EntityActionVetoException: The EntityInsertAction was vetoed

I'm getting this exception when I'm trying to save (insert) a valid domain object using Grails/GORM.

The EntityInsertAction was vetoed.; nested exception is org.hibernate.action.internal.EntityActionVetoException: The EntityInsertAction was vetoed.

I have been able to find very little information about this error anywhere on the internet. I've looked at

• anyone dealing with this error before? (org.hibernate.action.internal.EntityActionVetoException: The EntityInsertAction was vetoed)
• My entities are not persisting, but I can read from the database fine
• the jBoss docs

This is the code that produces the error

    @Publisher(Event.PHOTO_CREATED)
    Photo create(Photo photo, boolean triggerHelperBot = true) {
        makePublicKey(photo)
        discardUnapprovedPhotos(photo.person)

        if (photo.originalPhoto == null)  // this is the original photo
            additionalPhotoService.invalidateFacialRecognitionScore(photo.person)

        photo.status = Photo.PENDING

        photo.externalURL = s3Service.storePhoto(photo)
        photo.save(flush: true) /* EXCEPTION IS THROWM HERE */

        if (triggerHelperBot) {
            helperBotService.beginProcessing(photo)
        }

        return photo
    }

The Photo object is valid and I can save a virtually identical object for the same user without any errors. It's also consistent and reproducible. The same JPG will produce this error every time; however, 95% of JPGs never produce this error. The only difference is the bytes of the JPGs, but the photo binaries are stored in S3. The Photo object only contains a URL to the S3 photo binary, and the URLs are valid for both the Photo objects that always produce the error and the Photo objects that never produce the error.

Full Stacktrace

org.springframework.orm.hibernate5.HibernateSystemException: The EntityInsertAction was vetoed.; nested exception is org.hibernate.action.internal.EntityActionVetoException: The EntityInsertAction was vetoed.
    at org.springframework.orm.hibernate5.SessionFactoryUtils.convertHibernateAccessException(SessionFactoryUtils.java:300)
    at org.grails.orm.hibernate.GrailsHibernateTemplate.doExecute(GrailsHibernateTemplate.java:305)
    at org.grails.orm.hibernate.GrailsHibernateTemplate.execute(GrailsHibernateTemplate.java:241)
    at org.grails.orm.hibernate.GrailsHibernateTemplate.execute(GrailsHibernateTemplate.java:120)
    at org.grails.orm.hibernate.AbstractHibernateGormInstanceApi.performSave(AbstractHibernateGormInstanceApi.groovy:247)
    at org.grails.orm.hibernate.AbstractHibernateGormInstanceApi.save(AbstractHibernateGormInstanceApi.groovy:164)
    at org.grails.datastore.gorm.GormEntity$Trait$Helper.save(GormEntity.groovy:153)
    at org.grails.datastore.gorm.GormEntity$Trait$Helper$save$2.call(Unknown Source)
    at us.cloudcard.api.Photo.save(Photo.groovy)
    at us.cloudcard.api.Photo.save(Photo.groovy)
    at org.grails.datastore.gorm.GormEntity$save.call(Unknown Source)
    at us.cloudcard.api.PhotoService.$pub__create(PhotoService.groovy:62)
    at us.cloudcard.api.PhotoService.$tt__create(PhotoService.groovy)
    at java.base/jdk.internal.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
    at java.base/jdk.internal.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:62)
    at java.base/jdk.internal.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43)
    at java.base/java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:566)
    at org.codehaus.groovy.reflection.CachedMethod.invoke(CachedMethod.java:101)
    at groovy.lang.MetaMethod.doMethodInvoke(MetaMethod.java:323)
    at groovy.lang.MetaClassImpl.invokeMethod(MetaClassImpl.java:1217)
    at groovy.lang.MetaClassImpl.invokeMethod(MetaClassImpl.java:1041)
    at org.codehaus.groovy.runtime.InvokerHelper.invokePogoMethod(InvokerHelper.java:1011)
    at org.codehaus.groovy.runtime.InvokerHelper.invokeMethod(InvokerHelper.java:994)
    at org.codehaus.groovy.runtime.InvokerHelper.invokeMethodSafe(InvokerHelper.java:97)
    at us.cloudcard.api.PhotoService$_create_closure2.doCall(PhotoService.groovy)
    at java.base/jdk.internal.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
    at java.base/jdk.internal.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:62)
    at java.base/jdk.internal.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43)
    at java.base/java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:566)
    at org.codehaus.groovy.reflection.CachedMethod.invoke(CachedMethod.java:101)
    at groovy.lang.MetaMethod.doMethodInvoke(MetaMethod.java:323)
    at org.codehaus.groovy.runtime.metaclass.ClosureMetaClass.invokeMethod(ClosureMetaClass.java:263)
    at groovy.lang.MetaClassImpl.invokeMethod(MetaClassImpl.java:1041)
    at groovy.lang.Closure.call(Closure.java:405)
    at groovy.lang.Closure.call(Closure.java:421)
    at grails.gorm.transactions.GrailsTransactionTemplate$2.doInTransaction(GrailsTransactionTemplate.groovy:94)
    at org.springframework.transaction.support.TransactionTemplate.execute(TransactionTemplate.java:140)
    at grails.gorm.transactions.GrailsTransactionTemplate.execute(GrailsTransactionTemplate.groovy:91)
    at us.cloudcard.api.PhotoService.create(PhotoService.groovy)
    at us.cloudcard.api.PhotoService$create$6.callCurrent(Unknown Source)
    at us.cloudcard.api.PhotoService.$tt__createFrom(PhotoService.groovy:44)
    at java.base/jdk.internal.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
    at java.base/jdk.internal.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:62)
    at java.base/jdk.internal.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43)
    at java.base/java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:566)
    at org.codehaus.groovy.reflection.CachedMethod.invoke(CachedMethod.java:101)
    at groovy.lang.MetaMethod.doMethodInvoke(MetaMethod.java:323)
    at groovy.lang.MetaClassImpl.invokeMethod(MetaClassImpl.java:1217)
    at groovy.lang.MetaClassImpl.invokeMethod(MetaClassImpl.java:1041)
    at org.codehaus.groovy.runtime.InvokerHelper.invokePogoMethod(InvokerHelper.java:1011)
    at org.codehaus.groovy.runtime.InvokerHelper.invokeMethod(InvokerHelper.java:994)
    at org.codehaus.groovy.runtime.InvokerHelper.invokeMethodSafe(InvokerHelper.java:97)
    at us.cloudcard.api.PhotoService$_createFrom_closure1.doCall(PhotoService.groovy)
    at java.base/jdk.internal.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
    at java.base/jdk.internal.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:62)
    at java.base/jdk.internal.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43)
    at java.base/java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:566)
    at org.codehaus.groovy.reflection.CachedMethod.invoke(CachedMethod.java:101)
    at groovy.lang.MetaMethod.doMethodInvoke(MetaMethod.java:323)
    at org.codehaus.groovy.runtime.metaclass.ClosureMetaClass.invokeMethod(ClosureMetaClass.java:263)
    at groovy.lang.MetaClassImpl.invokeMethod(MetaClassImpl.java:1041)
    at groovy.lang.Closure.call(Closure.java:405)
    at groovy.lang.Closure.call(Closure.java:421)
    at grails.gorm.transactions.GrailsTransactionTemplate$2.doInTransaction(GrailsTransactionTemplate.groovy:94)
    at org.springframework.transaction.support.TransactionTemplate.execute(TransactionTemplate.java:140)
    at grails.gorm.transactions.GrailsTransactionTemplate.execute(GrailsTransactionTemplate.groovy:91)
    at us.cloudcard.api.PhotoService.createFrom(PhotoService.groovy)
    at us.cloudcard.api.PhotoService$createFrom$5.call(Unknown Source)
    at org.codehaus.groovy.runtime.callsite.CallSiteArray.defaultCall(CallSiteArray.java:47)
    at org.codehaus.groovy.runtime.callsite.AbstractCallSite.call(AbstractCallSite.java:115)
    at org.codehaus.groovy.runtime.callsite.AbstractCallSite.call(AbstractCallSite.java:143)
    at us.cloudcard.api.CroppingService.autoCrop(CroppingService.groovy:36)
    at us.cloudcard.api.CroppingService$autoCrop.call(Unknown Source)
    at org.codehaus.groovy.runtime.callsite.CallSiteArray.defaultCall(CallSiteArray.java:47)
    at org.codehaus.groovy.runtime.callsite.AbstractCallSite.call(AbstractCallSite.java:115)
    at org.codehaus.groovy.runtime.callsite.AbstractCallSite.call(AbstractCallSite.java:127)
    at us.cloudcard.api.HelperBotService$_closure3.doCall(HelperBotService.groovy:126)
    at java.base/jdk.internal.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
    at java.base/jdk.internal.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:62)
    at java.base/jdk.internal.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43)
    at java.base/java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:566)
    at org.codehaus.groovy.reflection.CachedMethod.invoke(CachedMethod.java:101)
    at groovy.lang.MetaMethod.doMethodInvoke(MetaMethod.java:323)
    at org.codehaus.groovy.runtime.metaclass.ClosureMetaClass.invokeMethod(ClosureMetaClass.java:263)
    at groovy.lang.MetaClassImpl.invokePropertyOrMissing(MetaClassImpl.java:1276)
    at groovy.lang.MetaClassImpl.invokeMethod(MetaClassImpl.java:1219)
    at org.codehaus.groovy.runtime.ScriptBytecodeAdapter.invokeMethodOnCurrentN(ScriptBytecodeAdapter.java:94)
    at us.cloudcard.api.HelperBotService.$tt__doTask(HelperBotService.groovy:68)
    at java.base/jdk.internal.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
    at java.base/jdk.internal.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:62)
    at java.base/jdk.internal.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43)
    at java.base/java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:566)
    at org.codehaus.groovy.reflection.CachedMethod.invoke(CachedMethod.java:101)
    at groovy.lang.MetaMethod.doMethodInvoke(MetaMethod.java:323)
    at groovy.lang.MetaClassImpl.invokeMethod(MetaClassImpl.java:1217)
    at groovy.lang.MetaClassImpl.invokeMethod(MetaClassImpl.java:1041)
    at org.codehaus.groovy.runtime.InvokerHelper.invokePogoMethod(InvokerHelper.java:1011)
    at org.codehaus.groovy.runtime.InvokerHelper.invokeMethod(InvokerHelper.java:994)
    at org.codehaus.groovy.runtime.InvokerHelper.invokeMethodSafe(InvokerHelper.java:97)
    at us.cloudcard.api.HelperBotService$_doTask_closure6.doCall(HelperBotService.groovy)
    at java.base/jdk.internal.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
    at java.base/jdk.internal.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:62)
    at java.base/jdk.internal.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43)
    at java.base/java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:566)
    at org.codehaus.groovy.reflection.CachedMethod.invoke(CachedMethod.java:101)
    at groovy.lang.MetaMethod.doMethodInvoke(MetaMethod.java:323)
    at org.codehaus.groovy.runtime.metaclass.ClosureMetaClass.invokeMethod(ClosureMetaClass.java:263)
    at groovy.lang.MetaClassImpl.invokeMethod(MetaClassImpl.java:1041)
    at groovy.lang.Closure.call(Closure.java:405)
    at groovy.lang.Closure.call(Closure.java:421)
    at grails.gorm.transactions.GrailsTransactionTemplate$2.doInTransaction(GrailsTransactionTemplate.groovy:94)
    at org.springframework.transaction.support.TransactionTemplate.execute(TransactionTemplate.java:140)
    at grails.gorm.transactions.GrailsTransactionTemplate.execute(GrailsTransactionTemplate.groovy:91)
    at us.cloudcard.api.HelperBotService.doTask(HelperBotService.groovy)
    at us.cloudcard.api.HelperBotService$doTask$0.call(Unknown Source)
    at us.cloudcard.api.HelperBotTaskController.save(HelperBotTaskController.groovy:25)
    at java.base/jdk.internal.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
    at java.base/jdk.internal.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:62)
    at java.base/jdk.internal.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43)
    at java.base/java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:566)
    at org.grails.core.DefaultGrailsControllerClass$ReflectionInvoker.invoke(DefaultGrailsControllerClass.java:211)
    at org.grails.core.DefaultGrailsControllerClass.invoke(DefaultGrailsControllerClass.java:188)
    at org.grails.web.mapping.mvc.UrlMappingsInfoHandlerAdapter.handle(UrlMappingsInfoHandlerAdapter.groovy:90)
    at org.springframework.web.servlet.DispatcherServlet.doDispatch(DispatcherServlet.java:1040)
    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.doPost(FrameworkServlet.java:909)
    at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:652)
    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:231)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:166)
    at org.apache.tomcat.websocket.server.WsFilter.doFilter(WsFilter.java:53)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:193)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:166)
    at org.springframework.boot.actuate.web.trace.servlet.HttpTraceFilter.doFilterInternal(HttpTraceFilter.java:88)
    at org.springframework.web.filter.OncePerRequestFilter.doFilter(OncePerRequestFilter.java:119)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:193)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:166)
    at org.springframework.security.web.FilterChainProxy$VirtualFilterChain.doFilter(FilterChainProxy.java:320)
    at org.springframework.security.web.access.intercept.FilterSecurityInterceptor.invoke(FilterSecurityInterceptor.java:127)
    at org.springframework.security.web.access.intercept.FilterSecurityInterceptor.doFilter(FilterSecurityInterceptor.java:91)
    at org.springframework.security.web.FilterChainProxy$VirtualFilterChain.doFilter(FilterChainProxy.java:334)
    at org.springframework.security.web.access.ExceptionTranslationFilter.doFilter(ExceptionTranslationFilter.java:119)
    at org.springframework.security.web.FilterChainProxy$VirtualFilterChain.doFilter(FilterChainProxy.java:334)
    at grails.plugin.springsecurity.web.filter.GrailsHttpPutFormContentFilter.doFilterInternal(GrailsHttpPutFormContentFilter.groovy:54)
    at org.springframework.web.filter.OncePerRequestFilter.doFilter(OncePerRequestFilter.java:119)
    at org.springframework.security.web.FilterChainProxy$VirtualFilterChain.doFilter(FilterChainProxy.java:334)
    at javax.servlet.FilterChain$doFilter.call(Unknown Source)
    at grails.plugin.springsecurity.rest.RestTokenValidationFilter.processFilterChain(RestTokenValidationFilter.groovy:121)
    at grails.plugin.springsecurity.rest.RestTokenValidationFilter.doFilter(RestTokenValidationFilter.groovy:87)
    at org.springframework.security.web.FilterChainProxy$VirtualFilterChain.doFilter(FilterChainProxy.java:334)
    at grails.plugin.springsecurity.web.filter.GrailsAnonymousAuthenticationFilter.doFilter(GrailsAnonymousAuthenticationFilter.groovy:54)
    at org.springframework.security.web.FilterChainProxy$VirtualFilterChain.doFilter(FilterChainProxy.java:334)
    at org.springframework.security.web.servletapi.SecurityContextHolderAwareRequestFilter.doFilter(SecurityContextHolderAwareRequestFilter.java:170)
    at org.springframework.security.web.FilterChainProxy$VirtualFilterChain.doFilter(FilterChainProxy.java:334)
    at grails.plugin.springsecurity.rest.RestAuthenticationFilter.doFilter(RestAuthenticationFilter.groovy:139)
    at org.springframework.security.web.FilterChainProxy$VirtualFilterChain.doFilter(FilterChainProxy.java:334)
    at grails.plugin.springsecurity.web.authentication.logout.MutableLogoutFilter.doFilter(MutableLogoutFilter.groovy:64)
    at org.springframework.security.web.FilterChainProxy$VirtualFilterChain.doFilter(FilterChainProxy.java:334)
    at grails.plugin.springsecurity.rest.RestLogoutFilter.doFilter(RestLogoutFilter.groovy:82)
    at org.springframework.security.web.FilterChainProxy$VirtualFilterChain.doFilter(FilterChainProxy.java:334)
    at grails.plugin.springsecurity.web.SecurityRequestHolderFilter.doFilter(SecurityRequestHolderFilter.groovy:58)
    at org.springframework.security.web.FilterChainProxy$VirtualFilterChain.doFilter(FilterChainProxy.java:334)
    at org.springframework.security.web.FilterChainProxy.doFilterInternal(FilterChainProxy.java:215)
    at org.springframework.security.web.FilterChainProxy.doFilter(FilterChainProxy.java:178)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:193)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:166)
    at org.grails.web.servlet.mvc.GrailsWebRequestFilter.doFilterInternal(GrailsWebRequestFilter.java:77)
    at org.springframework.web.filter.OncePerRequestFilter.doFilter(OncePerRequestFilter.java:119)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:193)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:166)
    at org.grails.web.filters.HiddenHttpMethodFilter.doFilterInternal(HiddenHttpMethodFilter.java:67)
    at org.springframework.web.filter.OncePerRequestFilter.doFilter(OncePerRequestFilter.java:119)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:193)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:166)
    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:193)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:166)
    at org.springframework.boot.actuate.metrics.web.servlet.WebMvcMetricsFilter.filterAndRecordMetrics(WebMvcMetricsFilter.java:114)
    at org.springframework.boot.actuate.metrics.web.servlet.WebMvcMetricsFilter.doFilterInternal(WebMvcMetricsFilter.java:104)
    at org.springframework.web.filter.OncePerRequestFilter.doFilter(OncePerRequestFilter.java:119)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:193)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:166)
    at org.springframework.web.filter.CorsFilter.doFilterInternal(CorsFilter.java:97)
    at org.springframework.web.filter.OncePerRequestFilter.doFilter(OncePerRequestFilter.java:119)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:193)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:166)
    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.connector.CoyoteAdapter.service(CoyoteAdapter.java:343)
    at org.apache.coyote.http11.Http11Processor.service(Http11Processor.java:374)
    at org.apache.coyote.AbstractProcessorLight.process(AbstractProcessorLight.java:65)
    at org.apache.coyote.AbstractProtocol$ConnectionHandler.process(AbstractProtocol.java:868)
    at org.apache.tomcat.util.net.NioEndpoint$SocketProcessor.doRun(NioEndpoint.java:1590)
    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:829)
Caused by: org.hibernate.action.internal.EntityActionVetoException: The EntityInsertAction was vetoed.
    at org.hibernate.engine.spi.ActionQueue.addResolvedEntityInsertAction(ActionQueue.java:298)
    at org.hibernate.engine.spi.ActionQueue.addInsertAction(ActionQueue.java:263)
    at org.hibernate.engine.spi.ActionQueue.addAction(ActionQueue.java:317)
    at org.hibernate.event.internal.AbstractSaveEventListener.addInsertAction(AbstractSaveEventListener.java:330)
    at org.hibernate.event.internal.AbstractSaveEventListener.performSaveOrReplicate(AbstractSaveEventListener.java:287)
    at org.hibernate.event.internal.AbstractSaveEventListener.performSave(AbstractSaveEventListener.java:193)
    at org.hibernate.event.internal.AbstractSaveEventListener.saveWithGeneratedId(AbstractSaveEventListener.java:123)
    at org.hibernate.event.internal.DefaultSaveOrUpdateEventListener.saveWithGeneratedOrRequestedId(DefaultSaveOrUpdateEventListener.java:194)
    at org.hibernate.event.internal.DefaultSaveOrUpdateEventListener.entityIsTransient(DefaultSaveOrUpdateEventListener.java:179)
    at org.hibernate.event.internal.DefaultSaveOrUpdateEventListener.performSaveOrUpdate(DefaultSaveOrUpdateEventListener.java:100)
    at org.hibernate.event.internal.DefaultSaveOrUpdateEventListener.onSaveOrUpdate(DefaultSaveOrUpdateEventListener.java:75)
    at org.grails.orm.hibernate.support.ClosureEventTriggeringInterceptor.onSaveOrUpdate(ClosureEventTriggeringInterceptor.java:130)
    at org.hibernate.event.service.internal.EventListenerGroupImpl.fireEventOnEachListener(EventListenerGroupImpl.java:102)
    at org.hibernate.internal.SessionImpl.fireSaveOrUpdate(SessionImpl.java:614)
    at org.hibernate.internal.SessionImpl.saveOrUpdate(SessionImpl.java:607)
    at org.hibernate.engine.spi.CascadingActions$5.cascade(CascadingActions.java:219)
    at org.hibernate.engine.internal.Cascade.cascadeToOne(Cascade.java:492)
    at org.hibernate.engine.internal.Cascade.cascadeAssociation(Cascade.java:416)
    at org.hibernate.engine.internal.Cascade.cascadeProperty(Cascade.java:218)
    at org.hibernate.engine.internal.Cascade.cascade(Cascade.java:151)
    at org.hibernate.event.internal.AbstractFlushingEventListener.cascadeOnFlush(AbstractFlushingEventListener.java:158)
    at org.hibernate.event.internal.AbstractFlushingEventListener.prepareEntityFlushes(AbstractFlushingEventListener.java:148)
    at org.hibernate.event.internal.AbstractFlushingEventListener.flushEverythingToExecutions(AbstractFlushingEventListener.java:81)
    at org.hibernate.event.internal.DefaultFlushEventListener.onFlush(DefaultFlushEventListener.java:39)
    at org.hibernate.event.service.internal.EventListenerGroupImpl.fireEventOnEachListener(EventListenerGroupImpl.java:102)
    at org.hibernate.internal.SessionImpl.doFlush(SessionImpl.java:1360)
    at org.hibernate.internal.SessionImpl.flush(SessionImpl.java:1347)
    at org.grails.orm.hibernate.AbstractHibernateGormInstanceApi.flushSession(AbstractHibernateGormInstanceApi.groovy:285)
    at jdk.internal.reflect.GeneratedMethodAccessor342.invoke(Unknown Source)
    at java.base/jdk.internal.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43)
    at java.base/java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:566)
    at org.codehaus.groovy.reflection.CachedMethod.invoke(CachedMethod.java:101)
    at groovy.lang.MetaMethod.doMethodInvoke(MetaMethod.java:323)
    at groovy.lang.MetaClassImpl.invokeMethod(MetaClassImpl.java:1217)
    at groovy.lang.MetaClassImpl.invokeMethod(MetaClassImpl.java:1041)
    at org.codehaus.groovy.runtime.InvokerHelper.invokePogoMethod(InvokerHelper.java:1011)
    at org.codehaus.groovy.runtime.InvokerHelper.invokeMethod(InvokerHelper.java:994)
    at org.codehaus.groovy.runtime.InvokerHelper.invokeMethodSafe(InvokerHelper.java:97)
    at org.grails.orm.hibernate.AbstractHibernateGormInstanceApi$_performSave_closure3.doCall(AbstractHibernateGormInstanceApi.groovy:250)
    at jdk.internal.reflect.GeneratedMethodAccessor283.invoke(Unknown Source)
    at java.base/jdk.internal.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43)
    at java.base/java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:566)
    at org.codehaus.groovy.reflection.CachedMethod.invoke(CachedMethod.java:101)
    at groovy.lang.MetaMethod.doMethodInvoke(MetaMethod.java:323)
    at org.codehaus.groovy.runtime.metaclass.ClosureMetaClass.invokeMethod(ClosureMetaClass.java:263)
    at groovy.lang.MetaClassImpl.invokeMethod(MetaClassImpl.java:1041)
    at groovy.lang.Closure.call(Closure.java:405)
    at org.codehaus.groovy.runtime.ConvertedClosure.invokeCustom(ConvertedClosure.java:50)
    at org.codehaus.groovy.runtime.ConversionHandler.invoke(ConversionHandler.java:122)
    at com.sun.proxy.$Proxy170.doInHibernate(Unknown Source)
    at org.grails.orm.hibernate.GrailsHibernateTemplate.doExecute(GrailsHibernateTemplate.java:297)

I still haven't found a plain English explanation of this exception, but I have figured out what's going on; and in my case, this exception meant that another entity that was being persisted as part of the same transaction was failing validation and vetoing the transaction. Hibernate receives low marks for exception clarity on this one.

Summary:

If your getting this error, there may be an invalid entity that needs to be persisted in order to flush the transaction and it may not be the entity on which you are calling save. To figure out which entity is invalid try the steps below.

Detail Debugging Steps:

1. Find the line throwing the exception. It will be the top line of the innermost exception. If you're using InteliJ, you may need to expand the stack trace. For me, the exception was being raised deep in Hibernate on line 298 of ActionQueue. See org.hibernate.engine.spi.ActionQueue.addResolvedEntityInsertAction(ActionQueue.java:298) in the stack trace.
2. Set a breakpoint.
3. Inspect the variables to find the name of the entity which is vetoing the transaction. In my case, I needed to inspect insert.entityName.
4. From there, you'll have trace it back to figure out how that entity is being set incorrectly, and that will be unique to your code, but knowing what entity it is should point you in the right direction. For me, once I knew that the problem was being caused by a BoundingBox rather than by the Photo I was trying to save, it was pretty easy to identify that the service that created the BoundingBox was trying to set it with an invalid field value. The specifics of how the BoundingBox was getting set to an invalid value are not pertinent or helpful here because they're unique to my situation.