RMISecurityException in Java: Understanding & Resolving It Robustly

Are you trying to remove bugs from your Java applications? If yes, then you might have come across a lot of exceptions messages. One such complex issue is RMISecurityException. Developers across the globe are continually struggling to deal with this particular error. This guide will provide you with an in-depth understanding of RMISecurityException in Java along with examples and a step-by-step protocol to resolve it.

What is RMISecurityException?

The RMISecurityException is a checked exception that the Java Runtime Environment (RRE) throws in case an operation within the Java RMI (Remote Method Invocation) system fails due to a security violation.

public class RMISecurityException extends java.lang.SecurityException

It’s critical to mention here that RMISecurityException is a legacy type that used to be thrown in the time of Java 1.1 when specific operations within the RMI system failed. However, starting from version 1.2, the Java SecurityManager rejects such operations directly, and RMISecurityException is no longer thrown.

Common Causes of RMISecurityException

The JVM throws the RMISecurityException when the RMI system defines a security manager that does not sanction an action performed by the RMI code. Common examples of such actions include:

• Trying to load a remote class if the associated class loader disallows it.
• Trying to create a java.rmi.server.LoaderHandler instance.
• Establishing or accepting a network connection from an unauthorized source or to a destination.

Understanding & Resolving RMISecurityException

Understanding the cause and knowing how to handle RMISecurityException is vital for developers. While the throw of RMISecurityException is no longer relevant in newer versions of Java, you might still need to deal with it while working with applications running on older versions. Here’s how you can handle the problem.

try {
    registry.exportObject(remoteReference);
} catch (RMISecurityException ex) {
    System.out.println("Caught an RMISecurityException. Please check your settings.");
    ex.printStackTrace();
}

In the code snippet above, the remoteReference object is being exported so that clients can make remote method invocations on it. If this operation fails due to a security violation, then the exportObject method will throw an RMISecurityException.

Yet, if you’re working on an application that runs on a JVM later than version 1.1, then it’s a best practice to handle the SecurityException directly:

// The general version
try {
    registry.exportObject(remoteReference);
} catch (SecurityException ex) {
    System.out.println("Caught a SecurityException. Please check your settings.");
    ex.printStackTrace();
}

Conclusion

While RMISecurityException isn’t relevant to developers working with modern versions of Java, understanding it is crucial when maintaining applications running on older JVMs. However, it’s vital to remember that the Java Security Manager directly handles security violations related to the RMI system in modern versions, and a SecurityException would be thrown instead.

References

Some of the information about the RMISecurityException used in this article were extracted from the following sources:

• Java™ Platform, Standard Edition & Java Development Kit Version 8 API Specification
• Oracle® Java⅞ API Specification
• Java™ Platform, Standard Edition 7 API Specification

Stay tuned to learn about concurrency issues, exception handling, the library ecosystem, JVM internals, and get equipped to write high-performing Java applications!