From 62accc3fa39069e4de51489e2240ce45e021a00b Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Ryan Kurtz <ryanmkurtz@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Mon, 21 Sep 2026 11:14:39 -0400
Subject: [PATCH] GP-7298: The ProgramLoader and ImportBatchTask now properly
 validate loader options

---
 .../app/util/headless/HeadlessAnalyzer.java   | 11 +------
 .../app/util/importer/ProgramLoader.java      | 31 ++++++++++++-------
 .../java/ghidra/app/util/opinion/Loader.java  |  4 +--
 .../importer/tasks/ImportBatchTask.java       | 13 ++++++--
 4 files changed, 33 insertions(+), 26 deletions(-)

diff --git a/Ghidra/Features/Base/src/main/java/ghidra/app/util/headless/HeadlessAnalyzer.java b/Ghidra/Features/Base/src/main/java/ghidra/app/util/headless/HeadlessAnalyzer.java
index c4f196209d..d2c3902b5a 100644
--- a/Ghidra/Features/Base/src/main/java/ghidra/app/util/headless/HeadlessAnalyzer.java
+++ b/Ghidra/Features/Base/src/main/java/ghidra/app/util/headless/HeadlessAnalyzer.java
@@ -1665,16 +1665,7 @@ public class HeadlessAnalyzer {
 			return true;
 		}
 		catch (LoadException e) {
-			Msg.error(this, "The ProgramLoader could not successfully load " + fsrl +
-				" with the provided import parameters. Please ensure that any specified" +
-				" processor/cspec arguments are compatible with the loader that is used during" +
-				" import and try again.");
-			if (options.loaderClass != null && options.loaderClass != BinaryLoader.class) {
-				Msg.error(this,
-					"NOTE: Import failure may be due to missing opinion for \"" +
-						options.loaderClass.getSimpleName() +
-						"\". If so, please contact Ghidra team for assistance.");
-			}
+			Msg.error(this, "REPORT: " + e.getMessage());
 			return false;
 		}
 		catch (Exception e) {
diff --git a/Ghidra/Features/Base/src/main/java/ghidra/app/util/importer/ProgramLoader.java b/Ghidra/Features/Base/src/main/java/ghidra/app/util/importer/ProgramLoader.java
index 5fb0452b59..f51abed8e2 100644
--- a/Ghidra/Features/Base/src/main/java/ghidra/app/util/importer/ProgramLoader.java
+++ b/Ghidra/Features/Base/src/main/java/ghidra/app/util/importer/ProgramLoader.java
@@ -629,8 +629,9 @@ public class ProgramLoader {
 			LoadSpec loadSpec = loadSpecChooser.choose(loaderMap);
 			if (loadSpec == null) {
 				String name = Objects.requireNonNullElse(p.getName(), "???");
-				Msg.info(ProgramLoader.class, "No load spec found for import file: " + name);
-				throw new LoadException("No load spec found");
+				throw new LoadException(
+					"No load spec found. Loader/processor/cspec not compatible with import file: " +
+						name);
 			}
 			return loadSpec;
 		}
@@ -642,12 +643,12 @@ public class ProgramLoader {
 		 * @param loadSpec The {@link LoadSpec}
 		 * @return The {@link Loader} {@link Option}s, with any loader arguments applied
 		 * @throws LanguageNotFoundException if there was a problem getting the language
-		 * @throws LoadException if the {@link Loader} had {@code null} options
+		 * @throws LoadException if the {@link Loader} had {@code null} or invalid options
 		 */
 		private List<Option> getLoaderOptions(ByteProvider p, LoadSpec loadSpec)
 				throws LanguageNotFoundException, LoadException {
-			List<Option> options =
-				loadSpec.getLoader().getDefaultOptions(p, loadSpec, null, false, mirror);
+			Loader loader = loadSpec.getLoader();
+			List<Option> options = loader.getDefaultOptions(p, loadSpec, null, false, mirror);
 			if (options == null) {
 				throw new LoadException("Cannot load with null options");
 			}
@@ -673,15 +674,14 @@ public class ProgramLoader {
 					if (option.getArg() != null && arg.equalsIgnoreCase(option.getArg())) {
 						Object oldVal = option.getValue();
 						if (option.parseAndSetValueByType(val, addrFactory)) {
-							Msg.info(ProgramLoader.class, String.format(
-								"Successfully applied \"%s\" to \"%s\" (old: \"%s\", new: \"%s\")",
-								arg, option.getName(), oldVal, val));
+							Msg.info(ProgramLoader.class,
+								"Applied \"%s\" to \"%s\" (old: \"%s\", new: \"%s\")".formatted(arg,
+									option.getName(), oldVal, val));
 						}
 						else {
-							Msg.error(ProgramLoader.class, String.format(
-								"Failed to apply \"%s\" to \"%s\" (old: \"%s\", bad: \"%s\")", arg,
-								option.getName(), oldVal, val));
-							return null;
+							throw new LoadException(
+								"Failed to apply \"%s\" to \"%s\" (old: \"%s\", bad: \"%s\")"
+										.formatted(arg, option.getName(), oldVal, val));
 						}
 						foundIt = true;
 						break;
@@ -691,6 +691,13 @@ public class ProgramLoader {
 					Msg.warn(ProgramLoader.class, "Skipping unsupported " + arg + " argument");
 				}
 			}
+
+			String error = loader.validateOptions(p, loadSpec, options, null);
+			if (error != null) {
+				throw new LoadException("Options are not valid for %s: %s"
+						.formatted(loader.getClass().getSimpleName(), error));
+			}
+
 			return options;
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/Ghidra/Features/Base/src/main/java/ghidra/app/util/opinion/Loader.java b/Ghidra/Features/Base/src/main/java/ghidra/app/util/opinion/Loader.java
index d0411f7779..3e7ea06289 100644
--- a/Ghidra/Features/Base/src/main/java/ghidra/app/util/opinion/Loader.java
+++ b/Ghidra/Features/Base/src/main/java/ghidra/app/util/opinion/Loader.java
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ public interface Loader extends ExtensionPoint, Comparable<Loader> {
 		SystemUtilities.getBooleanProperty("disable.loader.logging", false);
 
 	/**
-	 * A {@link Loader} configuration
+	 * Generic settings acquired from the importer, used to configure the load.
 	 * 
 	 * @param provider The bytes to load.
 	 * @param importName The name for the primary {@link Loaded} {@link DomainObject}. Path 
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ public interface Loader extends ExtensionPoint, Comparable<Loader> {
 	 * @param mirrorFsLayout True if the filesystem layout should be mirrored when 
 	 *   {@link LoadResults#save(TaskMonitor) saving}; otherwise, false
 	 * @param loadSpec The {@link LoadSpec} to use during load.
-	 * @param options The load options.
+	 * @param options Loader-specific options (could be null).
 	 * @param consumer A reference to the object "consuming" the returned {@link LoadResults}, used
 	 *   to ensure the underlying {@link Program}s are only closed when every consumer is done
 	 *   with it (see {@link LoadResults#close()}).
diff --git a/Ghidra/Features/Base/src/main/java/ghidra/plugins/importer/tasks/ImportBatchTask.java b/Ghidra/Features/Base/src/main/java/ghidra/plugins/importer/tasks/ImportBatchTask.java
index 86aa2f32f2..158c7367a0 100644
--- a/Ghidra/Features/Base/src/main/java/ghidra/plugins/importer/tasks/ImportBatchTask.java
+++ b/Ghidra/Features/Base/src/main/java/ghidra/plugins/importer/tasks/ImportBatchTask.java
@@ -146,10 +146,19 @@ public class ImportBatchTask extends Task {
 			try {
 				MessageLog messageLog = new MessageLog();
 				Project project = AppInfo.getActiveProject();
+				List<Option> options = getOptionsFor(batchLoadConfig, loadSpec, byteProvider);
+				if (options != null) {
+					Loader loader = batchLoadConfig.getLoader();
+					String error = loader.validateOptions(byteProvider, loadSpec, options, null);
+					if (error != null) {
+						Msg.error(this, "Options are not valid for %s: %s"
+								.formatted(loader.getClass().getSimpleName(), error));
+						return;
+					}
+				}
 				ImporterSettings settings = new ImporterSettings(byteProvider,
 					fixupProjectFilename(destInfo.second), project, destInfo.first.getPathname(),
-					mirrorFs, loadSpec, getOptionsFor(batchLoadConfig, loadSpec, byteProvider),
-					this, messageLog, monitor);
+					mirrorFs, loadSpec, options, this, messageLog, monitor);
 				try (LoadResults<? extends DomainObject> loadResults =
 					loadSpec.getLoader().load(settings)) {