SpringBoot NullPointerException in the LongTaskTimingHandlerInterceptor class

During monitoring our application on PROD environment in Kibana, we have noticed the following logs:

                java.lang.NullPointerException: null
                at org.springframework.boot.actuate.metrics.web.servlet.LongTaskTimingHandlerInterceptor.stopLongTaskTimers(LongTaskTimingHandlerInterceptor.java:133)
                at org.springframework.boot.actuate.metrics.web.servlet.LongTaskTimingHandlerInterceptor.afterCompletion(LongTaskTimingHandlerInterceptor.java:83)
                at org.springframework.web.servlet.HandlerExecutionChain.triggerAfterCompletion(HandlerExecutionChain.java:189)
                at org.springframework.web.servlet.DispatcherServlet.triggerAfterCompletion(DispatcherServlet.java:1427)
                at org.springframework.web.servlet.DispatcherServlet.doDispatch(DispatcherServlet.java:1060)
                at org.springframework.web.servlet.DispatcherServlet.doService(DispatcherServlet.java:943)
                at org.springframework.web.servlet.FrameworkServlet.processRequest(FrameworkServlet.java:1006)
                at org.springframework.web.servlet.FrameworkServlet.doGet(FrameworkServlet.java:898)
                at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:626)
                at org.springframework.web.servlet.FrameworkServlet.service(FrameworkServlet.java:883)
                at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:733)
                at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:227)
                at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:162)
                at org.apache.tomcat.websocket.server.WsFilter.doFilter(WsFilter.java:53)
                at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:189)
                at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:162)
                at org.springframework.web.filter.RequestContextFilter.doFilterInternal(RequestContextFilter.java:100)
                at org.springframework.web.filter.OncePerRequestFilter.doFilter(OncePerRequestFilter.java:119)
                at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:189)
                at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:162)
                at org.springframework.web.filter.FormContentFilter.doFilterInternal(FormContentFilter.java:93)
                at org.springframework.web.filter.OncePerRequestFilter.doFilter(OncePerRequestFilter.java:119)
                at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:189)
                at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:162)
                at org.springframework.boot.actuate.metrics.web.servlet.WebMvcMetricsFilter.doFilterInternal(WebMvcMetricsFilter.java:97)
                at org.springframework.web.filter.OncePerRequestFilter.doFilter(OncePerRequestFilter.java:119)
                at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:189)
                at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:162)
                at org.springframework.web.filter.CharacterEncodingFilter.doFilterInternal(CharacterEncodingFilter.java:201)
                at org.springframework.web.filter.OncePerRequestFilter.doFilter(OncePerRequestFilter.java:119)
                at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:189)
                at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:162)
                at io.opentracing.contrib.web.servlet.filter.TracingFilter.doFilter(TracingFilter.java:189)
                at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:189)
                at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:162)
                at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardWrapperValve.invoke(StandardWrapperValve.java:202)
                at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContextValve.invoke(StandardContextValve.java:97)
                at org.apache.catalina.authenticator.AuthenticatorBase.invoke(AuthenticatorBase.java:542)
                at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardHostValve.invoke(StandardHostValve.java:143)
                at org.apache.catalina.valves.ErrorReportValve.invoke(ErrorReportValve.java:92)
                at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardEngineValve.invoke(StandardEngineValve.java:78)
                at org.apache.catalina.valves.RemoteIpValve.invoke(RemoteIpValve.java:764)
                at org.apache.catalina.connector.CoyoteAdapter.service(CoyoteAdapter.java:357)
                at org.apache.coyote.http11.Http11Processor.service(Http11Processor.java:374)
                at org.apache.coyote.AbstractProcessorLight.process(AbstractProcessorLight.java:65)
                at org.apache.coyote.AbstractProtocol$ConnectionHandler.process(AbstractProtocol.java:893)
                at org.apache.tomcat.util.net.NioEndpoint$SocketProcessor.doRun(NioEndpoint.java:1707)
                at org.apache.tomcat.util.net.SocketProcessorBase.run(SocketProcessorBase.java:49)
                at java.base/java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1128)
                at java.base/java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:628)
                at org.apache.tomcat.util.threads.TaskThread$WrappingRunnable.run(TaskThread.java:61)
                at java.base/java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:834)

I guess it is clear that it should not be this way. We do not use spring parent pom in our pom.xml, but we use spring-boot-dependencies in dependencyManagement to get the version of all spring modules:

<dependency>
    <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
    <artifactId>spring-boot-dependencies</artifactId>
    <type>pom</type>
    <version>2.3.12.RELEASE</version>
    <scope>import</scope>
</dependency>

I am very sorry I cannot provide more for now - we have very limited access to our production environment. If you need anything else - please, provide the feedback, I will do my best to find the required information.

Comment From: wilkinsona

Unfortunately, open source support for Spring Boot 2.3 ended in May 2021 so we're unable to help you here. Commercial support has also expired as it ended in August 2022. I would strongly encourage you to upgrade to Spring Boot 2.7.x as soon as possible.

You may also want to review https://github.com/spring-projects/spring-boot/issues/16407 for some situations in which this error can occur and how to avoid it.

If the problem still occurs after upgrading to Spring Boot 2.7 and applying the suggestions made in #16407 please let us know and we can re-open this issue and take another look.

Comment From: mipo256

Ok, thank you, we will upgrade then)