java.lang NullpointerException question

[William Gaatjes]

I have a few questions out of curiosity :
I was on a website from a firm ordering material.
Then i encounter this error message :

Error 500 : MainServlet: unknown exception :java.lang NullPointerException

What does this error message mean ?
Does it mean there was Pointer with value "NULL" passed ?

Is this error happening at my browser (client ) or on the server side ?
Do i have a virus or some trojan ?
We have a firewall and a virusscanner that functions as a proxy.
Can it have anything to do with the firewall or the virus scanner ?
I never seen this error before...

Thank you in advance...

 

[tatteredpotato]

That appears to be a server error in their Java EE application... Not your fault.

 

[William Gaatjes]

That appears to be a server error in their Java EE application... Not your fault.

Really, that is a relief. Thank you. :thumbsup:

 

[Markbnj]

It means several things, including a) their servlet code tried to dereference (access property or method of) a null object reference; and b) their server-side error handling sucks balls.

 

[Cogman]

It means several things, including a) their servlet code tried to dereference (access property or method of) a null object reference; and b) their server-side error handling sucks balls.

Primarily that their server-side error handling sucks balls. Unfortunately not an uncommon occurrence. It can be pretty bad as those error sometimes contain useful info that can be used by hackers to exploit the servers.