NationalSecurityAgency/ghidra · error · RuntimeException

Address must be in the form 'host:port'

Error message

Address must be in the form 'host:port'

What it means

Thrown by ghidraTraceConnect(String address) when the supplied address string does not split into exactly two colon-separated parts. The method naively splits on ':' and requires host and port; this means any address missing the port, missing the host, containing extra colons, or using IPv6 syntax (which itself contains colons) will be rejected before any socket is opened.

Solutions

1. Provide the address in strict 'host:port' form, e.g. '127.0.0.1:12345'.
2. If targeting IPv6, note this parser does not support bracketed notation — connect via an IPv4 address or a hostname that resolves to one.
3. Validate the address string before calling ghidraTraceConnect: ensure it contains exactly one ':' and both halves are non-empty.

Example fix

// before
ghidraTraceConnect("localhost"); // throws

// after
ghidraTraceConnect("127.0.0.1:12345");

void connectSafe(String address) {
    String[] parts = address.split(":");
    if (parts.length != 2 || parts[0].isEmpty() || parts[1].isEmpty()) {
        throw new IllegalArgumentException("Address must be 'host:port'");
    }
    ghidraTraceConnect(address);
}

try { ghidraTraceConnect(address); }
catch (RuntimeException e) {
    if (e.getMessage().contains("host:port")) { /* re-prompt user for address */ }
    else throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling ghidraTraceConnect("localhost") (no port), ghidraTraceConnect(":8080") (no host), ghidraTraceConnect("a:b:c") (extra colons), or any IPv6 address like "::1:8080" which splits into more than two parts.

Common situations: User omits the port assuming a default; copy-pasting an IPv6 loopback address; a launch configuration passes a bare hostname; the address string was constructed programmatically without enforcing the host:port contract.

Related errors

• Error connecting to
• Port must be numeric
• Attempt to create existing memory
• Range [ : + ] entirely exceeds space max
• Timed out waiting for thread to stop

AI-assisted analysis of NationalSecurityAgency/ghidra@d5f144c24d (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/469a7f5090ab4455. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at Ghidra/Debug/Debugger-jpda/src/main/java/ghidra/dbg/jdi/rmi/jpda/JdiCommands.java:138

	private JdiConnector connector;
	private JdiManagerImpl jdi;

	public State state;
	private String[] regNames = { "PC", "return_address" };
	public long MAX_REFS = 100;

	public JdiCommands(JdiConnector connector) {
		this.connector = connector;
		this.jdi = connector.getJdi();
		state = new State();
	}

	public void ghidraTraceConnect(String address) {
		state.requireNoClient();
		String[] addr = address.split(":");
		if (addr.length != 2) {
			throw new RuntimeException("Address must be in the form 'host:port'");
		}
		try {
			SocketChannel channel =
				SocketChannel.open(new InetSocketAddress(addr[0], Integer.parseInt(addr[1])));
			state.client = new RmiClient(channel, "jdi");
			state.client.setRegistry(connector.remoteMethodRegistry);
			state.client.negotiate("Connect");
			Msg.out("Connected to " + state.client.getDescription());
		}
		catch (NumberFormatException e) {
			throw new RuntimeException("Port must be numeric");
		}
		catch (IOException e) {
			throw new RuntimeException("Error connecting to " + address + ": " + e);
		}
	}

	public void ghidraTraceListen(String address) {

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