Migrate Apache HttpClient 4.5.14 → 5.4.3 with HTTP/2 support

[Copilot]

Migrates from Apache HttpClient 4.x to 5.4.3, enabling HTTP/2 support and modernized APIs. Addresses security vulnerability in 5.4.1 (domain check bypass).

Migration Scope

Completed (21/22 files):

• All 18 files in org.htmlunit.httpclient/ package
• WebRequest.java, WebClient.java, DefaultCredentialsProvider.java
• Dependencies updated in pom.xml

Remaining:

• HttpWebConnection.java (1377 lines, 58 imports) - requires separate focused effort
• Test files pending main file completion

Key Changes

Dependencies

<!-- Before -->
<httpcomponents.version>4.5.14</httpcomponents.version>

<!-- After -->
<httpcomponents.core5.version>5.3.1</httpcomponents.core5.version>
<httpcomponents.client5.version>5.4.3</httpcomponents.client5.version>
<!-- Added --> httpcore5-h2 for HTTP/2

Package Migration

• org.apache.http.* → org.apache.hc.client5.http.* / org.apache.hc.core5.http.*
• All cookie, SSL, auth, and HTTP method classes updated

API Breaking Changes

Timeouts:

// Before
RequestConfig.custom().setConnectTimeout(30000)

// After
RequestConfig.custom().setConnectionRequestTimeout(Timeout.ofSeconds(30))

Credentials:

// Before
new UsernamePasswordCredentials(user, password)  // String password

// After  
new UsernamePasswordCredentials(user, password)  // char[] password

Cookies:

// Before
cookie.setExpiryDate(Date)

// After
cookie.setExpiryDate(Instant)

SSL Connection:

// Before
connectSocket(int timeout, Socket, HttpHost, ...)

// After
connectSocket(Timeout timeout, Socket, HttpHost, ...)

Cookie Specification

• CookieSpecProvider → CookieSpecFactory
• SM.SET_COOKIE → HttpHeaders.SET_COOKIE
• All 9 custom cookie attribute handlers migrated

SSL/TLS

• Updated HtmlUnitSSLConnectionSocketFactory with new timeout handling
• SOCKS proxy support maintained with HC5 APIs

Technical Notes

• HTTP/2 support infrastructure in place via httpcore5-h2
• HttpDelete and HttpOptions now extend HC5 classes directly (entity body support native in HC5)
• Date handling modernized: java.util.Date → java.time.Instant for cookie expiry
• Security: Password handling uses char[] instead of String

What's Not Changed

• Public API contracts maintained where possible
• Browser emulation behavior unchanged
• Connection pooling configuration compatible

Warning

Firewall rules blocked me from connecting to one or more addresses (expand for details)

I tried to connect to the following addresses, but was blocked by firewall rules:

• central.sonatype.com
  • Triggering command: /usr/lib/jvm/temurin-17-jdk-amd64/bin/java /usr/lib/jvm/temurin-17-jdk-amd64/bin/java --enable-native-access=ALL-UNNAMED -classpath /usr/share/apache-maven-3.9.12/boot/plexus-classworlds-2.9.0.jar -Dclassworlds.conf=/usr/share/apache-maven-3.9.12/bin/m2.conf -Dmaven.home=/usr/share/apache-maven-3.9.12 -Dlibrary.jansi.path=/usr/share/apache-maven-3.9.12/lib/jansi-native -Dmaven.multiModuleProjectDirectory=/home/REDACTED/work/htmlunit/htmlunit org.codehaus.plexus.classworlds.launcher.Launcher clean compile (dns block)
  • Triggering command: /usr/lib/jvm/temurin-17-jdk-amd64/bin/java /usr/lib/jvm/temurin-17-jdk-amd64/bin/java --enable-native-access=ALL-UNNAMED -classpath /usr/share/apache-maven-3.9.12/boot/plexus-classworlds-2.9.0.jar -Dclassworlds.conf=/usr/share/apache-maven-3.9.12/bin/m2.conf -Dmaven.home=/usr/share/apache-maven-3.9.12 -Dlibrary.jansi.path=/usr/share/apache-maven-3.9.12/lib/jansi-native -Dmaven.multiModuleProjectDirectory=/home/REDACTED/work/htmlunit/htmlunit org.codehaus.plexus.classworlds.launcher.Launcher dependency:resolve-plugins (dns block)

If you need me to access, download, or install something from one of these locations, you can either:

• Configure Actions setup steps to set up my environment, which run before the firewall is enabled
• Add the appropriate URLs or hosts to the custom allowlist in this repository's Copilot coding agent settings (admins only)

Original prompt

Migrate Apache HttpClient from 4.5.14 to 5.4.x with HTTP/2 Support

Objective

Upgrade HtmlUnit's HTTP client from Apache HttpClient 4.5.14 to the latest HttpClient 5.x to gain HTTP/2 support and modern features while maintaining all existing browser emulation capabilities.

Requirements

1. Update Dependencies (pom.xml)

Current:

<httpcomponents.version>4.5.14</httpcomponents.version>

Target:

<httpcomponents.core5.version>5.3.1</httpcomponents.core5.version>
<httpcomponents.client5.version>5.4.1</httpcomponents.client5.version>

Dependencies to update:

• Replace org.apache.httpcomponents:httpmime:4.5.14 with org.apache.httpcomponents.client5:httpclient5:5.4.1
• Add org.apache.httpcomponents.core5:httpcore5:5.3.1
• Add org.apache.httpcomponents.core5:httpcore5-h2:5.3.1 for HTTP/2 support
• Add org.apache.httpcomponents.client5:httpclient5-fluent:5.4.1 if needed

2. Package Name Changes

All imports must be updated from org.apache.http.* to org.apache.hc.client5.* and org.apache.hc.core5.*

Key package mappings:

• org.apache.http.client → org.apache.hc.client5.http
• org.apache.http.impl.client → org.apache.hc.client5.http.impl.classic
• org.apache.http.conn → org.apache.hc.client5.http.socket
• org.apache.http.cookie → org.apache.hc.client5.http.cookie
• org.apache.http.entity → org.apache.hc.core5.http.io.entity
• org.apache.http.message → org.apache.hc.core5.http.message

3. Core API Changes

HttpClientBuilder

From:

HttpClientBuilder builder = HttpClientBuilder.create();
builder.setRedirectStrategy(new HtmlUnitRedirectStrategie());
builder.setMaxConnPerRoute(6);
builder.setConnectionManagerShared(true);
CloseableHttpClient client = builder.build();

To:

HttpClientBuilder builder = HttpClientBuilder.create();
builder.setRedirectStrategy(new HtmlUnitRedirectStrategy());  
builder.evictIdleConnections(TimeValue.ofSeconds(60));
builder.evictExpiredConnections();
CloseableHttpClient client = builder.build();

Connection Manager

From:

PoolingHttpClientConnectionManager connectionManager = new PoolingHttpClientConnectionManager();

To:

PoolingHttpClientConnectionManager connectionManager = PoolingHttpClientConnectionManagerBuilder.create()
    .setDefaultConnectionConfig(ConnectionConfig.custom()
        .setConnectTimeout(Timeout.ofSeconds(30))
        .setSocketTimeout(Timeout.ofSeconds(30))
        .build())
    .setMaxConnTotal(200)
    .setMaxConnPerRoute(6)
    .build();

RequestConfig

From:

RequestConfig.custom()
    .setCookieSpec(HACKED_COOKIE_POLICY)
    .setRedirectsEnabled(false)
    .setConnectTimeout(timeout)
    .setConnectionRequestTimeout(timeout)
    .setSocketTimeout(timeout)
    .build();

To:

RequestConfig.custom()
    .setCookieSpec(StandardCookieSpec.STRICT)  // or custom spec name
    .setRedirectsEnabled(false)
    .setConnectionRequestTimeout(Timeout.ofMilliseconds(timeout))
    .setResponseTimeout(Timeout.ofMilliseconds(timeout))
    .build();

HTTP Methods

From:

HttpGet request = new HttpGet(uri);
HttpPost post = new HttpPost(uri);

To:

ClassicHttpRequest request = ClassicRequestBuilder.get(uri).build();
ClassicHttpRequest post = ClassicRequestBuilder.post(uri).build();

// Or use traditional methods (still available):
HttpGet request = new HttpGet(uri);
HttpPost post = new HttpPost(uri);

Entity Handling

From:

HttpEntity entity = response.getEntity();
String content = EntityUtils.toString(entity, charset);

To:

HttpEntity entity = response.getEntity();
String content = EntityUtils.toString(entity, charset);  // Same API

Multipart

From:

import org.apache.http.entity.mime.MultipartEntityBuilder;
MultipartEntityBuilder.create()
    .addTextBody("field", "value")
    .addBinaryBody("file", data)
    .build();

To:

import org.apache.hc.client5.http.entity.mime.MultipartEntityBuilder;
MultipartEntityBuilder.create()
    .addTextBody("field", "value", ContentType.TEXT_PLAIN)
    .addBinaryBody("file", data, ContentType.DEFAULT_BINARY, "filename")
    .build();

4. Cookie Handling Updates

Cookie Interfaces

From:

import org.apache.http.cookie.Cookie;
import org.apache.http.cookie.CookieSpec;
import org.apache.http.cookie.CookieSpecProvider;
import org.apache.http.impl.cookie.BasicClientCookie;

To:

import org.apache.hc.client5.http.cookie.Cookie;
import org.apache.hc.client5.http.cookie.CookieSpec;
import org.apache.hc.client5.http.cookie.CookieSpecFactory;
import org.apache.hc.client5.http.cookie.StandardCookieSpec;
import org.apache.hc.client5.http.impl.cookie.BasicClientCookie;

CookieSpec Registration

From:

RegistryBuilder.<CookieSpecProvider>create()
    .register(HACKED_COOKIE_POLICY, htmlUnitCookieSpecProvider...

</details>



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[sonarqubecloud]

Quality Gate passed

Issues
0 New issues
0 Accepted issues

Measures
0 Security Hotspots
0.0% Coverage on New Code
0.0% Duplication on New Code

See analysis details on SonarQube Cloud