NationalSecurityAgency/ghidra · error · LSHException

Could not prefetch scores:

Error message

Could not prefetch scores: 

What it means

Thrown by FileScoreCaching.prefetchScores() wrapping any IOException from loadCache(). Prefetch loads the entire cache to check which executables in a set have scores; if the cache file is corrupt or unreadable the load fails and the prefetch cannot proceed.

Source

Thrown at Ghidra/Features/BSim/src/main/java/ghidra/features/bsim/query/client/FileScoreCaching.java:142

	@Override
	public double getSigThreshold() throws LSHException {
		try {
			loadCache();
		}
		catch (IOException e) {
			throw new LSHException("Problems loading score cache: " + e.getMessage());
		}
		return sigThreshold;
	}

	@Override
	public void prefetchScores(Set<ExecutableRecord> exeSet, List<ExecutableRecord> missing)
			throws LSHException {
		try {
			loadCache();
		}
		catch (IOException e) {
			throw new LSHException("Could not prefetch scores: " + e.getMessage());
		}
		if (missing != null) {
			if (cacheMap == null) {
				for (ExecutableRecord exeRec : exeSet) {
					missing.add(exeRec);			// Everything is missing
				}
			}
			else {
				for (ExecutableRecord exeRec : exeSet) {
					if (!cacheMap.containsKey(exeRec.getMd5())) {
						missing.add(exeRec);
					}
				}
			}
		}
	}

	@Override

View on GitHub (pinned to d5f144c24d)

Solutions

1. Regenerate the cache file via resetStorage or by deleting and re-running the scoring workflow.
2. Inspect the wrapped IOException message for the specific failure.
3. Verify the cache file path and permissions.

Example fix

// before
scorer.prefetchSelfScores(missing); // throws "Could not prefetch scores"

// after — reset cache and retry
catch (LSHException e) {
    cache.resetStorage(simThresh, sigThresh);
    scorer.prefetchSelfScores(missing);
}

File cacheFile = new File(cachePath);
if (cacheFile.exists() && cacheFile.length() < 10) {
    cacheFile.delete();
}

try {
    scorer.prefetchSelfScores(missing);
} catch (LSHException e) {
    if (e.getMessage().startsWith("Could not prefetch")) {
        cache.resetStorage(simThresh, sigThresh);
        scorer.prefetchSelfScores(missing);
    } else throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling prefetchScores(exeSet, missing) when the backing cache file is malformed, truncated, or unreadable. This is the entry point used by ExecutableScorerSingle.prefetchSelfScores() to bulk-load scores.

Common situations: Running a one-to-many comparison that calls prefetchSelfScores, but the cache file was left in a corrupt state by a previous failed run. Permissions or path issues preventing the file read.

Related errors

• Could not recover cached scores: {e.getMessage()}
• Could not commit self-score: {ex.getMessage()}
• Problems loading score cache: {e.getMessage()}
• Problems loading score cache:
• Score file missing threshold lines

AI-assisted analysis of NationalSecurityAgency/ghidra@d5f144c24d (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/8f6396e319b61d27. Report an issue: GitHub.