Lombok toBuilder Null Check

Question

I have a scenario where I am using Lombok @Builder annotation.Previously I was using static inner builder class but now with the use of Lombok I removed it.

But I am seeing fortify issue of null dereference in the following line of code.Also it makes sense as I am checking for null before but later when using toBuilder I am not checking null.How can I fix this fortify issue, should I do a null check for "requestCheck" again when using toBuilder. requestCheck is a object of type Foo.

public Foo checkLatestMessage(Foo requestCheck){

if (requestCheck != null && requestCheck.isCheckLatestMessage()) { // null check
  getLatestMessage(messages);
}

if (someOtherCondition) {
  return requestCheck.toBuilder().addMessages(messages).build(); //Null dereference
}
}

Previously I had the code written in the following way when I was using static inner builder class and not Lombok which did not give any fortify issue.How can I achieve this same thing with Lombok Builder so that I don't have to do a null check.

 return new Foo.Builder(requestCheck).addMessages(messages).build();

Answer 1

If it is possible for requestCheck to be a null, then it should be correctly handled.

public Foo checkLatestMessage(Foo requestCheck){
    if (requestCheck != null)  { // null check
        if(requestCheck.isCheckLatestMessage()) {
            getLatestMessage(messages);
        }
        if (someOtherCondition) {
            return requestCheck.toBuilder().addMessages(messages).build();
        }
    }
}

Or you could return as soon as requestCheck is null.

public Foo checkLatestMessage(Foo requestCheck){
    if (requestCheck == null)  { // null check
        return null;
    }    
    if(requestCheck.isCheckLatestMessage()) {
        getLatestMessage(messages);
    }
    if (someOtherCondition) {
        return requestCheck.toBuilder().addMessages(messages).build();
    }
}