go runtime_error ai_generated true

panic: runtime error: invalid memory address or nil pointer dereference

ID: go/proto-nil-message-panic

Also available as: JSON · Markdown · 中文
80%Fix Rate
88%Confidence
0Evidence
2024-02-18First Seen

Version Compatibility

VersionStatusIntroducedDeprecatedNotes
google.golang.org/protobuf v1.28+ active — — —

Root Cause

A nil *Message pointer was passed to proto.Marshal, proto.Clone, or a generated getter was called on a nil receiver that dereferences a map field.

generic

中文

向 proto.Marshal、proto.Clone 传递了 nil *Message 指针，或在 nil 接收者上调用了会解引用 map 字段的生成 getter。

Workarounds

  1. 95% success 
    if msg == nil {
    return nil, status.Error(codes.InvalidArgument, "nil message")
}
data, err := proto.Marshal(msg)
if err != nil { return nil, err }
  2. 85% success 
    clone := proto.Clone(msg) // returns nil if msg is nil
if clone == nil {
    return nil, errors.New("nil proto message")
}

Dead Ends

Common approaches that don't work:

  1. 85% fail

    Masks the nil bug; the same nil pointer will surface elsewhere or cause silent data loss.

  2. 95% fail

    AllowPartial only affects required-field validation, not nil pointer dereferences.