5 introduces jaspic support (https://tomcat.apache.org/tomcat-8.5-doc/config/jaspic.html) and provides it's own implementation of AuthConfigFactory. This implementation defines default jaspic auth factory implementation:
private static final String DEFAULT_JASPI_AUTHCONFIGFACTORYIMPL =
"org.apache.catalina.authenticator.jaspic.AuthConfigFactoryImpl";
which is not defined in other implementations (e.g. that one from javaee-api-7.0) and causes NullPointerException because no AuthConfigFactory were instantiated.