Unable to create issues using mail handler when custom fields are not configured for any context

How to reproduce

1. Edit a custom field
2. Modify the context to remove all context associations
3. Try to create an issue through mail handler

Diagnosis

1. Issues are not created by the mail handler.
2. The following NullPointerException appears in the atlassian-jira-incoming-mail.log file

   2014-08-25 11:50:53,067 WARN [jira@jiraserver] atlassian-scheduler-quartz1.clustered_Worker-4 ServiceRunner    Systems Issue Email Handler Systems Issue Email Handler[10010]: Unable to create issue with message.
   java.lang.NullPointerException
   	at com.atlassian.jira.issue.customfields.impl.MultiSelectCFType.getDefaultValue(MultiSelectCFType.java:205)
   	at com.atlassian.jira.issue.customfields.impl.MultiSelectCFType.getDefaultValue(MultiSelectCFType.java:83)
   	at com.atlassian.jira.issue.fields.CustomFieldImpl.getDefaultValue(CustomFieldImpl.java:1248)
   	at com.atlassian.jira.plugins.mail.handlers.CreateIssueHandler.handleMessage(CreateIssueHandler.java:248)
   	at com.atlassian.jira.plugins.mail.handlers.CreateOrCommentHandler.handleMessage(CreateOrCommentHandler.java:133)
   	at com.atlassian.jira.service.services.mail.MailFetcherService$1.process(MailFetcherService.java:413)
   	at com.atlassian.jira.service.services.mail.MailFetcherService$MessageProviderImpl.getAndProcessMail(MailFetcherService.java:306)
   	at com.atlassian.jira.service.services.mail.MailFetcherService.runImpl(MailFetcherService.java:401)
   	at com.atlassian.jira.service.services.file.AbstractMessageHandlingService.run(AbstractMessageHandlingService.java:261)
   	at com.atlassian.jira.service.JiraServiceContainerImpl.run(JiraServiceContainerImpl.java:66)
   	at com.atlassian.jira.service.ServiceRunner.runService(ServiceRunner.java:75)
   	at com.atlassian.jira.service.ServiceRunner.runServiceId(ServiceRunner.java:53)
   	at com.atlassian.jira.service.ServiceRunner.runJob(ServiceRunner.java:36)
   	at com.atlassian.scheduler.core.JobLauncher.runJob(JobLauncher.java:135)
   	at com.atlassian.scheduler.core.JobLauncher.launchAndBuildResponse(JobLauncher.java:101)
   	at com.atlassian.scheduler.core.JobLauncher.launch(JobLauncher.java:80)
   	at com.atlassian.scheduler.quartz1.Quartz1Job.execute(Quartz1Job.java:32)
   	at org.quartz.core.JobRunShell.run(JobRunShell.java:223)
   	at org.quartz.simpl.SimpleThreadPool$WorkerThread.run(SimpleThreadPool.java:549)
   

   or

   2014-08-26 00:41:32,362 WARN [jira@jiraserver] atlassian-scheduler-quartz1.clustered_Worker-3 ServiceRunner Systems Issue Email Handler Systems Issue Email Handler[10010]: Unable to create issue with message.
   java.lang.NullPointerException
   at com.atlassian.jira.issue.customfields.impl.SelectCFType.getDefaultValue(SelectCFType.java:244)
   at com.atlassian.jira.issue.customfields.impl.SelectCFType.getDefaultValue(SelectCFType.java:69)
   at com.atlassian.jira.issue.fields.CustomFieldImpl.getDefaultValue(CustomFieldImpl.java:1248)
   at com.atlassian.jira.plugins.mail.handlers.CreateIssueHandler.handleMessage(CreateIssueHandler.java:248)
   at com.atlassian.jira.service.services.mail.MailFetcherService$1.process(MailFetcherService.java:413)
   at com.atlassian.jira.service.services.mail.MailFetcherService$MessageProviderImpl.getAndProcessMail(MailFetcherService.java:306)
   at com.atlassian.jira.service.services.mail.MailFetcherService.runImpl(MailFetcherService.java:401)
   at com.atlassian.jira.service.services.file.AbstractMessageHandlingService.run(AbstractMessageHandlingService.java:261)
   at com.atlassian.jira.service.JiraServiceContainerImpl.run(JiraServiceContainerImpl.java:66)
   at com.atlassian.jira.service.ServiceRunner.runService(ServiceRunner.java:75)
   at com.atlassian.jira.service.ServiceRunner.runServiceId(ServiceRunner.java:53)
   at com.atlassian.jira.service.ServiceRunner.runJob(ServiceRunner.java:36)
   at com.atlassian.scheduler.core.JobLauncher.runJob(JobLauncher.java:135)
   at com.atlassian.scheduler.core.JobLauncher.launchAndBuildResponse(JobLauncher.java:101)
   at com.atlassian.scheduler.core.JobLauncher.launch(JobLauncher.java:80)
   at com.atlassian.scheduler.quartz1.Quartz1Job.execute(Quartz1Job.java:32)
   at org.quartz.core.JobRunShell.run(JobRunShell.java:223)
   at org.quartz.simpl.SimpleThreadPool$WorkerThread.run(SimpleThreadPool.java:549)
   

   or

   2014-09-05 15:04:27,246 atlassian-scheduler-quartz1.clustered_Worker-2 WARN ServiceRunner    Create Helpdesk Issue [atlassian.mail.incoming.mailfetcherservice] Create Helpdesk Issue[10030]: Unable to create issue with message.
   java.lang.NullPointerException
           at com.atlassian.jira.issue.customfields.impl.AbstractMultiCFType.getDefaultValue(AbstractMultiCFType.java:88)
           at com.atlassian.jira.issue.customfields.impl.AbstractMultiCFType.getDefaultValue(AbstractMultiCFType.java:39)
           at com.atlassian.jira.issue.fields.CustomFieldImpl.getDefaultValue(CustomFieldImpl.java:1248)
           at com.atlassian.jira.plugins.mail.handlers.CreateIssueHandler.handleMessage(CreateIssueHandler.java:248)
           at com.atlassian.jira.plugins.mail.handlers.CreateOrCommentHandler.handleMessage(CreateOrCommentHandler.java:133)
           at com.atlassian.jira.service.services.mail.MailFetcherService$1.process(MailFetcherService.java:413)
           at com.atlassian.jira.service.services.mail.MailFetcherService$MessageProviderImpl.getAndProcessMail(MailFetcherService.java:306)
           at com.atlassian.jira.service.services.mail.MailFetcherService.runImpl(MailFetcherService.java:401)
           at com.atlassian.jira.service.services.file.AbstractMessageHandlingService.run(AbstractMessageHandlingService.java:261)
           at com.atlassian.jira.service.JiraServiceContainerImpl.run(JiraServiceContainerImpl.java:66)
           at com.atlassian.jira.service.ServiceRunner.runService(ServiceRunner.java:75)
           at com.atlassian.jira.service.ServiceRunner.runServiceId(ServiceRunner.java:53)
           at com.atlassian.jira.service.ServiceRunner.runJob(ServiceRunner.java:36)
           at com.atlassian.scheduler.core.JobLauncher.runJob(JobLauncher.java:135)
           at com.atlassian.scheduler.core.JobLauncher.launchAndBuildResponse(JobLauncher.java:101)
           at com.atlassian.scheduler.core.JobLauncher.launch(JobLauncher.java:80)
           at com.atlassian.scheduler.quartz1.Quartz1Job.execute(Quartz1Job.java:32)
           at org.quartz.core.JobRunShell.run(JobRunShell.java:223)
           at org.quartz.simpl.SimpleThreadPool$WorkerThread.run(SimpleThreadPool.java:549)
   

   or

   2014-09-20 12:43:42,879 WARN [jira] atlassian-scheduler-quartz1.clustered_Worker-3 ServiceRunner    Create issues via email Create issues via email[10101]: Unable to create issue with message.
   java.lang.NullPointerException
   	at com.atlassian.jira.issue.customfields.impl.LabelsCFType.getDefaultValue(LabelsCFType.java:147)
   	at com.atlassian.jira.issue.customfields.impl.LabelsCFType.getDefaultValue(LabelsCFType.java:73)
   	at com.atlassian.jira.issue.fields.CustomFieldImpl.getDefaultValue(CustomFieldImpl.java:1248)
   

Resolution

1. Browse to JIRA Administration > Issues > Custom Fields.
2. Look for any fields with the Available Context(s) of "Not configured for any context".
3. Configure them (click on the cog icon > Configure).
4. Edit the configuration.
5. Select the appropriate context as per Configuring a Custom Field.
6. If the custom field has multiple contexts defined, then delete either of the contexts. (Note that to avoid this configuration change, you will need to upgrade to 6.3.5 or latest JIRA version to have the bug fix.)
7. Repeat this for all custom fields with the problem "Not configured for any context".
8. Verify if JIRA is able to create issues from emails.