google/tsunami-security-scanner · error · ParameterException

One of the following parameters is expected…

Error message

One of the following parameters is expected: --ip-v4-target, --ip-v6-target, --hostname-target, --uri-target

What it means

MainCliOptions.validate() requires at least one target specification. If no --ip-v4-target, --ip-v6-target, --hostname-target, or --uri-target was supplied, portScanEnabledTargets and portScanDisabledTargets are both empty and a picocli ParameterException is thrown listing the four acceptable flags.

Solutions

1. Add exactly one of --ip-v4-target, --ip-v6-target, --hostname-target, or --uri-target to the command line.
2. Fix scripts so an empty target variable fails loudly instead of omitting the flag.
3. Note port-scan-enabled targets (--ip-v4/--ip-v6/--hostname) are mutually exclusive with --uri-target; pick one style.

Example fix

// before
tsunami --ssh-cred-file=...
// after
tsunami --ip-v4-target=127.0.0.1 --ssh-cred-file=...

int targetCount = (ipv4 != null ? 1 : 0) + (ipv6 != null ? 1 : 0) + (host != null ? 1 : 0) + (uri != null ? 1 : 0); if (targetCount == 0) throw new IllegalArgumentException("A target flag is required");

try { cli.call(); } catch (ParameterException e) { System.err.println(e.getMessage()); System.exit(2); }

When it happens

Trigger: Running the Tsunami CLI without any of the four target flags (or only with flags like --dump-advisories-path), evaluated at MainCliOptions.java:85.

Common situations: Forgetting the target flag in CI pipelines; passing only --scan-info-local-port or auxiliary options; script variable holding the target left empty so the flag is silently omitted.

Understand the failure class

Background: "missing required argument" and "the following required arguments were not provided": what required-argument errors mean and how to fix them — this error's family across 20 libraries.

Related errors

• Remote plugin server port out of range. Expected
• Malformed GCS URL
• Error loading config.
• Language server path
• Port out of range. Expected

AI-assisted analysis of google/tsunami-security-scanner@363ba87b35 (2026-09-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/492a781f4f0102ef. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at main/src/main/java/com/google/tsunami/main/cli/option/MainCliOptions.java:85

    }

    List<String> portScanEnabledTargets = new ArrayList<>();
    List<String> portScanDisabledTargets = new ArrayList<>();
    if (ipV4Target != null) {
      portScanEnabledTargets.add("--ip-v4-target");
    }
    if (ipV6Target != null) {
      portScanEnabledTargets.add("--ip-v6-target");
    }
    if (hostnameTarget != null) {
      portScanEnabledTargets.add("--hostname-target");
    }
    if (uriTarget != null) {
      portScanDisabledTargets.add("--uri-target");
    }

    if (portScanEnabledTargets.isEmpty() && portScanDisabledTargets.isEmpty()) {
      throw new ParameterException(
          "One of the following parameters is expected: --ip-v4-target, --ip-v6-target,"
              + " --hostname-target, --uri-target");
    }
    if (!portScanEnabledTargets.isEmpty() && !portScanDisabledTargets.isEmpty()) {
      throw new ParameterException(
          "Parameters that require port scan (--ip-v4-target, --ip-v6-target, --hostname-target)"
              + " should not be passed along with parameters that skip port scan (--uri-target)");
    }
  }

  /** Returns the log ID to print in front of the logs. */
  public String getLogId() {
    return (logId == null) ? "" : (logId + ": ");
  }
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 363ba87b35)