Tomcat: java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Invalid character found in method name. HTTP method names must be tokens

Question

This exception can occur when you try to execute HTTPS request from client on endpoint which isn't HTTPS enabled. Client will encrypt request data when server is expecting raw data.

I got the same exception when I locally tested. The problem was a URL schema in my request.

Change https to http in your client url.

Probably it helps.

You are calling local server with http://localhost:8080/foo/bar. Call it with https://localhost:8080/foo/bar. This solves the problem

In case someone is using swagger:

Change the Scheme to HTTP or HTTPS, depend on needs, prior to hit the execute.

Postman:

Change the URL Path to http:// or https:// in the url address

I received this exception unrelated to any TLS issues. In my case the Content-Length header value did not match the body length.

I know this is an old thread, but there is a particular case when this may happen:

If you are using AWS api gateway coupled with a VPC link, and if the Network Load Balancer has proxy protocol v2 enabled, a 400 Bad Request will happen as well.

Took me the whole afternoon to figure it out, so if it may help someone I'd be glad :)

I got this error resolved by doing 2 things in chrome browser:

1. Pressed Ctrl + Shift + Delete and cleared all browsing data from beginning.
2. Go to Chrome's : Settings ->Advanced Settings -> Open proxy settings -> Internet Properties then Go to the Content window and click on the Clear SSL State Button.

This site has this information and other options as well : https://www.thesslstore.com/blog/fix-err-ssl-protocol-error/