[LOG4J2-2377] NullPointerException in org.apache.logging.log4j.util.LoaderUtil.getClassLoaders() when using Bootstrap class loader

• Type: Bug
• Status: Closed
• Priority: Blocker
• Resolution: Fixed
• Affects Version/s: 2.9.1, 2.10.0, 2.11.0
• Fix Version/s: 2.11.1, 3.0.0
• Component/s: API
• Assignee: Unassigned
• Reporter: Mirko Rzehak
• Created: 18/Jul/18 19:52
• Updated: 28/Nov/19 03:53
• Resolved: 18/Jul/18 22:14

Description

When log4j2 classes are loaded via the Bootstrap classloader, creating a Logger (LogManager.getLogger()) causes a NullPointerException:

Exception in thread "main" java.lang.ExceptionInInitializerError
	at Test.<clinit>(Test.java:6)
Caused by: java.lang.NullPointerException
	at org.apache.logging.log4j.util.LoaderUtil.getClassLoaders(LoaderUtil.java:115)
	at org.apache.logging.log4j.util.ProviderUtil.<init>(ProviderUtil.java:66)
	at org.apache.logging.log4j.util.ProviderUtil.lazyInit(ProviderUtil.java:146)
	at org.apache.logging.log4j.util.ProviderUtil.hasProviders(ProviderUtil.java:130)
	at org.apache.logging.log4j.LogManager.<clinit>(LogManager.java:89)
	... 1 more

To reproduce this behavior I put the log4j jar files (log4j-api and log4j-core) into a dedicated directory and start my test program with -Djava.endorsed.dirs=dirname. Classes from jars in that directory are loaded using the Bootstrap classloader.

 

The issue came with 2.9.1. It worked with 2.9.0 and earlier versions.