NationalSecurityAgency/ghidra · error · MalformedURLException

BSim URL must specify exactly 1 path element

Error message

BSim URL must specify exactly 1 path element

What it means

checkBSimServerURL() enforces that for non-file protocols the URL path has exactly one path element (no '/' after position 1). If path.indexOf('/', 1) >= 0 it means there are nested path segments, which BSim doesn't allow for server-backed databases — the single path element IS the database name.

Source

Thrown at Ghidra/Features/BSim/src/main/java/ghidra/features/bsim/query/BSimClientFactory.java:61

	/**
	 * Validate BSim DB URL.
	 * Acceptable protocols are  postgresql://  https://,  (or possibly http://) file:/
	 * @param url BSim DB URL
	 * @throws MalformedURLException if the URL string is not a support BSim DB URL
	 */
	public static void checkBSimServerURL(URL url) throws MalformedURLException {
		String protocol = url.getProtocol();
		if (!protocol.equals("postgresql") && !protocol.equals("https") &&
			!protocol.equals("elastic") && !protocol.equals("file")) {
			throw new MalformedURLException("Protocol not permissable for BSim URL");
		}
		String path = url.getPath();
		if (path == null || path.length() == 0 || path.equals("/")) {
			throw new MalformedURLException("BSim URL missing DB name/path");
		}
		if (!"file".equals(protocol) && path.indexOf('/', 1) >= 0) {
			throw new MalformedURLException("BSim URL must specify exactly 1 path element");
		}
	}

	/**
	 * Construct the root URL to a specific BSim repository given a "related" URL.
	 * The root URL will have an explicit protocol, a hostname + other mods (the authority), and 1 level of path
	 *    this first level path indicates the particular repository being referenced on the host.
	 * The "related" URL -url- can be an explicitly provided URL pointing to the BSim repository,
	 *    possibly with additional path levels, which are simply stripped from the final root URL.
	 * Alternately -url- can reference a ghidra server, as indicated by the "ghidra" protocol.
	 *    In this case the true BSim URL is derived from ghidra URL in some way
	 * @param urlString is the "related" URL
	 * @return the root BSim URL
	 * @throws MalformedURLException if the given URL string cannot be parsed
	 * @throws URISyntaxException if the given URL string cannot be parsed
	 * @throws IllegalArgumentException if local ghidra URL is specified
	 */
	public static URL deriveBSimURL(String urlString)

View on GitHub (pinned to d5f144c24d)

Solutions

1. Reduce the URL path to a single segment: 'postgresql://host/dbname' (remove everything after the first path element).
2. If you need to reference a file on disk, use the 'file' protocol which allows multi-level paths.
3. Review URL construction logic to ensure only the database name (not a filesystem path) is appended for server protocols.

Example fix

// before
String url = "postgresql://myhost/bsim/v1/db"; // multiple path elements
//
// after
String url = "postgresql://myhost/bsimdb"; // single path element

String path = url.getPath();
if (!"file".equals(url.getProtocol()) && path.indexOf('/', 1) >= 0) {
    // Multiple path segments for a server protocol
    throw new IllegalArgumentException(
        "Server protocol URLs must have exactly one path element (the database name). Use file:/ for multi-level paths.");
}

try {
    BSimClientFactory.checkBSimServerURL(url);
} catch (MalformedURLException e) {
    if (e.getMessage().contains("exactly 1 path element")) {
        // strip extra path segments, keep only the database name
    } else {
        throw e;
    }
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling checkBSimServerURL(url) with a non-file protocol URL where the path contains a second '/'. E.g., 'postgresql://host/dbname/extra' or 'https://host/path/to/db'.

Common situations: User includes a sub-path (thinking BSim needs a full filesystem path); URL constructed by joining host + filesystem path with '/'; user provides a REST-style nested path; copy-paste of a URL from a different system that uses multi-level paths.

Related errors

• Protocol not permissable for BSim URL
• BSim URL missing DB name/path
• URL is not ghidra protocol: {}
• Invalid repository URL: {}
• Unable to infer ghidra URL from BSim file DB URL

AI-assisted analysis of NationalSecurityAgency/ghidra@d5f144c24d (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/b0a6205c35086f75. Report an issue: GitHub.