NullPointerException When Triggering Bean Validation from MicroProfile Reactive Messaging Listener

[srnjak]

I am encountering a challenging issue with bean validation within a MicroProfile Reactive Messaging application running on OpenLiberty. When invoking a CDI bean method with parameter constraints (e.g., @NotNull) from a Reactive Messaging listener, instead of enforcing the constraint or failing gracefully, it results in a NullPointerException.

Environment:

• Application Server: OpenLiberty 24.0.0.2
• MicroProfile Version: 6.1
• JDK Version: 21
• Smallrye Reactive Messaging: 4.17.0

Issue Description:
In my setup, a CDI bean method annotated with bean validation constraints is called within the scope of a Reactive Messaging listener. While I expect the validation to either pass or throw a ConstraintViolationException for violations, it instead crashes with a NullPointerException.

Observed Behavior:
The application throws a NullPointerException when the CDI bean method, which includes a bean validation annotation on its parameters, is called from a Reactive Messaging listener. This occurs even before reaching the validation logic, indicating an issue with context propagation or validation handling in this specific scenario.

Code Example:

// CDI Bean with validation annotations
public class TaskService {
    public void processTask(@NotNull String taskId) {
        // Method implementation
    }
}

// Reactive Messaging Listener
public class TaskEventListener {
    @Inject
    private TaskService taskService;

    @Incoming("tasks")
    public void onTaskReceived(String taskId) {
        taskService.processTask(taskId);
    }
}

StackTrace Snippet:

[INFO] NullPointerException: Cannot invoke "com.ibm.ws.runtime.metadata.ComponentMetaData.getModuleMetaData()" because the return value of "com.ibm.ws.threadContext.ComponentMetaDataAccessorImpl.getComponentMetaData()" is null

Questions:

1. Is this behavior indicative of a known issue with context propagation for bean validation in a reactive setting?
2. Are there any recommended practices or configurations to ensure that bean validation can be properly triggered without resulting in an NPE when used in conjunction with MicroProfile Reactive Messaging?
3. Could this NPE be related to a specific configuration or limitation within OpenLiberty's implementation of MicroProfile Reactive Messaging and CDI integration?

I appreciate any insights or guidance on resolving this issue to ensure that bean validation works as expected in reactive messaging scenarios.