Why does a NPE cause JVM to Crash?

Question

We're using Struts2 for an enterprise application and it crashes because of a NPE. The exception occures in the error handling method of the action. My guess is, it's trying to call the error handling method recursively because when it's trying to handle the error, it gets a new NPE every time. Then the JVM crashes.

But my question is, can this be the real cause of the crash, can a recursive exception cause JVM to crash? What type of situation does the JVM finds itself in, how does this exception effect the thread status in time? As you can see, I'm not so very informative about how the JVM handles threads. Thanks for your replies.

Have a nice day.

Edit: Sorry guys, here's a part of the stacktrace I'm getting. Stacktrace repeats itself endlessly.

java.lang.NullPointerException
    at tr.com.innova.tmh.web.isemri.actions.AbonelikIslemleriUtility.jsUrunNumaraDizisiOlustur(AbonelikIslemleriUtility.java:47)
    at tr.com.innova.tmh.web.siparis.actions.SiparisActionSS.errorDispatcher(SiparisActionSS.java:96)
    at sun.reflect.GeneratedMethodAccessor3132.invoke(Unknown Source)
    at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:25)
    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:597)
    at org.apache.struts.actions.DispatchAction.dispatchMethod(DispatchAction.java:280)
    at org.apache.struts.actions.DispatchAction.execute(DispatchAction.java:216)
    at tr.com.innova.tmh.web.utils.actions.TMHDispatchAction.execute(TMHDispatchAction.java:224)
    at org.apache.struts.action.RequestProcessor.processActionPerform(RequestProcessor.java:484)
    at org.apache.struts.action.RequestProcessor.process(RequestProcessor.java:274)
    at org.apache.struts.action.ActionServlet.process(ActionServlet.java:1482)
    at org.apache.struts.action.ActionServlet.doPost(ActionServlet.java:525)
    at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:727)
    at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:820)
    at weblogic.servlet.internal.StubSecurityHelper$ServletServiceAction.run(StubSecurityHelper.java:227)
    at weblogic.servlet.internal.StubSecurityHelper.invokeServlet(StubSecurityHelper.java:125)
    at weblogic.servlet.internal.ServletStubImpl.execute(ServletStubImpl.java:301)
    at weblogic.servlet.internal.TailFilter.doFilter(TailFilter.java:26)
    at weblogic.servlet.internal.FilterChainImpl.doFilter(FilterChainImpl.java:56)
    at tr.com.innova.tmh.web.ss.filters.WebSecurityFilter.doFilter(WebSecurityFilter.java:62)
    at weblogic.servlet.internal.FilterChainImpl.doFilter(FilterChainImpl.java:56)
    at tr.com.innova.tmh.web.ss.filters.WebLoginFilter.doFilter(WebLoginFilter.java:62)
    at weblogic.servlet.internal.FilterChainImpl.doFilter(FilterChainImpl.java:56)
    at tr.com.innova.tmh.web.surecLog.filter.OHMLoggerFilter.doFilter(OHMLoggerFilter.java:75)
    at weblogic.servlet.internal.FilterChainImpl.doFilter(FilterChainImpl.java:56)
    at tr.com.innova.common.web.filters.SetCharacterEncodingFilter.doFilter(SetCharacterEncodingFilter.java:176)
    at weblogic.servlet.internal.FilterChainImpl.doFilter(FilterChainImpl.java:56)
    at tr.com.innova.tmh.web.utils.filters.XSSFilter.doFilter(XSSFilter.java:16)
    at weblogic.servlet.internal.FilterChainImpl.doFilter(FilterChainImpl.java:56)
    at weblogic.servlet.internal.RequestDispatcherImpl.invokeServlet(RequestDispatcherImpl.java:527)
    at weblogic.servlet.internal.RequestDispatcherImpl.forward(RequestDispatcherImpl.java:253)
    at org.apache.struts.action.RequestProcessor.doForward(RequestProcessor.java:1069)
    at org.apache.struts.tiles.TilesRequestProcessor.doForward(TilesRequestProcessor.java:274)
    at org.apache.struts.action.RequestProcessor.processForwardConfig(RequestProcessor.java:455)
    at org.apache.struts.tiles.TilesRequestProcessor.processForwardConfig(TilesRequestProcessor.java:320)
    at org.apache.struts.action.RequestProcessor.process(RequestProcessor.java:279)
    at org.apache.struts.action.ActionServlet.process(ActionServlet.java:1482)
    at org.apache.struts.action.ActionServlet.doPost(ActionServlet.java:525)
    at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:727)
    at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:820)
    at weblogic.servlet.internal.StubSecurityHelper$ServletServiceAction.run(StubSecurityHelper.java:227)
    at weblogic.servlet.internal.StubSecurityHelper.invokeServlet(StubSecurityHelper.java:125)
    at weblogic.servlet.internal.ServletStubImpl.execute(ServletStubImpl.java:301)
    at weblogic.servlet.internal.TailFilter.doFilter(TailFilter.java:26)
    at weblogic.servlet.internal.FilterChainImpl.doFilter(FilterChainImpl.java:56)
    at tr.com.innova.tmh.web.ss.filters.WebSecurityFilter.doFilter(WebSecurityFilter.java:62)
    at weblogic.servlet.internal.FilterChainImpl.doFilter(FilterChainImpl.java:56)
    at tr.com.innova.tmh.web.ss.filters.WebLoginFilter.doFilter(WebLoginFilter.java:62)
    at weblogic.servlet.internal.FilterChainImpl.doFilter(FilterChainImpl.java:56)
    at tr.com.innova.tmh.web.surecLog.filter.OHMLoggerFilter.doFilter(OHMLoggerFilter.java:75)
    at weblogic.servlet.internal.FilterChainImpl.doFilter(FilterChainImpl.java:56)
    at tr.com.innova.common.web.filters.SetCharacterEncodingFilter.doFilter(SetCharacterEncodingFilter.java:176)
    at weblogic.servlet.internal.FilterChainImpl.doFilter(FilterChainImpl.java:56)
    at tr.com.innova.tmh.web.utils.filters.XSSFilter.doFilter(XSSFilter.java:16)
    at weblogic.servlet.internal.FilterChainImpl.doFilter(FilterChainImpl.java:56)
    at weblogic.servlet.internal.RequestDispatcherImpl.invokeServlet(RequestDispatcherImpl.java:527)
    at weblogic.servlet.internal.RequestDispatcherImpl.forward(RequestDispatcherImpl.java:253)
    at org.apache.struts.action.RequestProcessor.doForward(RequestProcessor.java:1069)
    at org.apache.struts.tiles.TilesRequestProcessor.doForward(TilesRequestProcessor.java:274)
    at org.apache.struts.action.RequestProcessor.processForwardConfig(RequestProcessor.java:455)
    at org.apache.struts.tiles.TilesRequestProcessor.processForwardConfig(TilesRequestProcessor.java:320)
    at org.apache.struts.action.RequestProcessor.process(RequestProcessor.java:279)
    at org.apache.struts.action.ActionServlet.process(ActionServlet.java:1482)
    at org.apache.struts.action.ActionServlet.doPost(ActionServlet.java:525)
    at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:727)
    at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:820)
    at weblogic.servlet.internal.StubSecurityHelper$ServletServiceAction.run(StubSecurityHelper.java:227)
    at weblogic.servlet.internal.StubSecurityHelper.invokeServlet(StubSecurityHelper.java:125)
    at weblogic.servlet.internal.ServletStubImpl.execute(ServletStubImpl.java:301)
    at weblogic.servlet.internal.TailFilter.doFilter(TailFilter.java:26)
    at weblogic.servlet.internal.FilterChainImpl.doFilter(FilterChainImpl.java:56)

Answer 1

It was as I suspected. Error handling cycle causes a recursive NPE and as Polygnome said, JVM crashes because of a StackOverflowError or OutOfMemoryError. Thanks anyway guys.