I am using spring 3.0.1 + spring-security 3.0.2 and I am trying to use features like @PreAuthorize and @PostFilter annotations.

When running in units tests using @RunWith(SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.class) or in a main(String[] args) method my application context fails to start if enable pre-post-annotations and use org.springframework.security.acls.AclPermissionEvaluator :

<!-- Enable method level security-->
<security:global-method-security pre-post-annotations="enabled">
    <security:expression-handler ref="expressionHandler"/>
</security:global-method-security>

<bean id="expressionHandler" class="org.springframework.security.access.expression.method.DefaultMethodSecurityExpressionHandler">
    <property name="permissionEvaluator" ref="aclPermissionEvaluator"/>
</bean>

<bean id="aclPermissionEvaluator" class="org.springframework.security.acls.AclPermissionEvaluator">
    <constructor-arg ref="aclService"/>
</bean>

<!-- Enable stereotype support -->
<context:annotation-config />
<context:component-scan base-package="com.rreps.core" />

<bean id="propertyConfigurer" class="org.springframework.beans.factory.config.PropertyPlaceholderConfigurer">
    <property name="locations">
        <list>
            <value>classpath:applicationContext.properties</value>
        </list>
    </property>
</bean>

<bean id="dataSource" class="com.mchange.v2.c3p0.ComboPooledDataSource">
    <property name="driverClass" value="${jdbc.driver}" />
    <property name="jdbcUrl" value="${jdbc.url}" />
    <property name="user" value="${jdbc.username}" />
    <property name="password" value="${jdbc.password}" />
    <property name="initialPoolSize" value="10" />
    <property name="minPoolSize" value="5" />
    <property name="maxPoolSize" value="25" />
    <property name="acquireRetryAttempts" value="10" />
    <property name="acquireIncrement" value="5" />
    <property name="idleConnectionTestPeriod" value="3600" />
    <property name="maxIdleTime" value="10800" />
    <property name="maxConnectionAge" value="14400" />
    <property name="preferredTestQuery" value="SELECT 1;" />
    <property name="testConnectionOnCheckin" value="false" />
</bean>

<bean id="auditedSessionFactory" class="org.springframework.orm.hibernate3.annotation.AnnotationSessionFactoryBean">
    <property name="dataSource" ref="dataSource" />
    <property name="configLocation" value="classpath:hibernate.cfg.xml" />
    <property name="hibernateProperties">
        <value>
            hibernate.dialect=${hibernate.dialect}
            hibernate.query.substitutions=true 'Y', false 'N'
            hibernate.cache.use_second_level_cache=true
            hibernate.cache.provider_class=net.sf.ehcache.hibernate.SingletonEhCacheProvider
            hibernate.hbm2ddl.auto=update
            hibernate.c3p0.acquire_increment=5
            hibernate.c3p0.idle_test_period=3600
            hibernate.c3p0.timeout=10800
            hibernate.c3p0.max_size=25
            hibernate.c3p0.min_size=1
            hibernate.show_sql=false
            hibernate.validator.autoregister_listeners=false
        </value>
    </property>
    <!-- validation is performed by "hand" (see http://opensource.atlassian.com/projects/hibernate/browse/HV-281) 
    <property name="eventListeners">
        <map>
            <entry key="pre-insert" value-ref="beanValidationEventListener" />
            <entry key="pre-update" value-ref="beanValidationEventListener" />
        </map>
    </property>
     -->
    <property name="entityInterceptor">
        <bean class="com.rreps.core.dao.hibernate.interceptor.TrackingInterceptor" />
    </property>
</bean>

<bean id="simpleSessionFactory" class="org.springframework.orm.hibernate3.annotation.AnnotationSessionFactoryBean">
    <property name="dataSource" ref="dataSource" />
    <property name="configLocation" value="classpath:hibernate.cfg.xml" />
    <property name="hibernateProperties">
        <value>
            hibernate.dialect=${hibernate.dialect}
            hibernate.query.substitutions=true 'Y', false 'N'
            hibernate.cache.use_second_level_cache=true
            hibernate.cache.provider_class=net.sf.ehcache.hibernate.SingletonEhCacheProvider
            hibernate.hbm2ddl.auto=update
            hibernate.c3p0.acquire_increment=5
            hibernate.c3p0.idle_test_period=3600
            hibernate.c3p0.timeout=10800
            hibernate.c3p0.max_size=25
            hibernate.c3p0.min_size=1
            hibernate.show_sql=false
            hibernate.validator.autoregister_listeners=false
        </value>
    </property>
    <!-- property name="eventListeners">
        <map>
            <entry key="pre-insert" value-ref="beanValidationEventListener" />
            <entry key="pre-update" value-ref="beanValidationEventListener" />
        </map>
    </property-->
</bean>

<bean id="sequenceSessionFactory" class="org.springframework.orm.hibernate3.annotation.AnnotationSessionFactoryBean">
    <property name="dataSource" ref="dataSource" />
    <property name="configLocation" value="classpath:hibernate.cfg.xml" />
    <property name="hibernateProperties">
        <value>
            hibernate.dialect=${hibernate.dialect}
            hibernate.query.substitutions=true 'Y', false 'N'
            hibernate.cache.use_second_level_cache=true
            hibernate.cache.provider_class=net.sf.ehcache.hibernate.SingletonEhCacheProvider
            hibernate.hbm2ddl.auto=update
            hibernate.c3p0.acquire_increment=5
            hibernate.c3p0.idle_test_period=3600
            hibernate.c3p0.timeout=10800
            hibernate.c3p0.max_size=25
            hibernate.c3p0.min_size=1
            hibernate.show_sql=false
            hibernate.validator.autoregister_listeners=false
        </value>
    </property>
</bean>

<bean id="validationFactory" class="javax.validation.Validation" factory-method="buildDefaultValidatorFactory" />

<!-- bean id="beanValidationEventListener" class="org.hibernate.cfg.beanvalidation.BeanValidationEventListener">
    <constructor-arg index="0" ref="validationFactory" />
    <constructor-arg index="1">
        <props/>
    </constructor-arg>
</bean-->

<!-- Enable @Transactional support -->
<tx:annotation-driven transaction-manager="transactionManager"/>

<bean id="transactionManager"
    class="org.springframework.orm.hibernate3.HibernateTransactionManager">
    <property name="sessionFactory" ref="auditedSessionFactory" />
</bean>

<security:authentication-manager alias="authenticationManager">
    <security:authentication-provider user-service-ref="userDetailsService" />
</security:authentication-manager>

<bean id="userDetailsService" class="com.rreps.core.service.impl.UserDetailsServiceImpl" />

<!-- ACL stuff -->
<bean id="aclCache" class="org.springframework.security.acls.domain.EhCacheBasedAclCache">
    <constructor-arg>
        <bean class="org.springframework.cache.ehcache.EhCacheFactoryBean">
            <property name="cacheManager">
                <bean class="org.springframework.cache.ehcache.EhCacheManagerFactoryBean"/>
            </property>
            <property name="cacheName" value="aclCache"/>
        </bean>
    </constructor-arg>
</bean>
<bean id="lookupStrategy" class="org.springframework.security.acls.jdbc.BasicLookupStrategy">
    <constructor-arg ref="dataSource"/>
    <constructor-arg ref="aclCache"/>
    <constructor-arg>
        <bean class="org.springframework.security.acls.domain.AclAuthorizationStrategyImpl">
            <constructor-arg>
                <list>
                    <bean class="org.springframework.security.core.authority.GrantedAuthorityImpl">
                        <constructor-arg value="ROLE_ADMINISTRATEUR"/>
                    </bean>
                    <bean class="org.springframework.security.core.authority.GrantedAuthorityImpl">
                        <constructor-arg value="ROLE_ADMINISTRATEUR"/>
                    </bean>
                    <bean class="org.springframework.security.core.authority.GrantedAuthorityImpl">
                        <constructor-arg value="ROLE_ADMINISTRATEUR"/>
                    </bean>
                </list>
            </constructor-arg>
        </bean>
    </constructor-arg>
    <constructor-arg>
        <bean class="org.springframework.security.acls.domain.ConsoleAuditLogger"/>
    </constructor-arg>
</bean>
<bean id="aclService" class="com.rreps.core.service.impl.MysqlJdbcMutableAclService">
    <constructor-arg ref="dataSource"/>
    <constructor-arg ref="lookupStrategy"/>
    <constructor-arg ref="aclCache"/>
</bean>

The strange thing is that the context starts normally when deployed in a webapp and @PreAuthorize and @PostFilter annotations are working fine as well...

Any idea what is wrong?

Here is the end of the stacktrace :

... 55 more

Caused by: org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Error creating bean with name 'dataSource' defined in class path resource [applicationContext-core.xml]: Initialization of bean failed; nested exception is org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Error creating bean with name 'org.springframework.transaction.config.internalTransactionAdvisor': Cannot resolve reference to bean 'org.springframework.transaction.annotation.AnnotationTransactionAttributeSource#0' while setting bean property 'transactionAttributeSource'; nested exception is org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Error creating bean with name 'org.springframework.transaction.annotation.AnnotationTransactionAttributeSource#0': Initialization of bean failed; nested exception is java.lang.NullPointerException at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.doCreateBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:521) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.createBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:450) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory$1.getObject(AbstractBeanFactory.java:290) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.getSingleton(DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.java:222) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.doGetBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:287) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.getBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:189) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.BeanDefinitionValueResolver.resolveReference(BeanDefinitionValueResolver.java:322) ... 67 more Caused by: org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Error creating bean with name 'org.springframework.transaction.config.internalTransactionAdvisor': Cannot resolve reference to bean 'org.springframework.transaction.annotation.AnnotationTransactionAttributeSource#0' while setting bean property 'transactionAttributeSource'; nested exception is org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Error creating bean with name 'org.springframework.transaction.annotation.AnnotationTransactionAttributeSource#0': Initialization of bean failed; nested exception is java.lang.NullPointerException at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.BeanDefinitionValueResolver.resolveReference(BeanDefinitionValueResolver.java:328) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.BeanDefinitionValueResolver.resolveValueIfNecessary(BeanDefinitionValueResolver.java:106) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.applyPropertyValues(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:1308) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.populateBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:1067) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.doCreateBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:511) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.createBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:450) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory$1.getObject(AbstractBeanFactory.java:290) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.getSingleton(DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.java:222) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.doGetBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:287) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.getBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:193) at org.springframework.aop.framework.autoproxy.BeanFactoryAdvisorRetrievalHelper.findAdvisorBeans(BeanFactoryAdvisorRetrievalHelper.java:86) at org.springframework.aop.framework.autoproxy.AbstractAdvisorAutoProxyCreator.findCandidateAdvisors(AbstractAdvisorAutoProxyCreator.java:100) at org.springframework.aop.framework.autoproxy.AbstractAdvisorAutoProxyCreator.findEligibleAdvisors(AbstractAdvisorAutoProxyCreator.java:86) at org.springframework.aop.framework.autoproxy.AbstractAdvisorAutoProxyCreator.getAdvicesAndAdvisorsForBean(AbstractAdvisorAutoProxyCreator.java:68) at org.springframework.aop.framework.autoproxy.AbstractAutoProxyCreator.wrapIfNecessary(AbstractAutoProxyCreator.java:359) at org.springframework.aop.framework.autoproxy.AbstractAutoProxyCreator.postProcessAfterInitialization(AbstractAutoProxyCreator.java:322) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.applyBeanPostProcessorsAfterInitialization(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:404) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.initializeBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:1409) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.doCreateBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:513) ... 73 more Caused by: org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Error creating bean with name 'org.springframework.transaction.annotation.AnnotationTransactionAttributeSource#0': Initialization of bean failed; nested exception is java.lang.NullPointerException at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.doCreateBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:521) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.createBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:450) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory$1.getObject(AbstractBeanFactory.java:290) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.getSingleton(DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.java:222) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.doGetBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:287) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.getBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:189) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.BeanDefinitionValueResolver.resolveReference(BeanDefinitionValueResolver.java:322) ... 91 more Caused by: java.lang.NullPointerException at org.springframework.security.access.method.DelegatingMethodSecurityMetadataSource.getAttributes(DelegatingMethodSecurityMetadataSource.java:52) at org.springframework.security.access.intercept.aopalliance.MethodSecurityMetadataSourceAdvisor$MethodSecurityMetadataSourcePointcut.matches(MethodSecurityMetadataSourceAdvisor.java:129) at org.springframework.aop.support.AopUtils.canApply(AopUtils.java:215) at org.springframework.aop.support.AopUtils.canApply(AopUtils.java:252) at org.springframework.aop.support.AopUtils.findAdvisorsThatCanApply(AopUtils.java:284) at org.springframework.aop.framework.autoproxy.AbstractAdvisorAutoProxyCreator.findAdvisorsThatCanApply(AbstractAdvisorAutoProxyCreator.java:117) at org.springframework.aop.framework.autoproxy.AbstractAdvisorAutoProxyCreator.findEligibleAdvisors(AbstractAdvisorAutoProxyCreator.java:87) at org.springframework.aop.framework.autoproxy.AbstractAdvisorAutoProxyCreator.getAdvicesAndAdvisorsForBean(AbstractAdvisorAutoProxyCreator.java:68) at org.springframework.aop.framework.autoproxy.AbstractAutoProxyCreator.wrapIfNecessary(AbstractAutoProxyCreator.java:359) at org.springframework.aop.framework.autoproxy.AbstractAutoProxyCreator.postProcessAfterInitialization(AbstractAutoProxyCreator.java:322) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.applyBeanPostProcessorsAfterInitialization(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:404) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.initializeBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:1409) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.doCreateBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:513) ... 97 more