In Java SE 5.0, the JVM Specification tightened up checks for putfield and putstatic bytecodes targeting final fields. For example, putfield changed in the following way:

- JVMS Second Edition (1999, prior to Java SE 5.0) [1]: "Otherwise, if the field is final, it must be declared in the current class. Otherwise, an IllegalAccessError is thrown."

- JVMS updates for Java SE 5.0 (2004) [2]: "Otherwise, if the field is final, it must be declared in the current class, and the instruction must occur in an instance initialization method (<init>) of the current class. Otherwise, an IllegalAccessError is thrown."

The HotSpot VM did not implement the new checks until JDK-8157181. However, the changes by JDK-8157181 have introduced the checks only for class files with version 9 and onwards.

The goal of the current bug is to investigate if the new checks should be tightened up to Java 7 and/or 8.

[1] JVMS Second Edition, section 6.4: https://docs.oracle.com/javase/specs/jvms/se6/html/Instructions2.doc11.html
[2] JVMS updates for Java SE 5.0: https://jcp.org/aboutJava/communityprocess/maintenance/jsr924/index.html -> open "The Java Virtual Machine Instruction Set" -> jump to putfield.