GeoWebCache issue communitcating to Geoserver

Hello Geoserver friends,

does anyone have any tips on how to navigate/debug this issue?

I have a docker installation of Geonode 4.2.x + Geosever.

I must have tweaked some of the security settings at some point of time. However everything seemed to be working fine. And it seems like spontaneously vector tiles stopped working.

here is the error trace from the geoserver log

when i make a request to WMTS

https://my.domain/geoserver/gwc/service/wmts?REQUEST=GetTile&SERVICE=WMTS&VERSION=1.0.0&LAYER=geonode:some_layer&STYLE=&TILEMATRIX=EPSG:4326:12&TILEMATRIXSET=EPSG:4326&FORMAT=application/vnd.mapbox-vector-tile&TILECOL=1652&TILEROW=946

21 Aug 18:50:54 WARN [geoserver.geofence] - No user given 21 Aug 18:50:54 WARN [geoserver.geofence] - No user given 21 Aug 18:50:54 ERROR [geowebcache.GeoWebCacheDispatcher] - Problem communicating with GeoServer http://geoserver:8080/geoserver/gwc/service/wmts 21 Aug 18:50:54 ERROR [geowebcache.GeoWebCacheDispatcher] - Request failed org.geowebcache.GeoWebCacheException: Problem communicating with GeoServer at org.geoserver.gwc.layer.GeoServerTileLayer.getMetatilingReponse(GeoServerTileLayer.java:621) at org.geoserver.gwc.layer.GeoServerTileLayer.getTile(GeoServerTileLayer.java:558) at org.geowebcache.util.ResponseUtils.writeTile(ResponseUtils.java:101) at org.geowebcache.GeoWebCacheDispatcher.handleServiceRequest(GeoWebCacheDispatcher.java:428) at org.geowebcache.GeoWebCacheDispatcher.handleRequestInternal(GeoWebCacheDispatcher.java:288) at org.springframework.web.servlet.mvc.AbstractController.handleRequest(AbstractController.java:177) at org.geoserver.gwc.dispatch.GwcServiceProxy.dispatch(GwcServiceProxy.java:87) at jdk.internal.reflect.GeneratedMethodAccessor729.invoke(Unknown Source) at java.base/jdk.internal.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43) at java.base/java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:566) at org.geoserver.ows.Dispatcher.execute(Dispatcher.java:867) at org.geoserver.ows.Dispatcher.handleRequestInternal(Dispatcher.java:268) at org.springframework.web.servlet.mvc.AbstractController.handleRequest(AbstractController.java:177) at org.springframework.web.servlet.mvc.SimpleControllerHandlerAdapter.handle(SimpleControllerHandlerAdapter.java:51) at org.springframework.web.servlet.DispatcherServlet.doDispatch(DispatcherServlet.java:1072) at org.springframework.web.servlet.DispatcherServlet.doService(DispatcherServlet.java:965) at org.springframework.web.servlet.FrameworkServlet.processRequest(FrameworkServlet.java:1006) at org.springframework.web.servlet.FrameworkServlet.doGet(FrameworkServlet.java:898) at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:529) at org.springframework.web.servlet.FrameworkServlet.service(FrameworkServlet.java:883) at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:623) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:209) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:153) at org.apache.tomcat.websocket.server.WsFilter.doFilter(WsFilter.java:51) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:178) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:153) at org.apache.catalina.filters.CorsFilter.handleNonCORS(CorsFilter.java:331) at org.apache.catalina.filters.CorsFilter.doFilter(CorsFilter.java:158) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:178) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:153) at org.geoserver.filters.ThreadLocalsCleanupFilter.doFilter(ThreadLocalsCleanupFilter.java:28) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:178) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:153) at org.geoserver.filters.SpringDelegatingFilter$Chain.doFilter(SpringDelegatingFilter.java:73) at org.geoserver.monitor.MonitorFilter.doFilter(MonitorFilter.java:105) at org.geoserver.filters.SpringDelegatingFilter$Chain.doFilter(SpringDelegatingFilter.java:70) at org.geoserver.ows.HTTPHeadersCollector.doFilter(HTTPHeadersCollector.java:48) at org.geoserver.filters.SpringDelegatingFilter$Chain.doFilter(SpringDelegatingFilter.java:70) at org.geoserver.filters.HTTPMethodFilter.doFilter(HTTPMethodFilter.java:36) at org.geoserver.filters.SpringDelegatingFilter$Chain.doFilter(SpringDelegatingFilter.java:70) at org.geoserver.filters.LoggingFilter.doFilter(LoggingFilter.java:194) at org.geoserver.filters.SpringDelegatingFilter$Chain.doFilter(SpringDelegatingFilter.java:70) at org.geoserver.flow.controller.IpBlacklistFilter.doFilter(IpBlacklistFilter.java:89) at org.geoserver.filters.SpringDelegatingFilter$Chain.doFilter(SpringDelegatingFilter.java:70) at org.geoserver.filters.SpringDelegatingFilter.doFilter(SpringDelegatingFilter.java:43) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:178) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:153) at org.geoserver.platform.AdvancedDispatchFilter.doFilter(AdvancedDispatchFilter.java:39) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:178) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:153) at org.springframework.security.web.FilterChainProxy.doFilterInternal(FilterChainProxy.java:214) at org.springframework.security.web.FilterChainProxy.doFilter(FilterChainProxy.java:186) at org.geoserver.security.GeoServerSecurityFilterChainProxy.doFilter(GeoServerSecurityFilterChainProxy.java:142) at org.springframework.web.filter.DelegatingFilterProxy.invokeDelegate(DelegatingFilterProxy.java:354) at org.springframework.web.filter.DelegatingFilterProxy.doFilter(DelegatingFilterProxy.java:267) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:178) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:153) at org.geoserver.filters.XFrameOptionsFilter.doFilter(XFrameOptionsFilter.java:100) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:178) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:153) at org.geoserver.filters.GZIPFilter.doFilter(GZIPFilter.java:48) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:178) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:153) at org.geoserver.filters.SessionDebugFilter.doFilter(SessionDebugFilter.java:49) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:178) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:153) at org.geoserver.filters.FlushSafeFilter.doFilter(FlushSafeFilter.java:42) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:178) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:153) at org.springframework.web.filter.CharacterEncodingFilter.doFilterInternal(CharacterEncodingFilter.java:201) at org.springframework.web.filter.OncePerRequestFilter.doFilter(OncePerRequestFilter.java:117) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:178) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:153) at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardWrapperValve.invoke(StandardWrapperValve.java:168) at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContextValve.invoke(StandardContextValve.java:90) at org.apache.catalina.authenticator.AuthenticatorBase.invoke(AuthenticatorBase.java:481) at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardHostValve.invoke(StandardHostValve.java:130) at org.apache.catalina.valves.ErrorReportValve.invoke(ErrorReportValve.java:93) at org.apache.catalina.valves.AbstractAccessLogValve.invoke(AbstractAccessLogValve.java:670) at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardEngineValve.invoke(StandardEngineValve.java:74) at org.apache.catalina.connector.CoyoteAdapter.service(CoyoteAdapter.java:342) at org.apache.coyote.http11.Http11Processor.service(Http11Processor.java:390) at org.apache.coyote.AbstractProcessorLight.process(AbstractProcessorLight.java:63) at org.apache.coyote.AbstractProtocol$ConnectionHandler.process(AbstractProtocol.java:928) at org.apache.tomcat.util.net.NioEndpoint$SocketProcessor.doRun(NioEndpoint.java:1794) at org.apache.tomcat.util.net.SocketProcessorBase.run(SocketProcessorBase.java:52) at org.apache.tomcat.util.threads.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1191) at org.apache.tomcat.util.threads.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:659) at org.apache.tomcat.util.threads.TaskThread$WrappingRunnable.run(TaskThread.java:61) at java.base/java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:829) Caused by: java.lang.IllegalStateException: Expected: RenderedImageMap, got null at org.geoserver.gwc.layer.GeoServerTileLayer.dispatchGetMap(GeoServerTileLayer.java:696) at org.geoserver.gwc.layer.GeoServerTileLayer.getMetatilingReponse(GeoServerTileLayer.java:613)