Error parsing HTTP request header, HTTP method names must be tokens

Post by Alex O'Ree
I keep running into the an IllegalArgumentException at or near startup of
tomcat 8.5 with a bunch of cxf web services deployed and I have no idea
what's causing it. The error message mentions turning on logging at the
debug level.

Random shot in the dark given the minimal date provided :) Does it
look like this:

INFO [http-nio-8080-exec-3]
org.apache.coyote.http11.Http11Processor.service Error parsing HTTP
request header
Note: further occurrences of HTTP request parsing errors will be
logged at DEBUG level.
java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Invalid character found in the
request target. The valid characters are defined in RFC 7230 and RFC
3986
at org.apache.coyote.http11.Http11InputBuffer.parseRequestLine(Http11InputBuffer.java:460)
at org.apache.coyote.http11.Http11Processor.service(Http11Processor.java:291)
at org.apache.coyote.AbstractProcessorLight.process(AbstractProcessorLight.java:66)
at org.apache.coyote.AbstractProtocol$ConnectionHandler.process(AbstractProtocol.java:754)
at org.apache.tomcat.util.net.NioEndpoint$SocketProcessor.doRun(NioEndpoint.java:1376)
at org.apache.tomcat.util.net.SocketProcessorBase.run(SocketProcessorBase.java:49)
at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1149)
at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:624)
at org.apache.tomcat.util.threads.TaskThread$WrappingRunnable.run(TaskThread.java:61)
at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:748)

If so, then your client is sending you requests with unencoded special
characters that are now disallowed by Tomcat.

Post by Alex O'Ree
Question: Assuming i need to edit the logging.properties file, which
setting/line do i have to edit to reveal what the root cause is?

I can't answer that without more information. What is throwing the
exception? A stack trace would be helpful.

---------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, e-mail: users-***@tomcat.apache.org
For additional commands, e-mail: users-***@tomcat.apache.org

Alex O'Ree

2018-02-21 19:19:20 UTC

That's the error message. The problem is I have no idea which client it is
and what character it is sending that is causing the issue. Thus I would
like to get the offending header logged in some way.

Random shot in the dark given the minimal date provided :) Does it
INFO [http-nio-8080-exec-3]
org.apache.coyote.http11.Http11Processor.service Error parsing HTTP
request header
Note: further occurrences of HTTP request parsing errors will be
logged at DEBUG level.
java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Invalid character found in the
request target. The valid characters are defined in RFC 7230 and RFC
3986
at org.apache.coyote.http11.Http11InputBuffer.parseRequestLine(
Http11InputBuffer.java:460)
at org.apache.coyote.http11.Http11Processor.service(
Http11Processor.java:291)
at org.apache.coyote.AbstractProcessorLight.process(
AbstractProcessorLight.java:66)
at org.apache.coyote.AbstractProtocol$ConnectionHandler.process(
AbstractProtocol.java:754)
at org.apache.tomcat.util.net.NioEndpoint$SocketProcessor.
doRun(NioEndpoint.java:1376)
at org.apache.tomcat.util.net.SocketProcessorBase.run(
SocketProcessorBase.java:49)
at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(
ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1149)
at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(
ThreadPoolExecutor.java:624)
at org.apache.tomcat.util.threads.TaskThread$WrappingRunnable.run(
TaskThread.java:61)
at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:748)
If so, then your client is sending you requests with unencoded special
characters that are now disallowed by Tomcat.

Post by Alex O'Ree
Question: Assuming i need to edit the logging.properties file, which
setting/line do i have to edit to reveal what the root cause is?

I can't answer that without more information. What is throwing the
exception? A stack trace would be helpful.
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Mark Thomas

2018-02-21 19:27:20 UTC

Post by Alex O'Ree
That's the error message. The problem is I have no idea which client it is
and what character it is sending that is causing the issue. Thus I would
like to get the offending header logged in some way.

That sounds like an enhancement request for the log message to include
the invalid character and a client IP address.

The patch should be fairly simple if you fancy taking a shot at it.

Mark

Post by Alex O'Ree
Question: Assuming i need to edit the logging.properties file, which
setting/line do i have to edit to reveal what the root cause is?

I can't answer that without more information. What is throwing the
exception? A stack trace would be helpful.
---------------------------------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, e-mail: users-***@tomcat.apache.org
For additional commands, e-mail: users-***@tomcat.apache.org

Konstantin Kolinko

2018-02-22 00:49:57 UTC

The "http-nio-8080-exec-3" in the message is the thread name. It can
be written to the Access Log with "%I"

http://tomcat.apache.org/tomcat-8.5-doc/config/valve.html#Access_Logging

Also look for response status in an access log. I think those requests
are handled with status "400".

You will see an IP address there. You wont't see any headers (such as
User-Agent) as those have not been parsed yet.

setting/line do i have to edit to reveal what the root cause is?

http://tomcat.apache.org/tomcat-8.5-doc/logging.html
and also official Java documentation on java.util.logging.

From the log message cited by Coty, I think you need to add
org.apache.coyote.http11.Http11Processor.level = FINE

In short, you need both
1) <log category aka logger>.level = FINE
2) <handler>.level = FINE

"1)" controls whether a log event is raised,
"2)" controls writing it out to a specific output (console, file)

"2)" is already set in the logging.properties file provided by Tomcat.

Best regards,
Konstantin Kolinko

---------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, e-mail: users-***@tomcat.apache.org
For additional commands, e-mail: users-***@tomcat.apache.org

Alex O'Ree

2018-02-22 03:10:13 UTC

Thanks. I'll try the logging change to see if i can at least narrow it down
a bit more.

Post by Konstantin Kolinko

Post by Alex O'Ree
That's the error message. The problem is I have no idea which client it

Post by Alex O'Ree
and what character it is sending that is causing the issue. Thus I would
like to get the offending header logged in some way.

The "http-nio-8080-exec-3" in the message is the thread name. It can
be written to the Access Log with "%I"
http://tomcat.apache.org/tomcat-8.5-doc/config/valve.html#Access_Logging
Also look for response status in an access log. I think those requests
are handled with status "400".
You will see an IP address there. You wont't see any headers (such as
User-Agent) as those have not been parsed yet.

Post by Alex O'Ree
I keep running into the an IllegalArgumentException at or near

startup of

Post by Alex O'Ree
tomcat 8.5 with a bunch of cxf web services deployed and I have no

idea

Post by Alex O'Ree
what's causing it. The error message mentions turning on logging at

the