Kong errors with 3.8.0 version and we get ssl cert errors in indexing 'plugins_iterator' and 'core_cache' (nil value)

[steward93]

Is there an existing issue for this?

• I have searched the existing issues

Kong version ($ kong version)

3.8.0

Current Behavior

Hi,

I'm trying to host static content via nginx and making kong configuration changes as per my requirement and seems kong process is coming up fine but when I try to access my URL for first time. I do get below error however when i reload my page on 2nd attempt it gets loaded fine.

I do see some errors in logs when the first time hit fails in error.log 'execute global plugins iterator. Any assistance please to get rid of this alert?. I operate kong in db less mode and do not use any plugins but to overcome this error I did add plugins = bundled so that it invokes default plugin bundles from /usr/local/share/lua/5.1/kong/plugins/ but still no luck. I validated my ssl certs using openssl and able to print content of certs in CLI and get verify ok status message?

    /usr/local/share/lua/5.1/kong/init.lua: in function 'execute_global_plugins_iterator'
    /usr/local/share/lua/5.1/kong/init.lua:1032: in function 'ssl_certificate'
    ssl_certificate_by_lua(nginx.conf:137):2: in main chunk, context: ssl_certificate_by_lua*, client: 10.0.224.4, server: 0.0.0.0:8443

2025/03/04 08:01:02 [alert] 1977664#0: 1562 [lua] init.lua:1025: ssl_certificate(): unsafe request processing due to earlier initialization errors; this node must be restarted (failed to instantiate 'kong.worker_events' module: failed to disable listening: unix:/prod/app/kong/sockets/we), context: ssl_certificate_by_lua, client: 10.0.224.4, server: 0.0.0.0:8443
2025/03/04 08:01:02 [error] 1977664#0: *1562 lua entry thread aborted: runtime error: /usr/local/share/lua/5.1/kong/init.lua:316: attempt to index local 'plugins_iterator' (a nil value)

2025/03/04 11:11:32 [error] 2015706#0: *1013 lua entry thread aborted: runtime error: /usr/local/share/lua/5.1/kong/runloop/certificate.lua:291: attempt to index field 'core_cache' (a nil value)
stack traceback:
coroutine 0:
/usr/local/share/lua/5.1/kong/runloop/certificate.lua: in function 'find_certificate'
/usr/local/share/lua/5.1/kong/runloop/certificate.lua:340: in function 'execute'
/usr/local/share/lua/5.1/kong/init.lua:1030: in function 'ssl_certificate'

Expected Behavior

I should able to access the URL on my first attempt itself.

Steps To Reproduce

No response

Anything else?

No response