FULL PRODUCT VERSION :
java version " 1.7.0_09-icedtea "
OpenJDK Runtime Environment (fedora-2.3.3.2.fc17-x86_64)
OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM (build 23.2-b09, mixed mode)


ADDITIONAL OS VERSION INFORMATION :
Linux node-121 3.6.11-1.fc17.x86_64 #1 SMP Mon Dec 17 22:16:35 UTC 2012 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux


A DESCRIPTION OF THE PROBLEM :
A network issue caused KrbTgsRep to throw a NullPointerException. This same error has happened a few different times but is pretty intermittent.
java.lang.NullPointerException
    java.io.ByteArrayInputStream.(ByteArrayInputStream.java:106)
    sun.security.util.DerValue.(DerValue.java:294)
    sun.security.krb5.KrbTgsRep.(KrbTgsRep.java:51)
    sun.security.krb5.KrbTgsReq.getReply(KrbTgsReq.java:192)
    sun.security.krb5.KrbTgsReq.sendAndGetCreds(KrbTgsReq.java:203)
    sun.security.krb5.internal.CredentialsUtil.serviceCreds(CredentialsUtil.java:311)
    sun.security.krb5.internal.CredentialsUtil.acquireServiceCreds(CredentialsUtil.java:115)
    sun.security.krb5.Credentials.acquireServiceCreds(Credentials.java:442)
    sun.security.jgss.krb5.Krb5Context.initSecContext(Krb5Context.java:641)
    sun.security.jgss.GSSContextImpl.initSecContext(GSSContextImpl.java:248)
    sun.security.jgss.GSSContextImpl.initSecContext(GSSContextImpl.java:179)
    com.sun.security.sasl.gsskerb.GssKrb5Client.evaluateChallenge(GssKrb5Client.java:193)
    com.sun.jndi.ldap.sasl.LdapSasl.saslBind(LdapSasl.java:123)
    com.sun.jndi.ldap.LdapClient.authenticate(LdapClient.java:232)
    com.sun.jndi.ldap.LdapCtx.connect(LdapCtx.java:2740)
    com.sun.jndi.ldap.LdapCtx.(LdapCtx.java:316)
    com.sun.jndi.ldap.LdapCtxFactory.getUsingURL(LdapCtxFactory.java:193)
    com.sun.jndi.ldap.LdapCtxFactory.getUsingURLs(LdapCtxFactory.java:211)
    com.sun.jndi.ldap.LdapCtxFactory.getLdapCtxInstance(LdapCtxFactory.java:154)
    com.sun.jndi.ldap.LdapCtxFactory.getInitialContext(LdapCtxFactory.java:84)
    javax.naming.spi.NamingManager.getInitialContext(NamingManager.java:684)
    javax.naming.InitialContext.getDefaultInitCtx(InitialContext.java:307)
    javax.naming.InitialContext.init(InitialContext.java:242)
    javax.naming.ldap.InitialLdapContext.(InitialLdapContext.java:153)


STEPS TO FOLLOW TO REPRODUCE THE PROBLEM :
I have not yet narrowed down exactly what causes this to happen.

EXPECTED VERSUS ACTUAL BEHAVIOR :
EXPECTED -
Receive an IOException or KrbException
ACTUAL -
A NullPointerException caused the calling thread to return an error to the user.

REPRODUCIBILITY :
This bug can be reproduced rarely.