apache/rocketmq · error · AuthorizationException

is null.

Error message

 is null.

What it means

Produced by decodeRequiredBody when the remoting command's body is null or zero-length: it throws AuthorizationException(bodyName + " is null.") so the caller sees e.g. 'topic list is null.', 'subscription group list is null.', or 'topic queue mapping is null.'. It guards every admin request code that needs a serialized body object (UPDATE_AND_CREATE_TOPIC_LIST, ..._SUBSCRIPTIONGROUP_LIST, UPDATE_AND_CREATE_STATIC_TOPIC, DELETE_TOPIC_IN_BROKER_LIST, DELETE_SUBSCRIPTION_GROUP_LIST, etc.) before attempting to decode.

Source

Thrown at auth/src/main/java/org/apache/rocketmq/auth/authorization/builder/DefaultAuthorizationContextBuilder.java:622

                    break;
            }
            if (CollectionUtils.isNotEmpty(result)) {
                result.forEach(r -> {
                    r.setChannelId(context.channel().id().asLongText());
                    r.setRpcCode(String.valueOf(command.getCode()));
                });
            }
        } catch (AuthorizationException ex) {
            throw ex;
        } catch (Throwable t) {
            throw new AuthorizationException("parse authorization context error.", t);
        }
        return result;
    }

    private static <T> T decodeRequiredBody(RemotingCommand command, Class<T> bodyClass, String bodyName) {
        if (command.getBody() == null || command.getBody().length == 0) {
            throw new AuthorizationException(bodyName + " is null.");
        }
        T body = RemotingSerializable.decode(command.getBody(), bodyClass);
        if (body == null) {
            throw new AuthorizationException(bodyName + " is null.");
        }
        return body;
    }

    private static String decodeRequiredText(RemotingCommand command, String bodyName) {
        if (command.getBody() == null || command.getBody().length == 0) {
            throw new AuthorizationException(bodyName + " is null.");
        }
        return new String(command.getBody(), StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
    }

    private static String requireResource(String resource, String resourceName) {
        if (StringUtils.isBlank(resource)) {
            throw new AuthorizationException(resourceName + " is null.");

View on GitHub (pinned to 293f588571)

Solutions

1. Serialize the request object (RemotingSerializable.encode) and call command.setBody(bytes) before sending.
2. Add a client-side assert that getBody() is non-null and length > 0 for body-carrying request codes.
3. Use the high-level admin APIs which always attach the body.

Example fix

// before
RemotingCommand cmd = RemotingCommand.createRequestCommand(code, header);
// body never set -> 'topic list is null.'

// after
RemotingCommand cmd = RemotingCommand.createRequestCommand(code, header);
cmd.setBody(RemotingSerializable.encode(requestBody));

if (requestBody != null) {
    byte[] body = RemotingSerializable.encode(requestBody);
    if (body != null && body.length > 0) cmd.setBody(body);
}

try { client.invokeSync(addr, cmd, timeout); }
catch (AuthorizationException e) {
    if (e.getMessage().endsWith("is null.") && cmd.getBody() == null) { attachBodyAndResend(); return; }
    throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Sending any of the list/static-topic admin request codes without calling RemotingCommand#setBody, or with a zero-byte array. Common when a client constructs the request header correctly but forgets to serialize and attach the body object.

Common situations: Custom admin tooling or test harnesses that build RemotingCommand manually; refactors that drop the setBody call; clients assuming the broker fills in a default body.

Related errors

• topic config is null.
• subscription group is null.
• subscription group config is null.
• User:{} is not found
• topic list is empty.

AI-assisted analysis of apache/rocketmq@293f588571 (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/c2d988bb2d51910c. Report an issue: GitHub.