NullPointerException Logging in via SSO in Confluence Data Center
Platform Notice: Data Center Only - This article only applies to Atlassian products on the Data Center platform.
Note that this KB was created for the Data Center version of the product. Data Center KBs for non-Data-Center-specific features may also work for Server versions of the product, however they have not been tested. Support for Server* products ended on February 15th 2024. If you are running a Server product, you can visit the Atlassian Server end of support announcement to review your migration options.
*Except Fisheye and Crucible
Summary
Logging in via SAML to Confluence produces a NullPointerException and the following stack trace in the UI and atlassian-confluence.log:
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2020-11-06 15:37:52,504 ERROR [http-nio-8090-exec-3] [ContainerBase.[Standalone].[localhost].[/]] log Unhandled exception occurred whilst decorating page
-- referer: https://sso.google.com/ | url: /plugins/servlet/samlconsumer | traceId: 7c45b7ec46e13fe8 | userName: anonymous
java.lang.NullPointerException
at com.google.common.collect.Iterables.getOnlyElement(Iterables.java:254)
at com.atlassian.plugins.authentication.impl.web.saml.SamlConsumerServlet.getAttributeOrNameId(SamlConsumerServlet.java:150)
at com.atlassian.plugins.authentication.impl.web.saml.SamlConsumerServlet.lambda$getUsername$1(SamlConsumerServlet.java:146)
at java.base/java.util.stream.Collectors.lambda$uniqKeysMapAccumulator$1(Unknown Source)
at java.base/java.util.stream.ReduceOps$3ReducingSink.accept(Unknown Source)
at java.base/java.util.ArrayList$ArrayListSpliterator.forEachRemaining(Unknown Source)
at java.base/java.util.stream.AbstractPipeline.copyInto(Unknown Source)
at java.base/java.util.stream.AbstractPipeline.wrapAndCopyInto(Unknown Source)
at java.base/java.util.stream.ReduceOps$ReduceOp.evaluateSequential(Unknown Source)
at java.base/java.util.stream.AbstractPipeline.evaluate(Unknown Source)
at java.base/java.util.stream.ReferencePipeline.collect(Unknown Source)
at com.atlassian.plugins.authentication.impl.web.usercontext.impl.jit.mapping.MappingExpression.evaluateWithValues(MappingExpression.java:97)
at com.atlassian.plugins.authentication.impl.web.saml.SamlConsumerServlet.getUsername(SamlConsumerServlet.java:146)
at com.atlassian.plugins.authentication.impl.web.saml.SamlConsumerServlet.doPost(SamlConsumerServlet.java:99)
at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:652)
at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:733)
at com.atlassian.plugin.servlet.DelegatingPluginServlet.service(DelegatingPluginServlet.java:37)
at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:733)
at com.atlassian.plugin.servlet.ServletModuleContainerServlet.service(ServletModuleContainerServlet.java:46)
at com.atlassian.confluence.servlet.ServletModuleContainerServlet.service(ServletModuleContainerServlet.java:47)
at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:733)
...Environment
Confluence Data Center
Data Center SAML
Cause
The Username Mapping attribute defined under the SSO definition in the
> General Configuration >Authentication methods menu, cannot be found in the list of attributes returned from the Identity Provider's SAML assertion.
ℹ️ (the menu name can be General Configuration >SAML 2.0 for older Atlassian SSO plugin versions)
Solution
Capture the IdP's response by logging in as a test user (How to view SAML responses in your browser for troubleshooting) and locate the Attribute Statement section.
Find the AttributeValue that matches the user's Confluence username and copy the corresponding Attribute Name over toUsername Mapping attribute defined under the SSO definition in the
> General Configuration >Authentication methods menu.
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