init, but broken

app/common/src/main/java/stirling/software/common/service/PdfMetadataService.java

@@ -169,7 +169,10 @@ public class PdfMetadataService {
                             .getAuthor();
 
             if (userService != null) {
-                author = author.replace("username", userService.getCurrentUsername());
+                String username = userService.getCurrentUsername();
+                if (username != null) {
+                    author = author.replace("username", username);
+                }
             }
         }
         pdf.getDocumentInformation().setAuthor(author);

app/core/src/main/java/stirling/software/SPDF/controller/api/UIDataController.java

@@ -168,7 +168,8 @@ public class UIDataController {
     public ResponseEntity<SignData> getSignData() {
         String username = "";
         if (userService != null) {
-            username = userService.getCurrentUsername();
+            String currentUsername = userService.getCurrentUsername();
+            username = currentUsername != null ? currentUsername : "";
         }
 
         List<SignatureFile> signatures = signatureService.getAvailableSignatures(username);

app/core/src/test/java/stirling/software/SPDF/service/PdfMetadataServiceTest.java

@@ -191,6 +191,30 @@ class PdfMetadataServiceTest {
         // We don't verify setProducer here to avoid the "Too many actual invocations" error
     }
 
+    @Test
+    void testSetMetadataToPdf_WithProFeaturesAndMissingUsername() {
+        PDDocument testDocument = mock(PDDocument.class);
+        PDDocumentInformation testInfo = mock(PDDocumentInformation.class);
+        when(testDocument.getDocumentInformation()).thenReturn(testInfo);
+
+        PdfMetadataService proService =
+                new PdfMetadataService(
+                        applicationProperties, STIRLING_PDF_LABEL, true, userService);
+
+        PdfMetadata testMetadata = PdfMetadata.builder().author("Original Author").build();
+
+        CustomMetadata customMetadata =
+                applicationProperties.getPremium().getProFeatures().getCustomMetadata();
+        when(customMetadata.isAutoUpdateMetadata()).thenReturn(true);
+        when(customMetadata.getAuthor()).thenReturn("Pro Author username");
+        when(userService.getCurrentUsername()).thenReturn(null);
+
+        proService.setMetadataToPdf(testDocument, testMetadata, false);
+
+        // When username is null, the "username" placeholder should not be replaced
+        verify(testInfo).setAuthor("Pro Author username");
+    }
+
     @Test
     void testSetMetadataToPdf_ExistingDocument() {
         // Create a fresh document

app/proprietary/src/main/java/stirling/software/proprietary/security/service/UserService.java

@@ -522,7 +522,17 @@ public class UserService implements UserServiceInterface {
 
     @Override
     public String getCurrentUsername() {
-        Object principal = SecurityContextHolder.getContext().getAuthentication().getPrincipal();
+        Authentication authentication = SecurityContextHolder.getContext().getAuthentication();
+        if (authentication == null) {
+            log.debug("No authentication found in security context when resolving username");
+            return null;
+        }
+
+        Object principal = authentication.getPrincipal();
+        if (principal == null) {
+            log.debug("No principal found on authentication object when resolving username");
+            return null;
+        }
 
         if (principal instanceof UserDetails detailsUser) {
             return detailsUser.getUsername();

app/proprietary/src/test/java/stirling/software/proprietary/security/service/UserServiceTest.java

@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@ import org.mockito.Mock;
 import org.mockito.Spy;
 import org.mockito.junit.jupiter.MockitoExtension;
 import org.springframework.context.MessageSource;
+import org.springframework.security.authentication.UsernamePasswordAuthenticationToken;
+import org.springframework.security.core.context.SecurityContextHolder;
 import org.springframework.security.crypto.password.PasswordEncoder;
 
 import stirling.software.common.model.ApplicationProperties;
@@ -150,6 +152,25 @@ class UserServiceTest {
         assertEquals(AuthenticationType.SAML2, captured.getAuthenticationType());
     }
 
+    @Test
+    void getCurrentUsernameReturnsNullWhenAuthenticationMissing() {
+        SecurityContextHolder.clearContext();
+
+        assertNull(userService.getCurrentUsername());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void getCurrentUsernameReturnsUsernameForAuthenticatedPrincipal() {
+        SecurityContextHolder.getContext()
+                .setAuthentication(
+                        new UsernamePasswordAuthenticationToken(
+                                "alice", "n/a", java.util.List.of()));
+
+        assertEquals("alice", userService.getCurrentUsername());
+
+        SecurityContextHolder.clearContext();
+    }
+
     @Test
     void addApiKeyToUserGeneratesAndPersists() {
         User user = new User();

build.gradle

@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ springBoot {
 
 allprojects {
     group = 'stirling.software'
-    version = '2.5.3'
+    version = '2.6.0'
 
     configurations.configureEach {
         exclude group: "org.springframework.boot", module: "spring-boot-starter-tomcat"