ClassFormatError：在类文件 javax/mail/MessagingException 中非本机或抽象的方法中缺少代码属性

Question

I am getting a strange ClassFormatError when using the javaMail api to send email on my spring mvc web app.

Below is my mail-cfg.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
    xmlns:mvc="http://www.springframework.org/schema/mvc" xmlns:context="http://www.springframework.org/schema/context"
    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
    xsi:schemaLocation="
        http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans 
        http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.1.xsd
        http://www.springframework.org/schema/mvc 
        http://www.springframework.org/schema/mvc/spring-mvc-3.1.xsd
        http://www.springframework.org/schema/context
        http://www.springframework.org/schema/context/spring-context-3.1.xsd">

    <bean id="mailSource" class="org.springframework.mail.javamail.JavaMailSenderImpl">
        <property name="host" value="${mail.host}" />
        <property name="port" value="${mail.port}" />
        <property name="username" value="${mail.username}" />
        <property name="password" value="${mail.password}" />

        <property name="javaMailProperties">
            <props>
                <prop key="mail.smtp.auth">true</prop>
                <prop key="mail.smtp.starttls.enable">true</prop>
            </props>
        </property>
    </bean>

    <bean id="mailHelper" class="com.jr.freedom.util.MailHelper">
        <property name="mailSender" ref="mailSource"></property>
        <property name="messageText"
            value="Thank you for reigistering to the Freedom Application. Please copy and paste your activation code below \n\n"></property>
    </bean>
</beans>

My POM file

<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
    xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 
   http://maven.apache.org/maven-v4_0_0.xsd">
    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
    <groupId>FreedomSpring</groupId>
    <artifactId>FreedomSpring</artifactId>
    <packaging>war</packaging>
    <version>0.0.1-SNAPSHOT</version>

    <build>
        <plugins>
            <plugin>
                <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
                <version>3.0</version>
                <configuration>
                    <source>1.5</source>
                    <target>1.5</target>
                </configuration>
            </plugin>
            <plugin>
                <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                <artifactId>maven-war-plugin</artifactId>
                <version>2.3</version>
                <configuration>
                    <!-- specifiy which directory within the project hierarchy will be considered 
                        as the root directory from the generated war file -->
                    <warSourceDirectory>WebContent</warSourceDirectory>
                    <webXml>src\main\webapp\WEB-INF\web.xml</webXml>
                </configuration>
            </plugin>
        </plugins>
    </build>
    <!-- Dependencies below for spring, hibernate, json etc -->
    <dependencies>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-webmvc</artifactId>
            <version>3.1.2.RELEASE</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-orm</artifactId>
            <version>3.1.2.RELEASE</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>junit</groupId>
            <artifactId>junit</artifactId>
            <version>4.10</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>net.sf.json-lib</groupId>
            <artifactId>json-lib</artifactId>
            <version>2.4</version>
            <classifier>jdk15</classifier>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.hibernate</groupId>
            <artifactId>hibernate-core</artifactId>
            <version>4.1.7.Final</version>
            <type>jar</type>
            <scope>compile</scope>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.hibernate</groupId>
            <artifactId>hibernate-validator</artifactId>
            <version>4.3.0.Final</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>log4j</groupId>
            <artifactId>log4j</artifactId>
            <version>1.2.17</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-tx</artifactId>
            <version>3.1.2.RELEASE</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-test</artifactId>
            <version>3.1.2.RELEASE</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>commons-dbcp</groupId>
            <artifactId>commons-dbcp</artifactId>
            <version>1.4</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-beans</artifactId>
            <version>3.1.2.RELEASE</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-mock</artifactId>
            <version>2.0.8</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-core</artifactId>
            <version>3.1.2.RELEASE</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>javax</groupId>
            <artifactId>javaee-api</artifactId>
            <version>6.0</version>
            <scope>provided</scope>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.mockito</groupId>
            <artifactId>mockito-all</artifactId>
            <version>1.9.0</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>mysql</groupId>
            <artifactId>mysql-connector-java</artifactId>
            <version>5.1.21</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.apache.shiro</groupId>
            <artifactId>shiro-spring</artifactId>
            <version>1.2.1</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.apache.shiro</groupId>
            <artifactId>shiro-core</artifactId>
            <version>1.2.1</version>
        </dependency>

    </dependencies>

</project>

Full stack Trace

java.lang.IllegalStateException: Failed to load ApplicationContext
    at org.springframework.test.context.TestContext.getApplicationContext(TestContext.java:157)
    at org.springframework.test.context.support.DependencyInjectionTestExecutionListener.injectDependencies(DependencyInjectionTestExecutionListener.java:109)
    at org.springframework.test.context.support.DependencyInjectionTestExecutionListener.prepareTestInstance(DependencyInjectionTestExecutionListener.java:75)
    at org.springframework.test.context.TestContextManager.prepareTestInstance(TestContextManager.java:321)
    at org.springframework.test.context.junit4.SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.createTest(SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.java:211)
    at org.springframework.test.context.junit4.SpringJUnit4ClassRunner$1.runReflectiveCall(SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.java:288)
    at org.junit.internal.runners.model.ReflectiveCallable.run(ReflectiveCallable.java:15)
    at org.springframework.test.context.junit4.SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.methodBlock(SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.java:290)
    at org.springframework.test.context.junit4.SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.runChild(SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.java:231)
    at org.junit.runners.BlockJUnit4ClassRunner.runChild(BlockJUnit4ClassRunner.java:47)
    at org.junit.runners.ParentRunner$3.run(ParentRunner.java:231)
    at org.junit.runners.ParentRunner$1.schedule(ParentRunner.java:60)
    at org.junit.runners.ParentRunner.runChildren(ParentRunner.java:229)
    at org.junit.runners.ParentRunner.access$000(ParentRunner.java:50)
    at org.junit.runners.ParentRunner$2.evaluate(ParentRunner.java:222)
    at org.springframework.test.context.junit4.statements.RunBeforeTestClassCallbacks.evaluate(RunBeforeTestClassCallbacks.java:61)
    at org.springframework.test.context.junit4.statements.RunAfterTestClassCallbacks.evaluate(RunAfterTestClassCallbacks.java:71)
    at org.junit.runners.ParentRunner.run(ParentRunner.java:300)
    at org.springframework.test.context.junit4.SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.run(SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.java:174)
    at org.eclipse.jdt.internal.junit4.runner.JUnit4TestReference.run(JUnit4TestReference.java:50)
    at org.eclipse.jdt.internal.junit.runner.TestExecution.run(TestExecution.java:38)
    at org.eclipse.jdt.internal.junit.runner.RemoteTestRunner.runTests(RemoteTestRunner.java:467)
    at org.eclipse.jdt.internal.junit.runner.RemoteTestRunner.runTests(RemoteTestRunner.java:683)
    at org.eclipse.jdt.internal.junit.runner.RemoteTestRunner.run(RemoteTestRunner.java:390)
    at org.eclipse.jdt.internal.junit.runner.RemoteTestRunner.main(RemoteTestRunner.java:197)
Caused by: org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Error creating bean with name 'userController': Injection of autowired dependencies failed; nested exception is org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Could not autowire field: private com.jr.freedom.user.UserService com.jr.freedom.controllers.UserController.userService; nested exception is org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Error creating bean with name 'UserService': Injection of autowired dependencies failed; nested exception is org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Could not autowire method: public void com.jr.freedom.user.UserService.setMailHelper(com.jr.freedom.util.MailHelper); nested exception is org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Error creating bean with name 'mailHelper' defined in class path resource [mail-cfg.xml]: Initialization of bean failed; nested exception is java.lang.ClassFormatError: Absent Code attribute in method that is not native or abstract in class file javax/mail/MessagingException
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.AutowiredAnnotationBeanPostProcessor.postProcessPropertyValues(AutowiredAnnotationBeanPostProcessor.java:287)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.populateBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:1106)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.doCreateBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:517)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.createBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:456)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory$1.getObject(AbstractBeanFactory.java:294)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.getSingleton(DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.java:225)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.doGetBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:291)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.getBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:193)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultListableBeanFactory.preInstantiateSingletons(DefaultListableBeanFactory.java:609)
    at org.springframework.context.support.AbstractApplicationContext.finishBeanFactoryInitialization(AbstractApplicationContext.java:918)
    at org.springframework.context.support.AbstractApplicationContext.refresh(AbstractApplicationContext.java:469)
    at org.springframework.test.context.support.AbstractGenericContextLoader.loadContext(AbstractGenericContextLoader.java:103)
    at org.springframework.test.context.support.AbstractGenericContextLoader.loadContext(AbstractGenericContextLoader.java:1)
    at org.springframework.test.context.support.DelegatingSmartContextLoader.loadContext(DelegatingSmartContextLoader.java:228)
    at org.springframework.test.context.TestContext.loadApplicationContext(TestContext.java:124)
    at org.springframework.test.context.TestContext.getApplicationContext(TestContext.java:148)
    ... 24 more
Caused by: org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Could not autowire field: private com.jr.freedom.user.UserService com.jr.freedom.controllers.UserController.userService; nested exception is org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Error creating bean with name 'UserService': Injection of autowired dependencies failed; nested exception is org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Could not autowire method: public void com.jr.freedom.user.UserService.setMailHelper(com.jr.freedom.util.MailHelper); nested exception is org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Error creating bean with name 'mailHelper' defined in class path resource [mail-cfg.xml]: Initialization of bean failed; nested exception is java.lang.ClassFormatError: Absent Code attribute in method that is not native or abstract in class file javax/mail/MessagingException
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.AutowiredAnnotationBeanPostProcessor$AutowiredFieldElement.inject(AutowiredAnnotationBeanPostProcessor.java:506)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.InjectionMetadata.inject(InjectionMetadata.java:87)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.AutowiredAnnotationBeanPostProcessor.postProcessPropertyValues(AutowiredAnnotationBeanPostProcessor.java:284)
    ... 39 more
Caused by: org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Error creating bean with name 'UserService': Injection of autowired dependencies failed; nested exception is org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Could not autowire method: public void com.jr.freedom.user.UserService.setMailHelper(com.jr.freedom.util.MailHelper); nested exception is org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Error creating bean with name 'mailHelper' defined in class path resource [mail-cfg.xml]: Initialization of bean failed; nested exception is java.lang.ClassFormatError: Absent Code attribute in method that is not native or abstract in class file javax/mail/MessagingException
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.AutowiredAnnotationBeanPostProcessor.postProcessPropertyValues(AutowiredAnnotationBeanPostProcessor.java:287)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.populateBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:1106)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.doCreateBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:517)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.createBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:456)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory$1.getObject(AbstractBeanFactory.java:294)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.getSingleton(DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.java:225)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.doGetBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:291)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.getBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:193)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultListableBeanFactory.findAutowireCandidates(DefaultListableBeanFactory.java:876)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultListableBeanFactory.doResolveDependency(DefaultListableBeanFactory.java:818)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultListableBeanFactory.resolveDependency(DefaultListableBeanFactory.java:735)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.AutowiredAnnotationBeanPostProcessor$AutowiredFieldElement.inject(AutowiredAnnotationBeanPostProcessor.java:478)
    ... 41 more
Caused by: org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Could not autowire method: public void com.jr.freedom.user.UserService.setMailHelper(com.jr.freedom.util.MailHelper); nested exception is org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Error creating bean with name 'mailHelper' defined in class path resource [mail-cfg.xml]: Initialization of bean failed; nested exception is java.lang.ClassFormatError: Absent Code attribute in method that is not native or abstract in class file javax/mail/MessagingException
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.AutowiredAnnotationBeanPostProcessor$AutowiredMethodElement.inject(AutowiredAnnotationBeanPostProcessor.java:593)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.InjectionMetadata.inject(InjectionMetadata.java:87)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.AutowiredAnnotationBeanPostProcessor.postProcessPropertyValues(AutowiredAnnotationBeanPostProcessor.java:284)
    ... 52 more
Caused by: org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Error creating bean with name 'mailHelper' defined in class path resource [mail-cfg.xml]: Initialization of bean failed; nested exception is java.lang.ClassFormatError: Absent Code attribute in method that is not native or abstract in class file javax/mail/MessagingException
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.doCreateBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:527)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.createBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:456)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory$1.getObject(AbstractBeanFactory.java:294)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.getSingleton(DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.java:225)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.doGetBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:291)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.getBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:193)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultListableBeanFactory.findAutowireCandidates(DefaultListableBeanFactory.java:876)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultListableBeanFactory.doResolveDependency(DefaultListableBeanFactory.java:818)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultListableBeanFactory.resolveDependency(DefaultListableBeanFactory.java:735)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.AutowiredAnnotationBeanPostProcessor$AutowiredMethodElement.inject(AutowiredAnnotationBeanPostProcessor.java:551)
    ... 54 more
Caused by: java.lang.ClassFormatError: Absent Code attribute in method that is not native or abstract in class file javax/mail/MessagingException
    at java.lang.ClassLoader.defineClass1(Native Method)
    at java.lang.ClassLoader.defineClass(Unknown Source)
    at java.security.SecureClassLoader.defineClass(Unknown Source)
    at java.net.URLClassLoader.defineClass(Unknown Source)
    at java.net.URLClassLoader.access$100(Unknown Source)
    at java.net.URLClassLoader$1.run(Unknown Source)
    at java.net.URLClassLoader$1.run(Unknown Source)
    at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method)
    at java.net.URLClassLoader.findClass(Unknown Source)
    at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(Unknown Source)
    at sun.misc.Launcher$AppClassLoader.loadClass(Unknown Source)
    at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(Unknown Source)
    at java.lang.Class.getDeclaredConstructors0(Native Method)
    at java.lang.Class.privateGetDeclaredConstructors(Unknown Source)
    at java.lang.Class.getDeclaredConstructors(Unknown Source)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.AutowiredAnnotationBeanPostProcessor.determineCandidateConstructors(AutowiredAnnotationBeanPostProcessor.java:229)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.determineConstructorsFromBeanPostProcessors(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:962)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.createBeanInstance(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:935)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.doCreateBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:485)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.createBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:456)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory$1.getObject(AbstractBeanFactory.java:294)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.getSingleton(DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.java:225)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.doGetBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:291)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.getBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:193)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.BeanDefinitionValueResolver.resolveReference(BeanDefinitionValueResolver.java:322)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.BeanDefinitionValueResolver.resolveValueIfNecessary(BeanDefinitionValueResolver.java:106)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.applyPropertyValues(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:1360)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.populateBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:1118)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.doCreateBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:517)
    ... 63 more

Answer 1

The javax:javaee-api is intended for compiling, not running, including unit tests. If you need classes suitable for running against, run against a Java EE application server.

Also, the correct name is Java EE , not JEE .

Answer 2

I was having a similar issue,... so, when I was running JUnit an error occured:

Absent Code attribute in method that is not native or abstract in class file javax/servlet/http/HttpServlet

I solve it adding the following dependency (first one):

<dependency>
    <groupId>org.glassfish.main.extras</groupId>
    <artifactId>glassfish-embedded-all</artifactId>
    <version>3.1.2.2</version>
    <scope>test</scope>
</dependency>

Answer 3

You normally get this error when you have multiple conflicting JAR's in your class path. One of the more common reasons is if you include an artifact in your classpath that is supposed to be provided by the application container. Looking at your POM, you have several redundant and overlapping dependencies. Remove these:

<dependency>
    <groupId>javax.servlet</groupId>
    <artifactId>servlet-api</artifactId>
    <version>2.5</version>
    <scope>provided</scope>
</dependency>
<dependency>
    <groupId>javax.validation</groupId>
    <artifactId>validation-api</artifactId>
    <version>1.0.0.GA</version>
</dependency>
<dependency>
    <groupId>javax.servlet</groupId>
    <artifactId>jstl</artifactId>
    <version>1.2</version>
</dependency>
<dependency>
    <groupId>javax.mail</groupId>
    <artifactId>mail</artifactId>
    <version>1.4.3</version>
</dependency>
<dependency>
    <groupId>javaee</groupId>
    <artifactId>javaee-api</artifactId>
    <version>5</version>
</dependency>

And change the scope of your Java EE dependency to 'provided':

<dependency>
    <groupId>javax</groupId>
    <artifactId>javaee-api</artifactId>
    <version>6.0</version>
    <scope>provided</scope>
</dependency>

Finally, make sure you are deploying to a Java EE 6 capable web server, and the error should go away.

--- Edit ---

Just noticed that you are compiling to a Java 5 compliance level. Change this:

<configuration>
    <source>1.5</source>
    <target>1.5</target>
</configuration>

And make the source and target values 1.6.

Answer 4

I too faced the same kind of exception when running junits with jmock and maven:

Exception in constructor: testDoExecute (java.lang.ClassFormatError: Absent Code attribute in method that is not native or abstract in class file javax/servlet/http/Cookie at java.lang.ClassLoader.defineClass1(Native Method)

It is due to classes your code try to access which are not available in the javaee api jar used in the project because your code compiles against incomplete classes, like the JavaEE6 Api and your Unit tests try to access code thats not there. JUnit will simply fail and mark the test as error, printing something like the above exception.

It could be solved either by adding javax.servlet jar/dependency or changing javaee jar version shown below:

<dependency>
    <groupId>javax.servlet</groupId>
    <artifactId>servlet-api</artifactId>
    <version>2.5</version>
</dependency>

**OR** 

<dependency>
    <groupId>javax.j2ee</groupId>
    <artifactId>j2ee</artifactId>
    <version>1.4</version>
    <scope>provided</scope>
</dependency>

PS : Please add the jar version compatible with your other existing jars in the project.

Answer 5

I had a very similar problem since I added classes with javax.validation validation in the module from which my Spring Boot module depends on. My Spring Boot module had no javaee dependencies, adding on explicitly excluding it has not helped.

The solution was to include spring-boot-starter-validation dependency to my Spring Boot module:

        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-validation</artifactId>
        </dependency>

I found the trick here — https://nullbeans.com/how-to-use-java-bean-validation-in-spring-boot/ .