spring-bootjjwt

Unable to compute HS256 signature with JCA algorithm 'HmacSHA256'


I've been trying to generate JWTs in a simple Spring Boot app that just allows users to log in and out. So far I've been successful in using JJWT to generate JWTs up until I tried signing the JWTs with a secret key.

Coming from pyJWT and Javascript's jsonwebtoken, I have been used to throwing strings as secret keys to sign my JWTs however coming to JJWT, I noticed that I actually require base64 encoded strings to do so instead of raw strings. As such, I used the following code provided by the JJWT repo to generate an appropriate secret key to be used:

SecretKey key = Jwts.SIG.HS256.key().build(); //or HS384.key() or HS512.key()
String secretString = Encoders.BASE64.encode(key.getEncoded());

I saved this key into my application properties for signing and checking against all JWTs generated and used by my app.

However, when I proceeded to use this string as shown below,

    private SecretKey getSignKey() {
HS256 keys
        byte[] keyBytes = Decoders.BASE64.decode(SECRET_KEY);
        return Keys.hmacShaKeyFor(keyBytes);
    }

    public String generateAccessToken(UUID jti, User user) {
        return Jwts.builder()
                .id(jti.toString())
                .issuedAt(new Date())
                .expiration(new Date(System.currentTimeMillis() + EXPIRE_DURATION))
                .subject(user.getUsername())
                .claim("name", user.getName())
                .signWith(Keys.hmacShaKeyFor(getSignKey()))
                .compact();
    }

I get the following error:

2023-10-04T15:05:34.645+08:00 ERROR 24896 --- [nio-8080-exec-3] o.a.c.c.C.[.[.[/].[dispatcherServlet]    : Servlet.service() for servlet [dispatcherServlet] in context with path [] threw exception [Request processing failed: io.jsonwebtoken.security.SignatureException: Unable to compute HS256 signature with JCA algorithm 'HmacSHA256' using key {class: javax.crypto.spec.SecretKeySpec, algorithm: HmacSHA256, format: RAW}: Reflection operation failed. This is likely due to an internal implementation programming error.  Please report this to the JJWT development team.  Cause: class io.jsonwebtoken.impl.lang.OptionalMethodInvoker cannot access class sun.security.util.KeyUtil (in module java.base) because module java.base does not export sun.security.util to unnamed module @17776a8] with root cause

java.lang.IllegalAccessException: class io.jsonwebtoken.impl.lang.OptionalMethodInvoker cannot access class sun.security.util.KeyUtil (in module java.base) because module java.base does not export sun.security.util to unnamed module @17776a8
    at java.base/jdk.internal.reflect.Reflection.newIllegalAccessException(Reflection.java:394) ~[na:na]
    at java.base/java.lang.reflect.AccessibleObject.checkAccess(AccessibleObject.java:709) ~[na:na]
    at java.base/java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:569) ~[na:na]
    at io.jsonwebtoken.impl.lang.OptionalMethodInvoker.invoke(OptionalMethodInvoker.java:62) ~[jjwt-impl-0.12.0.jar:0.12.0]
    at io.jsonwebtoken.impl.lang.ReflectionFunction.apply(ReflectionFunction.java:31) ~[jjwt-impl-0.12.0.jar:0.12.0]
    at io.jsonwebtoken.impl.security.KeysBridge.findBitLength(KeysBridge.java:116) ~[jjwt-impl-0.12.0.jar:0.12.0]
    at io.jsonwebtoken.impl.security.DefaultMacAlgorithm.validateKey(DefaultMacAlgorithm.java:176) ~[jjwt-impl-0.12.0.jar:0.12.0]
    at io.jsonwebtoken.impl.security.AbstractSecureDigestAlgorithm.digest(AbstractSecureDigestAlgorithm.java:47) ~[jjwt-impl-0.12.0.jar:0.12.0]
    at io.jsonwebtoken.impl.security.AbstractSecureDigestAlgorithm.digest(AbstractSecureDigestAlgorithm.java:29) ~[jjwt-impl-0.12.0.jar:0.12.0]
    at io.jsonwebtoken.impl.DefaultJwtBuilder$1.apply(DefaultJwtBuilder.java:246) ~[jjwt-impl-0.12.0.jar:0.12.0]
    at io.jsonwebtoken.impl.DefaultJwtBuilder$1.apply(DefaultJwtBuilder.java:243) ~[jjwt-impl-0.12.0.jar:0.12.0]
    at io.jsonwebtoken.impl.lang.DelegatingCheckedFunction.apply(DelegatingCheckedFunction.java:28) ~[jjwt-impl-0.12.0.jar:0.12.0]
    at io.jsonwebtoken.impl.lang.PropagatingExceptionFunction.apply(PropagatingExceptionFunction.java:57) ~[jjwt-impl-0.12.0.jar:0.12.0]
    at io.jsonwebtoken.impl.DefaultJwtBuilder.sign(DefaultJwtBuilder.java:622) ~[jjwt-impl-0.12.0.jar:0.12.0]
    at io.jsonwebtoken.impl.DefaultJwtBuilder.compact(DefaultJwtBuilder.java:534) ~[jjwt-impl-0.12.0.jar:0.12.0]
    at com.septismjustinn.dxc.loginapp.services.JWTService.generateAccessToken(JWTService.java:40) ~[classes/:na]
    at com.septismjustinn.dxc.loginapp.controllers.auth.LoginController.loginUser(LoginController.java:39) ~[classes/:na]
    at java.base/jdk.internal.reflect.DirectMethodHandleAccessor.invoke(DirectMethodHandleAccessor.java:104) ~[na:na]
    at java.base/java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:578) ~[na:na]
    at org.springframework.web.method.support.InvocableHandlerMethod.doInvoke(InvocableHandlerMethod.java:205) ~[spring-web-6.0.12.jar:6.0.12]
    at org.springframework.web.method.support.InvocableHandlerMethod.invokeForRequest(InvocableHandlerMethod.java:150) ~[spring-web-6.0.12.jar:6.0.12]
    at org.springframework.web.servlet.mvc.method.annotation.ServletInvocableHandlerMethod.invokeAndHandle(ServletInvocableHandlerMethod.java:118) ~[spring-webmvc-6.0.12.jar:6.0.12]
    at org.springframework.web.servlet.mvc.method.annotation.RequestMappingHandlerAdapter.invokeHandlerMethod(RequestMappingHandlerAdapter.java:884) ~[spring-webmvc-6.0.12.jar:6.0.12]
    at org.springframework.web.servlet.mvc.method.annotation.RequestMappingHandlerAdapter.handleInternal(RequestMappingHandlerAdapter.java:797) ~[spring-webmvc-6.0.12.jar:6.0.12]
    at org.springframework.web.servlet.mvc.method.AbstractHandlerMethodAdapter.handle(AbstractHandlerMethodAdapter.java:87) ~[spring-webmvc-6.0.12.jar:6.0.12]
    at org.springframework.web.servlet.DispatcherServlet.doDispatch(DispatcherServlet.java:1081) ~[spring-webmvc-6.0.12.jar:6.0.12]
    at org.springframework.web.servlet.DispatcherServlet.doService(DispatcherServlet.java:974) ~[spring-webmvc-6.0.12.jar:6.0.12]
    at org.springframework.web.servlet.FrameworkServlet.processRequest(FrameworkServlet.java:1011) ~[spring-webmvc-6.0.12.jar:6.0.12]
    at org.springframework.web.servlet.FrameworkServlet.doPost(FrameworkServlet.java:914) ~[spring-webmvc-6.0.12.jar:6.0.12]
    at jakarta.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:590) ~[tomcat-embed-core-10.1.13.jar:6.0]
    at org.springframework.web.servlet.FrameworkServlet.service(FrameworkServlet.java:885) ~[spring-webmvc-6.0.12.jar:6.0.12]
    at jakarta.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:658) ~[tomcat-embed-core-10.1.13.jar:6.0]
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:205) ~[tomcat-embed-core-10.1.13.jar:10.1.13]
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:149) ~[tomcat-embed-core-10.1.13.jar:10.1.13]
    at org.apache.tomcat.websocket.server.WsFilter.doFilter(WsFilter.java:51) ~[tomcat-embed-websocket-10.1.13.jar:10.1.13]
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:174) ~[tomcat-embed-core-10.1.13.jar:10.1.13]
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:149) ~[tomcat-embed-core-10.1.13.jar:10.1.13]
    at org.springframework.security.web.FilterChainProxy.lambda$doFilterInternal$3(FilterChainProxy.java:231) ~[spring-security-web-6.1.4.jar:6.1.4]
    at org.springframework.security.web.FilterChainProxy$VirtualFilterChain.doFilter(FilterChainProxy.java:365) ~[spring-security-web-6.1.4.jar:6.1.4]
    at org.springframework.security.web.access.intercept.AuthorizationFilter.doFilter(AuthorizationFilter.java:100) ~[spring-security-web-6.1.4.jar:6.1.4]
    at org.springframework.security.web.FilterChainProxy$VirtualFilterChain.doFilter(FilterChainProxy.java:374) ~[spring-security-web-6.1.4.jar:6.1.4]
    at org.springframework.security.web.access.ExceptionTranslationFilter.doFilter(ExceptionTranslationFilter.java:126) ~[spring-security-web-6.1.4.jar:6.1.4]
    at org.springframework.security.web.access.ExceptionTranslationFilter.doFilter(ExceptionTranslationFilter.java:120) ~[spring-security-web-6.1.4.jar:6.1.4]
    at org.springframework.security.web.FilterChainProxy$VirtualFilterChain.doFilter(FilterChainProxy.java:374) ~[spring-security-web-6.1.4.jar:6.1.4]
    at org.springframework.security.web.authentication.AnonymousAuthenticationFilter.doFilter(AnonymousAuthenticationFilter.java:100) ~[spring-security-web-6.1.4.jar:6.1.4]
    at org.springframework.security.web.FilterChainProxy$VirtualFilterChain.doFilter(FilterChainProxy.java:374) ~[spring-security-web-6.1.4.jar:6.1.4]
    at org.springframework.security.web.servletapi.SecurityContextHolderAwareRequestFilter.doFilter(SecurityContextHolderAwareRequestFilter.java:179) ~[spring-security-web-6.1.4.jar:6.1.4]
    at org.springframework.security.web.FilterChainProxy$VirtualFilterChain.doFilter(FilterChainProxy.java:374) ~[spring-security-web-6.1.4.jar:6.1.4]
    at org.springframework.security.web.savedrequest.RequestCacheAwareFilter.doFilter(RequestCacheAwareFilter.java:63) ~[spring-security-web-6.1.4.jar:6.1.4]
    at org.springframework.security.web.FilterChainProxy$VirtualFilterChain.doFilter(FilterChainProxy.java:374) ~[spring-security-web-6.1.4.jar:6.1.4]
    at org.springframework.security.web.authentication.logout.LogoutFilter.doFilter(LogoutFilter.java:107) ~[spring-security-web-6.1.4.jar:6.1.4]
    at org.springframework.security.web.authentication.logout.LogoutFilter.doFilter(LogoutFilter.java:93) ~[spring-security-web-6.1.4.jar:6.1.4]
    at org.springframework.security.web.FilterChainProxy$VirtualFilterChain.doFilter(FilterChainProxy.java:374) ~[spring-security-web-6.1.4.jar:6.1.4]
    at org.springframework.security.web.header.HeaderWriterFilter.doHeadersAfter(HeaderWriterFilter.java:90) ~[spring-security-web-6.1.4.jar:6.1.4]
    at org.springframework.security.web.header.HeaderWriterFilter.doFilterInternal(HeaderWriterFilter.java:75) ~[spring-security-web-6.1.4.jar:6.1.4]
    at org.springframework.web.filter.OncePerRequestFilter.doFilter(OncePerRequestFilter.java:116) ~[spring-web-6.0.12.jar:6.0.12]
    at org.springframework.security.web.FilterChainProxy$VirtualFilterChain.doFilter(FilterChainProxy.java:374) ~[spring-security-web-6.1.4.jar:6.1.4]
    at org.springframework.security.web.context.SecurityContextHolderFilter.doFilter(SecurityContextHolderFilter.java:82) ~[spring-security-web-6.1.4.jar:6.1.4]
    at org.springframework.security.web.context.SecurityContextHolderFilter.doFilter(SecurityContextHolderFilter.java:69) ~[spring-security-web-6.1.4.jar:6.1.4]
    at org.springframework.security.web.FilterChainProxy$VirtualFilterChain.doFilter(FilterChainProxy.java:374) ~[spring-security-web-6.1.4.jar:6.1.4]
    at org.springframework.security.web.context.request.async.WebAsyncManagerIntegrationFilter.doFilterInternal(WebAsyncManagerIntegrationFilter.java:62) ~[spring-security-web-6.1.4.jar:6.1.4]
    at org.springframework.web.filter.OncePerRequestFilter.doFilter(OncePerRequestFilter.java:116) ~[spring-web-6.0.12.jar:6.0.12]
    at org.springframework.security.web.FilterChainProxy$VirtualFilterChain.doFilter(FilterChainProxy.java:374) ~[spring-security-web-6.1.4.jar:6.1.4]
    at org.springframework.security.web.session.DisableEncodeUrlFilter.doFilterInternal(DisableEncodeUrlFilter.java:42) ~[spring-security-web-6.1.4.jar:6.1.4]
    at org.springframework.web.filter.OncePerRequestFilter.doFilter(OncePerRequestFilter.java:116) ~[spring-web-6.0.12.jar:6.0.12]
    at org.springframework.security.web.FilterChainProxy$VirtualFilterChain.doFilter(FilterChainProxy.java:374) ~[spring-security-web-6.1.4.jar:6.1.4]
    at org.springframework.security.web.FilterChainProxy.doFilterInternal(FilterChainProxy.java:233) ~[spring-security-web-6.1.4.jar:6.1.4]
    at org.springframework.security.web.FilterChainProxy.doFilter(FilterChainProxy.java:191) ~[spring-security-web-6.1.4.jar:6.1.4]
    at org.springframework.web.filter.DelegatingFilterProxy.invokeDelegate(DelegatingFilterProxy.java:352) ~[spring-web-6.0.12.jar:6.0.12]
    at org.springframework.web.filter.DelegatingFilterProxy.doFilter(DelegatingFilterProxy.java:268) ~[spring-web-6.0.12.jar:6.0.12]
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:174) ~[tomcat-embed-core-10.1.13.jar:10.1.13]
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:149) ~[tomcat-embed-core-10.1.13.jar:10.1.13]
    at org.springframework.web.filter.RequestContextFilter.doFilterInternal(RequestContextFilter.java:100) ~[spring-web-6.0.12.jar:6.0.12]
    at org.springframework.web.filter.OncePerRequestFilter.doFilter(OncePerRequestFilter.java:116) ~[spring-web-6.0.12.jar:6.0.12]
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:174) ~[tomcat-embed-core-10.1.13.jar:10.1.13]
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:149) ~[tomcat-embed-core-10.1.13.jar:10.1.13]
    at org.springframework.web.filter.FormContentFilter.doFilterInternal(FormContentFilter.java:93) ~[spring-web-6.0.12.jar:6.0.12]
    at org.springframework.web.filter.OncePerRequestFilter.doFilter(OncePerRequestFilter.java:116) ~[spring-web-6.0.12.jar:6.0.12]
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:174) ~[tomcat-embed-core-10.1.13.jar:10.1.13]
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:149) ~[tomcat-embed-core-10.1.13.jar:10.1.13]
    at org.springframework.web.filter.CharacterEncodingFilter.doFilterInternal(CharacterEncodingFilter.java:201) ~[spring-web-6.0.12.jar:6.0.12]
    at org.springframework.web.filter.OncePerRequestFilter.doFilter(OncePerRequestFilter.java:116) ~[spring-web-6.0.12.jar:6.0.12]
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:174) ~[tomcat-embed-core-10.1.13.jar:10.1.13]
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:149) ~[tomcat-embed-core-10.1.13.jar:10.1.13]
    at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardWrapperValve.invoke(StandardWrapperValve.java:167) ~[tomcat-embed-core-10.1.13.jar:10.1.13]
    at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContextValve.invoke(StandardContextValve.java:90) ~[tomcat-embed-core-10.1.13.jar:10.1.13]
    at org.apache.catalina.authenticator.AuthenticatorBase.invoke(AuthenticatorBase.java:482) ~[tomcat-embed-core-10.1.13.jar:10.1.13]
    at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardHostValve.invoke(StandardHostValve.java:115) ~[tomcat-embed-core-10.1.13.jar:10.1.13]
    at org.apache.catalina.valves.ErrorReportValve.invoke(ErrorReportValve.java:93) ~[tomcat-embed-core-10.1.13.jar:10.1.13]
    at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardEngineValve.invoke(StandardEngineValve.java:74) ~[tomcat-embed-core-10.1.13.jar:10.1.13]
    at org.apache.catalina.connector.CoyoteAdapter.service(CoyoteAdapter.java:341) ~[tomcat-embed-core-10.1.13.jar:10.1.13]
    at org.apache.coyote.http11.Http11Processor.service(Http11Processor.java:391) ~[tomcat-embed-core-10.1.13.jar:10.1.13]
    at org.apache.coyote.AbstractProcessorLight.process(AbstractProcessorLight.java:63) ~[tomcat-embed-core-10.1.13.jar:10.1.13]
    at org.apache.coyote.AbstractProtocol$ConnectionHandler.process(AbstractProtocol.java:894) ~[tomcat-embed-core-10.1.13.jar:10.1.13]
    at org.apache.tomcat.util.net.NioEndpoint$SocketProcessor.doRun(NioEndpoint.java:1740) ~[tomcat-embed-core-10.1.13.jar:10.1.13]
    at org.apache.tomcat.util.net.SocketProcessorBase.run(SocketProcessorBase.java:52) ~[tomcat-embed-core-10.1.13.jar:10.1.13]
    at org.apache.tomcat.util.threads.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1191) ~[tomcat-embed-core-10.1.13.jar:10.1.13]
    at org.apache.tomcat.util.threads.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:659) ~[tomcat-embed-core-10.1.13.jar:10.1.13]
    at org.apache.tomcat.util.threads.TaskThread$WrappingRunnable.run(TaskThread.java:61) ~[tomcat-embed-core-10.1.13.jar:10.1.13]
    at java.base/java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:1623) ~[na:na]

Have I done something wrong with how I used the secret keys or is it as the errors say, something wrong with how JJWT handles HS256 keys?

Edit: I attempted to just try signing with a freshly generated key but that also failed, giving the same error as above.

    public String generateAccessToken(UUID jti, User user) {
        SecretKey key = Jwts.SIG.HS256.key().build(); //or HS384.key() or HS512.key()
        return Jwts.builder()
                .id(jti.toString())
                .issuedAt(new Date())
                .expiration(new Date(System.currentTimeMillis() + EXPIRE_DURATION))
                .subject(user.getUsername())
                .claim("name", user.getName())
                .signWith(key)
                .compact();
    }

Workaround 4th October 2023: Reverting to jjwt v0.11.5 allowed me to work with a raw string as a secret key and also allowed for signing of JWTs via HS256 algorithm without the a/m error.

I don't think this is a solution to the actual problem in jjwt v0.12 but it works my small project so I'll leave this for now.

    public String generateAccessToken(UUID jti, User user) {
        return Jwts.builder()
                .setId(jti.toString())
                .setIssuedAt(new Date())
                .setExpiration(new Date(System.currentTimeMillis() + EXPIRE_DURATION))
                .setSubject(user.getUsername())
                .claim("name", user.getName())
                .signWith(SignatureAlgorithm.HS256, SECRET_KEY)
                .compact();
    }

Solution

  • Just resolved in version 1.12.1 : https://github.com/jwtk/jjwt/blob/0.12.1/CHANGELOG.md