prestodb/presto · error · OrcCorruptionException

Invalid footer length %s

Error message

Invalid footer length %s

What it means

After decoding the PostScript, the library extracts footerLength and metadataLength. A negative footer length is structurally impossible in a valid ORC file, so OrcCorruptionException is thrown. This means the postscript bytes decoded to an implausible value — the file tail is corrupt or the writer was incompatible.

Source

Thrown at presto-orc/src/main/java/com/facebook/presto/orc/cache/StorageOrcFileTailSource.java:114

        }

        // verify this is a supported version
        checkOrcVersion(orcDataSource, postScript.getVersion());
        validateWrite(writeValidation, orcDataSource, validation -> validation.getVersion().equals(postScript.getVersion()), "Unexpected version");

        int bufferSize = toIntExact(postScript.getCompressionBlockSize());

        // check compression codec is supported
        CompressionKind compressionKind = postScript.getCompression();
        validateWrite(writeValidation, orcDataSource, validation -> validation.getCompression() == compressionKind, "Unexpected compression");

        PostScript.HiveWriterVersion hiveWriterVersion = postScript.getHiveWriterVersion();

        int footerSize = toIntExact(postScript.getFooterLength());
        int metadataSize = toIntExact(postScript.getMetadataLength());

        if (footerSize < 0) {
            throw new OrcCorruptionException(orcDataSource.getId(), "Invalid footer length %s", footerSize);
        }
        if (metadataSize < 0) {
            throw new OrcCorruptionException(orcDataSource.getId(), "Invalid metadata length %s", metadataSize);
        }

        // read DWRF stripe cache only if this feature is enabled and it has meaningful data
        boolean readDwrfStripeCache = dwrfStripeCacheEnabled
                && postScript.getDwrfStripeCacheLength().isPresent()
                && postScript.getDwrfStripeCacheMode().isPresent()
                && postScript.getDwrfStripeCacheMode().get() != DwrfStripeCacheMode.NONE;
        int dwrfStripeCacheSize = 0;
        if (readDwrfStripeCache) {
            dwrfStripeCacheSize = postScript.getDwrfStripeCacheLength().getAsInt();
            checkSizes(orcDataSource, metadataSize, dwrfStripeCacheSize);
        }

        // check if extra bytes need to be read
        Slice completeFooterSlice;

View on GitHub (pinned to 55bb57d202)

Solutions

1. Validate the file with orc-tools (java -jar orc-tools-*-uber.jar meta file.orc) to pinpoint the corruption.
2. Re-generate or re-copy the file; postscript/footer corruption is not repairable in place.
3. Check storage layer (disk/HDFS) for silent corruption; enable checksum verification.
4. Compare the writer version/implementation that produced the file against supported versions.

try { tail = source.getOrcFileTail(ds, reader, validation, false, time); }
catch (OrcCorruptionException e) { failQueryWithFileLocation(ds.getId(), e); }

When it happens

Trigger: getOrcFileTail decodes a PostScript whose getFooterLength() is negative (value parsed from corrupt tail bytes).

Common situations: Bit-flip corruption on storage, truncated-then-partially-overwritten files, files written by non-Hive ORC variants with unsupported postscript fields.

Related errors

• File has no columns
• Invalid file size %s
• Invalid postscript length %s
• Invalid metadata length %s
• Invalid ORC metadata %s or DWRF stripe cache size %s

AI-assisted analysis of prestodb/presto@55bb57d202 (2026-09-04). Data as JSON: /api/errors/d59aff670dd6b30a. Report an issue: GitHub.