iBotPeaches/Apktool · error · IOException

Error while skipping chunk header.

Error message

Error while skipping chunk header.

What it means

Generic wrapper thrown by ResChunkPullParser.skipHeader() for non-EOF IOExceptions raised while skipping the header bytes; the original exception is attached as the cause. The 'Stream advanced past chunk header end.' throw at ResChunkPullParser.java:182 is inside the try, so it also surfaces wrapped here with its message only on the cause chain.

Source

Thrown at brut.apktool/apktool-lib/src/main/java/brut/androlib/res/decoder/ResChunkPullParser.java:188

    public int skipHeader() throws IOException {
        if (mChunkHeader == null) {
            throw new IllegalStateException();
        }
        try {
            long position = mIn.position();
            long headerEnd = headerEnd();
            if (position == headerEnd) {
                return 0;
            }
            if (position > headerEnd) {
                throw new IOException("Stream advanced past chunk header end.");
            }
            return mIn.skipBytes((int) (headerEnd - position));
        } catch (EOFException ignored) {
            throw new EOFException("Unexpected EOF while skipping chunk header.");
        } catch (IOException ex) {
            throw new IOException("Error while skipping chunk header.", ex);
        }
    }
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 79b63384d7)

Solutions

1. Unwrap ex.getCause() to distinguish 'advanced past header end' (logic error / bad headerSize) from genuine I/O failures.
2. Only call skipHeader() before any header consumption, once per chunk.
3. Keep exclusive ownership of the BinaryDataInputStream during parsing.

try {
    parser.skipHeader();
} catch (IOException ex) {
    Throwable cause = ex.getCause();
    if (cause != null && cause.getMessage().contains("chunk header end")) {
        // header was already consumed -> fix calling code
    } else {
        // I/O failure on backing stream
    }
}

When it happens

Trigger: position > headerEnd when skipHeader() is called (wrapped error 43); underlying stream already closed; I/O errors on the backing file or zip entry during the skip.

Common situations: Custom chunk-header reads followed by skipHeader(); sharing the input stream between components; corrupt APKs with rewritten headerSize fields.

Related errors

• Error while skipping chunk.
• Stream advanced past chunk end.
• Unexpected EOF while skipping chunk.
• Stream advanced past chunk header end.
• Unexpected EOF while skipping chunk header.

AI-assisted analysis of iBotPeaches/Apktool@79b63384d7 (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/d57ff6367a1cce5a. Report an issue: GitHub.