java.lang.VerifyError: Expecting a stackmap frame at branch target

Question

Successfully compiled the project and build as well with Maven. This is my first maven project. But I have no idea why I'm getting the below error.

Deployeed the war on tomcat and hit my url and the below error shown in my browser.

java.lang.VerifyError: Expecting a stackmap frame at branch target 72
Exception Details:
  Location:
    com/ebetinc/frontend/presentation/components/Login.isToteAvailable(Ljava/lang/String;Lcom/ebetinc/frontend/dao/DatabaseDao;)Z @46: lookupswitch
  Reason:
    Expected stackmap frame at this location.
  Bytecode:
    0000000: 043d 2bb9 03a4 0100 4e2a c601 1c13 03a6
    0000010: 2ab8 03aa 9900 0803 3da7 010d 2db8 03ad
    0000020: 9900 692a 3a04 0236 0519 04b6 03b1 ab00
    0000030: 0000 003a 0000 0002 0000 0626 0000 002c
    0000040: 0000 0644 0000 001a 0019 0413 03b3 b603
    0000050: b599 0017 0336 05a7 0011 1904 1303 b7b6
    0000060: 03b5 9900 0604 3605 1505 ab00 0000 001c
    0000070: 0000 0002 0000 0000 0000 001a 0000 0001
    0000080: 0000 001a 033d a700 a02d b803 ba99 0099
    0000090: 2a3a 0402 3605 1904 b603 b1ab 0000 006a
    00000a0: 0000 0004 0000 af34 0000 0029 0000 af4c
    00000b0: 0000 003a 0000 af4d 0000 004b 0015 51cb
    00000c0: 0000 005c 1904 1303 bcb6 03b5 9900 3903
    00000d0: 3605 a700 3319 0413 03be b603 b599 0028
    00000e0: 0436 05a7 0022 1904 1303 c0b6 03b5 9900
    00000f0: 1705 3605 a700 1119 0413 03c2 b603 b599
    0000100: 0006 0636 0515 05aa 0000 001f 0000 0000
    0000110: 0000 0003 0000 001d 0000 001d 0000 001d
    0000120: 0000 001d 033d 1cac                    
  Stackmap Table:
    append_frame(@28,Integer,Object[#931])
    append_frame(@73,Object[#200],Integer)
    same_frame(@90)
    same_frame(@104)
    same_frame(@132)
    chop_frame(@134,2)
    same_frame(@137)
    append_frame(@196,Object[#200],Integer)
    same_frame(@213)
    same_frame(@230)
    same_frame(@247)
    same_frame(@261)
    same_frame(@292)
    chop_frame(@294,2)

Can anyone throw some inputs ? Thanks for any help.

Configuration:

Java 1.7
Maven 3+

Answer 1

Hi this is related to some bytecode in your application. (see this note on compatibility changes for Java 7 http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/compatibility-417013.html#incompatibilities, look there some lines below for JSR 202)

You can either

• recompile all sources with JDK 7
• or in case you have no access to the source
  • use java with paramter -XX:-UseSplitVerifier
  • or switch to Java 6 if you face promblems using the switch

edit Even the answer is already a bit old. Because of a current case I add some more detailed explanation.

The StackMapTable attribute in the class file was, even not documented at that time, introduced with Java 6.

Foo.java

public class Foo {
    public static boolean bar(String s) {
        if (s.length() == 0) {
            return true;
        }
        return false;
    }
}

$ java -version
java version "1.6.0"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.6.0-b105)
$ javac Foo.java
$ javap -c -v Foo
Compiled from "Foo.java"
public class Foo extends java.lang.Object
  SourceFile: "Foo.java"
  minor version: 0
  major version: 50
...
public static boolean bar(java.lang.String);
  Code:
   Stack=1, Locals=1, Args_size=1
   0:   aload_0
   1:   invokevirtual   #2; //Method java/lang/String.length:()I
   4:   ifne    9
   7:   iconst_1
   8:   ireturn
   9:   iconst_0
   10:  ireturn
  LineNumberTable: 
   line 3: 0
   line 4: 7
   line 6: 9

  StackMapTable: number_of_entries = 1
   frame_type = 9 /* same */
}

The class verifier did no check if the attribute was in the class or not.

Following creates the file Foo.class without the StackMatTable attribute.

FooDump.java

import org.objectweb.asm.*;
import java.io.*;

public class FooDump implements Opcodes {

    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
        FileOutputStream fos = new FileOutputStream("Foo.class");
        fos.write(dump());
        fos.close();
    }

    public static byte[] dump() throws Exception {
        ClassWriter cw = new ClassWriter(0);
        FieldVisitor fv;

        cw.visit(V1_6, ACC_PUBLIC + ACC_SUPER, "Foo", null, "java/lang/Object",
            null);

        MethodVisitor mv = cw.visitMethod(ACC_PUBLIC, "<init>", "()V", null, 
            null);
        mv.visitCode();
        mv.visitVarInsn(ALOAD, 0);
        mv.visitMethodInsn(INVOKESPECIAL, "java/lang/Object", "<init>", "()V", 
            false);
        mv.visitInsn(RETURN);
        mv.visitMaxs(1, 1);
        mv.visitEnd();

        mv = cw.visitMethod(ACC_PUBLIC + ACC_STATIC, "bar", 
            "(Ljava/lang/String;)Z", null, null);
        mv.visitCode();
        mv.visitVarInsn(ALOAD, 0);
        mv.visitMethodInsn(INVOKEVIRTUAL, "java/lang/String", "length", "()I", 
            false);
        Label l0 = new Label();
        mv.visitJumpInsn(IFNE, l0);
        mv.visitInsn(ICONST_1);
        mv.visitInsn(IRETURN);
        mv.visitLabel(l0);
        // this line would generate the StackMapTable attribute
        // mv.visitFrame(Opcodes.F_SAME, 0, null, 0, null);
        mv.visitInsn(ICONST_0);
        mv.visitInsn(IRETURN);
        mv.visitMaxs(1, 1);
        mv.visitEnd();

        cw.visitEnd();
        return cw.toByteArray();
    }
}

compile and run it

$ javac -cp asm-5.2.jar:asm-util-5.2.jar:. FooDump.java
$ java -cp asm-5.2.jar:asm-util-5.2.jar:. FooDump

check that the StackMapTable attribute is not in the file

$ javap -c -v Foo
public class Foo extends java.lang.Object
  minor version: 0
  major version: 50
...
public static boolean bar(java.lang.String);
  Code:
   Stack=1, Locals=1, Args_size=1
   0:   aload_0
   1:   invokevirtual   #16; //Method java/lang/String.length:()I
   4:   ifne    9
   7:   iconst_1
   8:   ireturn
   9:   iconst_0
   10:  ireturn
}

FooDemo.java

public class FooDemo {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        System.out.println("output: " + Foo.bar(""));
    }
}

$ java -version
java version "1.6.0"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.6.0-b105)
$ javac FooDemo.java
$java FooDemo 
output: true

With Java 7 the class verification was changed.

For class files version 50 (Java 6) the check had a failover if the StackMapTable was missing or wrong (see: jvms-4.10.1).

Run the check with the Foo class version of Java 6.

$ java -version
java version "1.7.0"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.7.0-b147)

$ javap -c -v Foo
Classfile /home/suboptimal/playground/Foo.class
  Last modified Jun 9, 2017; size 232 bytes
  MD5 checksum 5a7ea4a5dd2f6d1bcfddb9ffd720f9c9
public class Foo
  minor version: 0
  major version: 50 <-- class file Java 6
...

$ javac FooDemo.java
$ java FooDemo
output: true

This failover did not occur anymore for class files version 51 (Java 7).

To create a Foo class version of Java 7 amend the code of FooDump.java.

// cw.visit(V1_6, ACC_PUBLIC + ACC_SUPER, "Foo", null, "java/lang/Object", null);
cw.visit(V1_7, ACC_PUBLIC + ACC_SUPER, "Foo", null, "java/lang/Object", null);

compile and run it

$ javac -cp asm-5.2.jar:asm-util-5.2.jar:. FooDump.java
$ java -cp asm-5.2.jar:asm-util-5.2.jar:. FooDump

check that it's a class version 51

$ java -version
java version "1.7.0"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.7.0-b147)

$ javap -c -v Foo
Classfile /home/suboptimal/playground/Foo.class
  Last modified Jun 9, 2017; size 232 bytes
  MD5 checksum cfd57fb547ac98a1b2808549f5e9e8c1
public class Foo
  minor version: 0
  major version: 51 <-- class file Java 7
...

$ javac FooDemo.java
$ java FooDemo
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.VerifyError: Expecting a stackmap frame at branch target 9 in method Foo.bar(Ljava/lang/String;)Z at offset 4

In Java 7 the type check for the StackMapTable attribute can be disabled to step back to the Java 6 failover mechanism using option UseSplitVerifier.

$ java -version
java version "1.7.0"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.7.0-b147)

$ java -XX:-UseSplitVerifier FooDemo
output: true

In Java 8 the verification of the StackMapTable attribute became mandatory and the option UseSplitVerifier was removed.

$ java -version
java version "1.8.0"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.8.0-b132)

$ javap -c -v Foo
Classfile /home/suboptimal/playground/Foo.class
  Last modified Jun 9, 2017; size 232 bytes
  MD5 checksum cfd57fb547ac98a1b2808549f5e9e8c1
public class Foo
  minor version: 0
  major version: 51 <-- class file Java 7
...

$ javac FooDemo.java
$ java FooDemo
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.VerifyError: Expecting a stackmap frame at branch target 9

$ java -XX:-UseSplitVerifier FooDemo
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM warning: ignoring option UseSplitVerifier; support was removed in 8.0
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.VerifyError: Expecting a stackmap frame at branch target 9

note To use always the initial version of Java 6/7/8 was done by intention to show that the behaviour was there from the beginning.

You might find some suggestions to get it running with Java 8 ...

$ java -noverify FooDemo
output: true

$ java -Xverify:none FooDemo
output: true

note This disables the bytecode verifier. Keep in mind to never disable bytecode verification in a production system.

Answer 2

I've had the same problem running a Java 1.7 Web Application on a Java 1.7 Weblogic 12C server, while trying to deploy the error occurs:

java.lang.VerifyError: Expecting a stackmap frame at branch target 15
Exception Details: Location: aClassPathWithClassName.$javassist_write_aSpecificField(Ljava/lang/Long;)V
@6: ifnonnull Reason: Expected stackmap frame at this location. 
Bytecode: 0000000: 2ab9 00cc 0100 c700 092a 2bb5 00ce b12a 0000010: 59b9 00d0 0100 2a12 d12a b400 ce2b
b900 0000020: d505 00c0 0081 b500 ceb1

From all classes within the project it happened only with the class being instrumented, aClassPathWithClassName (in the error output above).

My local solution:

Locate javassist lib being used by the application on the POM and update it. Here it was 3.10.0.GA, changed to 3.24.1-GA.