JSP fails due to java.lang.ClassFormatError: Truncated class file

Solution Unverified - Updated -

Environment

  • JBoss Enterprise Application Platform (EAP) 6.x

Issue

  • We see an error like the following when requesting a JSP:
JBWEB000236: Servlet.service() for servlet jsp threw exception: java.lang.ClassFormatError: Truncated class file
    at java.lang.ClassLoader.defineClass1(Native Method) [rt.jar:1.7.0_55]
    at java.lang.ClassLoader.defineClass(ClassLoader.java:800) [rt.jar:1.7.0_55]
    at java.security.SecureClassLoader.defineClass(SecureClassLoader.java:142) [rt.jar:1.7.0_55]
    at java.net.URLClassLoader.defineClass(URLClassLoader.java:449) [rt.jar:1.7.0_55]
    at java.net.URLClassLoader.access$100(URLClassLoader.java:71) [rt.jar:1.7.0_55]
    at java.net.URLClassLoader$1.run(URLClassLoader.java:361) [rt.jar:1.7.0_55]
    at java.net.URLClassLoader$1.run(URLClassLoader.java:355) [rt.jar:1.7.0_55]
    at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method) [rt.jar:1.7.0_55]
    at java.net.URLClassLoader.findClass(URLClassLoader.java:354) [rt.jar:1.7.0_55]
    at org.apache.jasper.servlet.JasperLoader.loadClass(JasperLoader.java:137) [jbossweb-7.2.2.Final-redhat-1.jar:7.2.2.Final-redhat-1]
    at org.apache.jasper.servlet.JasperLoader.loadClass(JasperLoader.java:69) [jbossweb-7.2.2.Final-redhat-1.jar:7.2.2.Final-redhat-1]
    at org.jboss.as.web.deployment.WebInjectionContainer.newInstance(WebInjectionContainer.java:97) [jboss-as-web-7.3.0.Final-redhat-14.jar:7.3.0.Final-redhat-14]
    at org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServletWrapper.getServlet(JspServletWrapper.java:142) [jbossweb-7.2.2.Final-redhat-1.jar:7.2.2.Final-redhat-1]
    at org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServletWrapper.service(JspServletWrapper.java:320) [jbossweb-7.2.2.Final-redhat-1.jar:7.2.2.Final-redhat-1]

Resolution

  • Stop JBoss, clear its tmp directory, and restart to correct the error

Root Cause

  • A bad JSP class file was compiled or something outside of JBoss modified and corrupted the class

Diagnostic Steps

Capture the following for review of what introduces the bad JSP class:
* JBoss server logs, produced with the following debug logging enabled in your logging subsystem:

        <logger category="org.apache.jasper.compiler">
            <level name="DEBUG"/>
        </logger>

  • JBoss access logging. Enable it like so by adding an access-log with a pattern like below to the virtual server(s) in your web subsystem:

    <subsystem xmlns="urn:jboss:domain:web:1.1" default-virtual-server="default-host" native="false">
    <connector name="http" protocol="HTTP/1.1" scheme="http" socket-binding="http"/>
    <virtual-server name="default-host" enable-welcome-root="true">
       <access-log pattern="%T %h %l %A %v %t %r %s %b %S %I"/>

  • Compress and preserve the JBoss tmp directory at the time of the issue.

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