NationalSecurityAgency/ghidra · error · IOException

{resultFolder.getAbsolutePath()} is not a valid directory

Error message

{resultFolder.getAbsolutePath()} is not a valid directory

What it means

Thrown by doDumpSigs when resultFolder.isDirectory() returns false. This means the path either does not exist or exists but is a regular file rather than a directory. Signature files will be written into this folder, so it must be a valid writable directory.

Source

Thrown at Ghidra/Features/BSim/src/main/java/ghidra/features/bsim/query/ingest/BulkSignatures.java:985

		query.spec.exemd5 = md5;
		query.spec.exename = name;
		query.spec.arch = null;
		query.spec.execompname = null;

		doDumpSigs(resultFolder, query);
	}

	/**
	 * Exports information about a binary to a local folder in XML format.
	 * 
	 * @param resultFolder the folder where the results will be stored
	 * @param query the query object containing the params of the query
	 * @throws IOException if there's an error establishing the database connection
	 * @throws LSHException if there's an error issuing the query
	 */
	protected void doDumpSigs(File resultFolder, QueryName query) throws IOException, LSHException {
		if (!resultFolder.isDirectory()) {
			throw new IOException(resultFolder.getAbsolutePath() + " is not a valid directory");
		}

		DatabaseInformation info = establishQueryServerConnection(true);
		query.fillinCallgraph = info.trackcallgraph;
		ResponseName responseName = query.execute(querydb);
		if (responseName == null) {
			BSimError lastError = querydb.getLastError();
			throw new LSHException(lastError.message);
		}
		if (!responseName.uniqueexecutable) {
			throw new LSHException("Could not determine unique executable");
		}
		ExecutableRecord exe;
		if (!StringUtils.isAllBlank(query.spec.exemd5)) {
			exe = responseName.manage.findExecutable(query.spec.exemd5);
		}
		else {
			exe = responseName.manage.findExecutable(query.spec.exename, query.spec.arch,

View on GitHub (pinned to d5f144c24d)

Solutions

1. Create the directory before calling doDumpSigs: resultFolder.mkdirs().
2. Verify the path is not already occupied by a regular file.
3. Check write permissions on the directory and its parent.
4. Use an absolute path to avoid working-directory ambiguity.

Example fix

// before
if (!resultFolder.isDirectory()) {
    throw new IOException(resultFolder.getAbsolutePath() + " is not a valid directory");
}

// after — attempt creation, then validate
if (!resultFolder.exists()) {
    if (!resultFolder.mkdirs()) {
        throw new IOException("Cannot create output directory: " + resultFolder.getAbsolutePath());
    }
} else if (!resultFolder.isDirectory()) {
    throw new IOException(resultFolder.getAbsolutePath() + " is not a directory");
}

// Ensure the output directory exists and is writable before calling doDumpSigs
if (resultFolder == null) {
    throw new IllegalArgumentException("resultFolder must not be null");
}
if (!resultFolder.exists()) {
    resultFolder.mkdirs();
}
if (!resultFolder.isDirectory()) {
    throw new IllegalArgumentException(
        "resultFolder is not a directory: " + resultFolder.getAbsolutePath());
}
if (!resultFolder.canWrite()) {
    throw new IllegalArgumentException(
        "resultFolder is not writable: " + resultFolder.getAbsolutePath());
}

public static boolean isValidOutputDirectory(File dir) {
    return dir != null && dir.isDirectory() && dir.canWrite();
}

// Validation-based; create directory proactively
if (!resultFolder.exists()) {
    resultFolder.mkdirs();
}
bulk.doDumpSigs(resultFolder, query);

When it happens

Trigger: Calling doDumpSigs with a resultFolder path that doesn't exist, points to a file, or is a broken symlink. The check is purely isDirectory() — no writability test.

Common situations: User specifies an output folder that hasn't been created yet; the path points to an existing file; the directory is on a read-only mount; typo in the folder path.

Related errors

• {inputFile.getAbsolutePath()} is not an XML file
• Must specify "md5=" or "name="
• Could not determine unique executable
• Executable
• Expecting privilege option (admin or user)

AI-assisted analysis of NationalSecurityAgency/ghidra@d5f144c24d (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/e962cfb64e4480c1. Report an issue: GitHub.