spring-security: Adding filters relative to custom ones is broken

Describe the bug Adding a filter relative (before/after) to a custom defined filter added previously does not work since spring security 5.5.0.

To Reproduce Clone this minimal example project. Run

./gradlew run

and see that it breaks (works when downgrading spring boot to 2.4.5).

org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Error creating bean with name 'springSecurityFilterChain' defined in class path resource [org/springframework/security/config/annotation/web/configuration/WebSecurityConfiguration.class]: Bean instantiation via factory method failed; nested exception is org.springframework.beans.BeanInstantiationException: Failed to instantiate [javax.servlet.Filter]: Factory method 'springSecurityFilterChain' threw exception; nested exception is java.lang.NullPointerException
	at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.ConstructorResolver.instantiate(ConstructorResolver.java:658) ~[spring-beans-5.3.7.jar:5.3.7]
	at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.ConstructorResolver.instantiateUsingFactoryMethod(ConstructorResolver.java:486) ~[spring-beans-5.3.7.jar:5.3.7]
	at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.instantiateUsingFactoryMethod(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:1334) ~[spring-beans-5.3.7.jar:5.3.7]
	at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.createBeanInstance(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:1177) ~[spring-beans-5.3.7.jar:5.3.7]
	at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.doCreateBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:564) ~[spring-beans-5.3.7.jar:5.3.7]
	at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.createBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:524) ~[spring-beans-5.3.7.jar:5.3.7]
	at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.lambda$doGetBean$0(AbstractBeanFactory.java:335) ~[spring-beans-5.3.7.jar:5.3.7]
	at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.getSingleton(DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.java:234) ~[spring-beans-5.3.7.jar:5.3.7]
	at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.doGetBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:333) ~[spring-beans-5.3.7.jar:5.3.7]
	at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.getBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:208) ~[spring-beans-5.3.7.jar:5.3.7]
	at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.doGetBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:322) ~[spring-beans-5.3.7.jar:5.3.7]
	at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.getBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:208) ~[spring-beans-5.3.7.jar:5.3.7]
	at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultListableBeanFactory.preInstantiateSingletons(DefaultListableBeanFactory.java:944) ~[spring-beans-5.3.7.jar:5.3.7]
	at org.springframework.context.support.AbstractApplicationContext.finishBeanFactoryInitialization(AbstractApplicationContext.java:918) ~[spring-context-5.3.7.jar:5.3.7]
	at org.springframework.context.support.AbstractApplicationContext.refresh(AbstractApplicationContext.java:583) ~[spring-context-5.3.7.jar:5.3.7]
	at org.springframework.boot.web.servlet.context.ServletWebServerApplicationContext.refresh(ServletWebServerApplicationContext.java:145) ~[spring-boot-2.5.0.jar:2.5.0]
	at org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication.refresh(SpringApplication.java:758) ~[spring-boot-2.5.0.jar:2.5.0]
	at org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication.refreshContext(SpringApplication.java:438) ~[spring-boot-2.5.0.jar:2.5.0]
	at org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication.run(SpringApplication.java:337) ~[spring-boot-2.5.0.jar:2.5.0]
	at org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication.run(SpringApplication.java:1336) ~[spring-boot-2.5.0.jar:2.5.0]
	at org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication.run(SpringApplication.java:1325) ~[spring-boot-2.5.0.jar:2.5.0]
	at de.selfenergy.debug.spring.security.filters.FiltersApplication.main(FiltersApplication.java:10) ~[main/:na]
Caused by: org.springframework.beans.BeanInstantiationException: Failed to instantiate [javax.servlet.Filter]: Factory method 'springSecurityFilterChain' threw exception; nested exception is java.lang.NullPointerException
	at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.SimpleInstantiationStrategy.instantiate(SimpleInstantiationStrategy.java:185) ~[spring-beans-5.3.7.jar:5.3.7]
	at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.ConstructorResolver.instantiate(ConstructorResolver.java:653) ~[spring-beans-5.3.7.jar:5.3.7]
	... 21 common frames omitted
Caused by: java.lang.NullPointerException: null
	at org.springframework.security.config.annotation.web.builders.HttpSecurity.addFilterAtOffsetOf(HttpSecurity.java:2654) ~[spring-security-config-5.5.0.jar:5.5.0]
	at org.springframework.security.config.annotation.web.builders.HttpSecurity.addFilterAfter(HttpSecurity.java:2645) ~[spring-security-config-5.5.0.jar:5.5.0]
	at de.selfenergy.debug.spring.security.filters.SecurityConfiguration.configure(SecurityConfiguration.java:34) ~[main/:na]
	at org.springframework.security.config.annotation.web.configuration.WebSecurityConfigurerAdapter.getHttp(WebSecurityConfigurerAdapter.java:217) ~[spring-security-config-5.5.0.jar:5.5.0]
	at org.springframework.security.config.annotation.web.configuration.WebSecurityConfigurerAdapter.init(WebSecurityConfigurerAdapter.java:315) ~[spring-security-config-5.5.0.jar:5.5.0]
	at org.springframework.security.config.annotation.web.configuration.WebSecurityConfigurerAdapter.init(WebSecurityConfigurerAdapter.java:93) ~[spring-security-config-5.5.0.jar:5.5.0]
	at de.selfenergy.debug.spring.security.filters.SecurityConfiguration$$EnhancerBySpringCGLIB$$1613d8bd.init(<generated>) ~[main/:na]
	at org.springframework.security.config.annotation.AbstractConfiguredSecurityBuilder.init(AbstractConfiguredSecurityBuilder.java:338) ~[spring-security-config-5.5.0.jar:5.5.0]
	at org.springframework.security.config.annotation.AbstractConfiguredSecurityBuilder.doBuild(AbstractConfiguredSecurityBuilder.java:300) ~[spring-security-config-5.5.0.jar:5.5.0]
	at org.springframework.security.config.annotation.AbstractSecurityBuilder.build(AbstractSecurityBuilder.java:38) ~[spring-security-config-5.5.0.jar:5.5.0]
	at org.springframework.security.config.annotation.web.configuration.WebSecurityConfiguration.springSecurityFilterChain(WebSecurityConfiguration.java:127) ~[spring-security-config-5.5.0.jar:5.5.0]
	at java.base/jdk.internal.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method) ~[na:na]
	at java.base/jdk.internal.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:62) ~[na:na]
	at java.base/jdk.internal.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43) ~[na:na]
	at java.base/java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:566) ~[na:na]
	at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.SimpleInstantiationStrategy.instantiate(SimpleInstantiationStrategy.java:154) ~[spring-beans-5.3.7.jar:5.3.7]
	... 22 common frames omitted

Relevant code lines:

http.addFilterAfter(new SpringRelativeFilter(), SecurityContextHolderAwareRequestFilter.class)
       .addFilterAfter(new CustomRelativeFilter(), SpringRelativeFilter.class);

Expected behavior Adding filters relative to custom defined ones should work.

Sample minimal example project

If this is indeed a bug and you are interested I would offer to prepare a PR to adjust the behaviour 😃

Related: gh-9633

About this issue

Original URL
State: closed
Created 3 years ago
Reactions: 41
Comments: 20 (4 by maintainers)

Links to this issue

Commits related to this issue

Fix Adding Filter Relative to Custom Filter Closes gh-9787 — committed to marcusdacoregio/spring-security by marcusdacoregio 3 years ago
Fix Adding Filter Relative to Custom Filter Closes gh-9787 — committed to marcusdacoregio/spring-security by marcusdacoregio 3 years ago
Fix Adding Filter Relative to Custom Filter Closes gh-9787 — committed to marcusdacoregio/spring-security by marcusdacoregio 3 years ago
Fix Adding Filter Relative to Custom Filter Closes gh-9787 — committed to marcusdacoregio/spring-security by marcusdacoregio 3 years ago
Fix Adding Filter Relative to Custom Filter Closes gh-9787 — committed to spring-projects/spring-security by marcusdacoregio 3 years ago
Fix Adding Filter Relative to Custom Filter Closes gh-9787 — committed to spring-projects/spring-security by marcusdacoregio 3 years ago
Fix Adding Filter Relative to Custom Filter Closes gh-9787 — committed to spring-projects/spring-security by marcusdacoregio 3 years ago
Fix Adding Filter Relative to Custom Filter Closes gh-9787 — committed to spring-projects/spring-security by marcusdacoregio 3 years ago
Fix Adding Filter Relative to Custom Filter Closes gh-9787 — committed to akohli96/spring-security by marcusdacoregio 3 years ago

Most upvoted comments

sure, I wanted to point out the importance of the bug

+13

z0mb1ek on May 21, 2021

same here with Keycloak spring security adapter

+13

z0mb1ek on May 21, 2021

Thanks to everyone that contributed to this issue. The fix was merged into the main branch and backported to 5.5.x, 5.4.x, 5.3.x, and 5.2.x branches.

@selfenergy, @whcrow, @austinarbor, @z0mb1ek, would you please test those changes in your applications by using the 5.5.1-SNAPSHOT version of Spring Security? It would be good if you folks could do it 😄.

+11

marcusdacoregio on Jun 14, 2021

Added a pull request for fixing this issue #9832

+10

theexiile1305 on May 30, 2021

As a temporary workaround, it looks like specifying the same afterFilter for both custom filters should achieve the same result as 5.4.x. Spring’s OrderComparator is seemingly documented as unstable but, as of this writing the underlying data structure used to sort the filters is an ArrayList, which has a stable sort when called https://github.com/spring-projects/spring-security/blob/main/config/src/main/java/org/springframework/security/config/annotation/web/builders/HttpSecurity.java#L2619

So until this is resolved, the below code should work

http.addFilterAfter(new SpringRelativeFilter(), SecurityContextHolderAwareRequestFilter.class)
       .addFilterAfter(new CustomRelativeFilter(), SecurityContextHolderAwareRequestFilter.class);

+10

austinarbor on May 21, 2021

Some here by using the KeycloakWebSecurityConfigurerAdapter and updating to Spring Boot 2.5.0 with its Spring Security 5.5 transitive dependency.

mnhock on May 25, 2021

@marcusdacoregio Works perfekt. Can also confirm that both filter are called in the correct order. Thanks! 👍

ngergs on Jun 15, 2021

The Keycloak spring security adapter can be fixed using the workaround from @austinarbor. I added a keycloak branch to the minimal example project where this is demonstrated 😃

ngergs on May 21, 2021

@marcusdacoregio: works with 5.5.1-SNAPSHOT connected to Keycloak

jomu78 on Jun 15, 2021

whcrow on May 21, 2021

@marcusdacoregio works like a charm, thx

z0mb1ek on Jun 14, 2021

Culprit: a31a855146d7485a9e30cdb70a18be212e4d008f. That commit includes tests, but none of those tests operate on custom filters — so only filters “hardcoded” in FilterOrderRegistration will work as anchors for configuring before/after filters. However, custom filters are never added into the backing filterToOrder map (in FilterOrderRegistration), which is what causes the NPE at L2654: https://github.com/spring-projects/spring-security/blob/68f91edbb8a223ee8505893697d85cbe51890ea2/config/src/main/java/org/springframework/security/config/annotation/web/builders/HttpSecurity.java#L143

https://github.com/spring-projects/spring-security/blob/68f91edbb8a223ee8505893697d85cbe51890ea2/config/src/main/java/org/springframework/security/config/annotation/web/builders/HttpSecurity.java#L2653-L2657

adhirajsinghchauhan on Jun 1, 2021

Found this issue after running a CI test build with Spring Boot 2.5.0 and all our security filter related tests failed. Thought I’d add another example :

Resolving was as per @austinarbor to only use Filters that come pre-supplied. From
.addFilterAfter(new DeviceAuthenticationFilter(authenticationManager), BasicAuthenticationFilter.class)
.addFilterBefore(wrappingFilter, DeviceAuthenticationFilter.class)
to
.addFilterAfter(new DeviceAuthenticationFilter(authenticationManager), BasicAuthenticationFilter.class)
.addFilterAfter(wrappingFilter, BasicAuthenticationFilter.class)
Executing in JDK 15 also give more info about the specifics of the NPE, but nothing that @whcrow hasn’t already supplied

Of the other 100’s of tests no others failed, so testamount to the excellent Spring devs that this is only issue experienced after such a big change.

@Stexxen Under jdk11 + springboot 2.4.6, It works fine. But in springboot 2.5.0, A NullPointerException is triggered. According to my test, The second parameter of addFilterBefore only supports built-in filters, such as UsernamePasswordAuthenticationFilter, custom filters are not supported.

whcrow on May 28, 2021

Yep, sorry, it wasn’t exactly like that. Our case is with a OAuth2ClientContextFilter being registered as a Bean. We’re going to check it again and open an issue if we find it reproducible.

Thanks for your help.

bgarciaentornos on Sep 12, 2022

@marcusdacoregio

works with 5.5.1-SNAPSHOT, Thanks 👏

whcrow on Jun 15, 2021