Spring Security 3.1.x & JSF 2.0 : “ BeanCreationException: Error creating bean with name 'org.springframework.security.filterChains' ”

Question

I searched many posts for this error but unfortunately I couldn't find any useful answer. I have a simple web app for testing spring security. After running I get the following exception and I don't know the reason:

    SEVERE: Exception sending context initialized event to listener instance of class org.springframework.web.context.ContextLoaderListener
org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Error creating bean with name 'org.springframework.security.filterChains': Initialization of bean failed; nested exception is java.lang.NoSuchFieldError: NULL
    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.preInstantiateSingletons(DefaultListableBeanFactory.java:587)
    at org.springframework.context.support.AbstractApplicationContext.finishBeanFactoryInitialization(AbstractApplicationContext.java:925)
    at org.springframework.context.support.AbstractApplicationContext.refresh(AbstractApplicationContext.java:472)
    at org.springframework.web.context.ContextLoader.configureAndRefreshWebApplicationContext(ContextLoader.java:383)
    at org.springframework.web.context.ContextLoader.initWebApplicationContext(ContextLoader.java:283)
    at org.springframework.web.context.ContextLoaderListener.contextInitialized(ContextLoaderListener.java:111)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContext.listenerStart(StandardContext.java:4791)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContext.startInternal(StandardContext.java:5285)
    at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:150)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.addChildInternal(ContainerBase.java:901)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.addChild(ContainerBase.java:877)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardHost.addChild(StandardHost.java:633)
    at org.apache.catalina.startup.HostConfig.deployDescriptor(HostConfig.java:657)
    at org.apache.catalina.startup.HostConfig.deployApps(HostConfig.java:536)
    at org.apache.catalina.startup.HostConfig.check(HostConfig.java:1462)
    at sun.reflect.GeneratedMethodAccessor29.invoke(Unknown Source)
    at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43)
    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:601)
    at org.apache.tomcat.util.modeler.BaseModelMBean.invoke(BaseModelMBean.java:301)
    at com.sun.jmx.interceptor.DefaultMBeanServerInterceptor.invoke(DefaultMBeanServerInterceptor.java:819)
    at com.sun.jmx.mbeanserver.JmxMBeanServer.invoke(JmxMBeanServer.java:792)
    at org.apache.catalina.manager.ManagerServlet.check(ManagerServlet.java:1445)
    at org.apache.catalina.manager.ManagerServlet.deploy(ManagerServlet.java:860)
    at org.apache.catalina.manager.ManagerServlet.doGet(ManagerServlet.java:357)
    at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:621)
    at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:728)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:305)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:210)
    at org.netbeans.modules.web.monitor.server.MonitorFilter.doFilter(MonitorFilter.java:393)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:243)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:210)
    at org.apache.catalina.filters.SetCharacterEncodingFilter.doFilter(SetCharacterEncodingFilter.java:108)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:243)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:210)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardWrapperValve.invoke(StandardWrapperValve.java:222)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContextValve.invoke(StandardContextValve.java:123)
    at org.apache.catalina.authenticator.AuthenticatorBase.invoke(AuthenticatorBase.java:581)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardHostValve.invoke(StandardHostValve.java:171)
    at org.apache.catalina.valves.ErrorReportValve.invoke(ErrorReportValve.java:99)
    at org.apache.catalina.valves.AccessLogValve.invoke(AccessLogValve.java:936)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardEngineValve.invoke(StandardEngineValve.java:118)
    at org.apache.catalina.connector.CoyoteAdapter.service(CoyoteAdapter.java:407)
    at org.apache.coyote.http11.AbstractHttp11Processor.process(AbstractHttp11Processor.java:1004)
    at org.apache.coyote.AbstractProtocol$AbstractConnectionHandler.process(AbstractProtocol.java:589)
    at org.apache.tomcat.util.net.JIoEndpoint$SocketProcessor.run(JIoEndpoint.java:312)
    at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1145)
    at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:615)
    at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:722)
Caused by: java.lang.NoSuchFieldError: NULL
    at org.springframework.expression.TypedValue.<clinit>(TypedValue.java:32)
    at org.springframework.expression.spel.support.StandardEvaluationContext.setRootObject(StandardEvaluationContext.java:88)
    at org.springframework.expression.spel.support.StandardEvaluationContext.<init>(StandardEvaluationContext.java:74)
    at org.springframework.context.expression.StandardBeanExpressionResolver.evaluate(StandardBeanExpressionResolver.java:124)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.evaluateBeanDefinitionString(AbstractBeanFactory.java:1299)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.BeanDefinitionValueResolver.evaluate(BeanDefinitionValueResolver.java:225)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.BeanDefinitionValueResolver.resolveReference(BeanDefinitionValueResolver.java:312)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.BeanDefinitionValueResolver.resolveValueIfNecessary(BeanDefinitionValueResolver.java:107)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.BeanDefinitionValueResolver.resolveManagedList(BeanDefinitionValueResolver.java:354)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.BeanDefinitionValueResolver.resolveValueIfNecessary(BeanDefinitionValueResolver.java:154)
    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)
    ... 53 more

Jun 14, 2013 6:57:40 AM org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationContext log
INFO: Closing Spring root WebApplicationContext

Here's the xml files:

pom.xml

    <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/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>

    <groupId>com.test</groupId>
    <artifactId>test</artifactId>
    <version>1.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
    <packaging>war</packaging>

    <name>test</name>

    <properties>
        <endorsed.dir>${project.build.directory}/endorsed</endorsed.dir>
        <project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
    </properties>

    <dependencies>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>javax</groupId>
            <artifactId>javaee-web-api</artifactId>
            <version>6.0</version>
            <scope>provided</scope>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>com.sun.faces</groupId>
            <artifactId>jsf-api</artifactId>
            <version>2.1.7</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>com.sun.faces</groupId>
            <artifactId>jsf-impl</artifactId>
            <version>2.1.7</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>javax.servlet</groupId>
            <artifactId>jstl</artifactId>
            <version>1.2</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>javax.servlet</groupId>
            <artifactId>servlet-api</artifactId>
            <version>2.5</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>javax.servlet.jsp</groupId>
            <artifactId>jsp-api</artifactId>
            <version>2.1</version>
        </dependency>
        <!-- Tomcat 6 need this -->
        <dependency>
            <groupId>com.sun.el</groupId>
            <artifactId>el-ri</artifactId>
            <version>1.0</version>
        </dependency>

        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-web</artifactId>
            <version>3.1.3.RELEASE</version>
        </dependency>
        <!-- Spring Security -->
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework.security</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-security-core</artifactId>
            <version>3.1.3.RELEASE</version>
        </dependency> 
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework.security</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-security-web</artifactId>
            <version>3.1.3.RELEASE</version>
        </dependency> 
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework.security</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-security-config</artifactId>
            <version>3.1.3.RELEASE</version>
        </dependency>

        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-core</artifactId>
            <version>3.1.3.RELEASE</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-context</artifactId>
            <version>3.1.3.RELEASE</version>
        </dependency>

        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-jdbc</artifactId>
            <version>3.1.3.RELEASE</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-tx</artifactId>
            <version>3.1.3.RELEASE</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-expression</artifactId>
            <version>3.1.3.RELEASE</version>
        </dependency>
    </dependencies>

    <build>
        <plugins>
            <plugin>
                <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
                <version>2.3.2</version>
                <configuration>
                    <source>1.6</source>
                    <target>1.6</target>
                    <compilerArguments>
                        <endorseddirs>${endorsed.dir}</endorseddirs>
                    </compilerArguments>
                </configuration>
            </plugin>
            <plugin>
                <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                <artifactId>maven-war-plugin</artifactId>
                <version>2.1.1</version>
                <configuration>
                    <failOnMissingWebXml>false</failOnMissingWebXml>
                </configuration>
            </plugin>
            <plugin>
                <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                <artifactId>maven-dependency-plugin</artifactId>
                <version>2.1</version>
                <executions>
                    <execution>
                        <phase>validate</phase>
                        <goals>
                            <goal>copy</goal>
                        </goals>
                        <configuration>
                            <outputDirectory>${endorsed.dir}</outputDirectory>
                            <silent>true</silent>
                            <artifactItems>
                                <artifactItem>
                                    <groupId>javax</groupId>
                                    <artifactId>javaee-endorsed-api</artifactId>
                                    <version>6.0</version>
                                    <type>jar</type>
                                </artifactItem>
                            </artifactItems>
                        </configuration>
                    </execution>
                </executions>
            </plugin>
        </plugins>
    </build>

</project>

web.xml

    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<web-app
    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
    xmlns="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee"
    xmlns:web="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee/web-app_3_0.xsd"
    xsi:schemaLocation=
        "http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee

http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee/web-app_3_0.xsd"

    version="3.0">
    <!-- CONFIGURATION FILES both Bean definition and security -->
    <context-param>
        <param-name>contextConfigLocation</param-name>
        <param-value>
            /WEB-INF/applicationContext.xml
            /WEB-INF/springSecurityConfig.xml
        </param-value>
    </context-param>
    <!-- CONFIGURATION FILES END HERE -->
    <!-- PROJECT STAGE START FOR DEVELOPEMENT MARK IT AS DEVELOPMENT, FOR TESTING, UAT, PRODUCTION REMOVE THIS -->
    <context-param>
        <param-name>javax.faces.PROJECT_STAGE</param-name>
        <param-value>Development</param-value>
    </context-param>
    <!-- PROJECT STAGE END -->
    <!-- Enable JSF Servlet -->
    <servlet>
        <servlet-name>Faces Servlet</servlet-name>
        <servlet-class>javax.faces.webapp.FacesServlet</servlet-class>
        <load-on-startup>1</load-on-startup>
    </servlet>

    <servlet-mapping>
        <servlet-name>Faces Servlet</servlet-name>
        <url-pattern>*.jsf</url-pattern>
    </servlet-mapping>
    <!-- Enable JSF Server End-->
    <!-- Integrate JSF and Spring -->
    <listener>
        <listener-class>org.springframework.web.context.ContextLoaderListener</listener-class>
    </listener>
    <!-- Integrate JSF and Spring End-->
    <!-- Enable Spring Filter, Spring Security works on the concept of Filters -->
    <filter>
        <filter-name>springSecurityFilterChain</filter-name>
        <filter-class>org.springframework.web.filter.DelegatingFilterProxy</filter-class>
    </filter>
    <filter-mapping>
        <filter-name>springSecurityFilterChain</filter-name>
        <url-pattern>/*</url-pattern>
    </filter-mapping>
    <!-- Enable Spring Filter End -->
    <!-- Welcome File  -->
    <listener>
        <listener-class>org.springframework.web.context.ContextLoaderListener</listener-class>
    </listener>
    <welcome-file-list>
        <welcome-file>/pages/index/index.jsp</welcome-file>
    </welcome-file-list>
    <!-- Welcome File End-->
</web-app>

applicationContext.xml

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

http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans


http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.1.xsd


http://www.springframework.org/schema/security


http://www.springframework.org/schema/security/spring-security-3.1.xsd">

    <beans:bean id="navigator" name="navigator" class="com.test.managedbeans.Navigator" scope="session">
    </beans:bean>
</beans:beans>

springSecurityConfig.xml

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

http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans


http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.1.xsd


http://www.springframework.org/schema/security


http://www.springframework.org/schema/security/spring-security-3.1.xsd">

    <sec:http auto-config="true" use-expressions="true">
        <sec:intercept-url pattern="/pages/secure/**" access="hasRole('ROLE_USER')" />
        <sec:intercept-url pattern="/pages/unsecure/**" access="permitAll"/>
        <sec:intercept-url pattern="/**" access="permitAll"/>
    </sec:http>

    <sec:authentication-manager alias="authenticationManager">
        <sec:authentication-provider>
            <sec:user-service>
                <sec:user authorities="ROLE_USER" name="admin" password="admin" />
            </sec:user-service>
        </sec:authentication-provider>
    </sec:authentication-manager>
</beans:beans>

faces-config.xml

    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<faces-config
    xmlns="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee"
    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
    xsi:schemaLocation="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee/web-facesconfig_2_0.xsd"
    version="2.0">
    <!-- Enable Spring -->
    <application>
        <el-resolver>org.springframework.web.jsf.el.SpringBeanFacesELResolver</el-resolver>
    </application>
    <!-- Simple Navigation Rule -->
    <!-- If  user keys in ToSecure, move to /pages/secure/secured.xhtml-->
    <!-- Else If user keys in ToUnSecure, move to /pages/unsecure/unsecured.xhtml-->
    <navigation-rule>
        <display-name>pages/home/home.xhtml</display-name>
        <from-view-id>/pages/home/home.xhtml</from-view-id>
        <navigation-case>
            <from-action>#{navigator.navigateTo}</from-action>
            <from-outcome>Secured</from-outcome>
            <to-view-id>/pages/secure/secured.xhtml</to-view-id>
            <redirect></redirect>
        </navigation-case>
    </navigation-rule>
    <navigation-rule>
        <display-name>pages/home/home.xhtml</display-name>
        <from-view-id>/pages/home/home.xhtml</from-view-id>
        <navigation-case>
            <from-action>#{navigator.navigateTo}</from-action>
            <from-outcome>UnSecured</from-outcome>
            <to-view-id>/pages/unsecure/unsecured.xhtml</to-view-id>
            <redirect></redirect>
        </navigation-case>
    </navigation-rule>
</faces-config>

I appreciate your comments.

Answer 1

I would start by checking your classpath (look in the lib directory of your WAR file) and make sure you don't have different Spring jars in there. It's not uncommon for maven to pull in transitive dependencies from some dependency and cause you to end up with Spring 3.0.x and Spring 3.1.x jars at once. You can avoid this by adding exclusions to your pom, or more simply by explicit versions each Spring jar you need.

Then make sure you are using up-to-date versions of both Spring Security and Spring. Note that Spring and Spring Security are separate projects with independent version numbers. There's no reason why you can't be using Spring 3.2.3 with Spring Security 3.1.4, for example, but you should have the latest minor version of whichever release you choose.