spring-projects/spring-boot · error · IllegalStateException

Missing private key or unrecognized format

Error message

Missing private key or unrecognized format

What it means

Error "Missing private key or unrecognized format" thrown in spring-projects/spring-boot.

Source

Thrown at buildpack/spring-boot-buildpack-platform/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/buildpack/platform/docker/ssl/PemPrivateKeyParser.java:220

	 * @param password the password used to decrypt an encrypted private key
	 * @return the parsed private key
	 */
	static @Nullable PrivateKey parse(@Nullable String text, @Nullable String password) {
		if (text == null) {
			return null;
		}
		try {
			for (PemParser pemParser : PEM_PARSERS) {
				PrivateKey privateKey = pemParser.parse(text, password);
				if (privateKey != null) {
					return privateKey;
				}
			}
		}
		catch (Exception ex) {
			throw new IllegalStateException("Error loading private key file: " + ex.getMessage(), ex);
		}
		throw new IllegalStateException("Missing private key or unrecognized format");
	}

	/**
	 * Parser for a specific PEM format.
	 */
	private static class PemParser {

		private final Pattern pattern;

		private final BiFunction<byte[], @Nullable String, PKCS8EncodedKeySpec> keySpecFactory;

		private final String[] algorithms;

		PemParser(String header, String footer,
				BiFunction<byte[], @Nullable String, PKCS8EncodedKeySpec> keySpecFactory, String... algorithms) {
			this.pattern = Pattern.compile(header + BASE64_TEXT + footer, Pattern.CASE_INSENSITIVE);
			this.keySpecFactory = keySpecFactory;
			this.algorithms = algorithms;

View on GitHub (pinned to 5b2dbdbb8b)

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at buildpack/spring-boot-buildpack-platform/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/buildpack/platform/docker/ssl/PemPrivateKeyParser.java:220 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of spring-projects/spring-boot@5b2dbdbb8b (2026-08-04). Data as JSON: /data/errors/d7063da8c3963baf.json. Report an issue: GitHub.