apache / apache/polaris

Polaris fails to create a Table because of an STS policy size limit

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bug
Dominant language
Java
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Description

### Describe the bug

While running benchmarks with much longer namespace names, I got the following error while creating a table:

```
Failed to get subscoped credentials: Packed policy consumes 118% of allotted space, please use smaller policy.
```

The path that caused this issue is composed by 14 nested namespaces, each with a 32 characters name. The problem is located in https://github.com/apache/polaris/blob/31c7784630889d8fb6f0156610b8e59a4021f1c3/polaris-core/src/main/java/org/apache/polaris/core/storage/aws/AwsCredentialsStorageIntegration.java#L175. It results in the following STS policy:

```

{
"Version": "2012-10-17",
"Statement": [
{
"Effect": "Allow",
"Action": [
"s3:PutObject",
"s3:DeleteObject"
],
"Resource": "arn:aws:s3:::my-very-long-s3-bucket/catalog/f5a4d86558ed1f7fddec42ce11d8ee3a/e3fa7fd44796b949fce728cb334f3c15/f031eb9dc709150a3e1e9a76e9af550a/5598924229adee97260cda483d70674c/0857633d48470f538d1fc4cdc789c753/c4c06b9b673a710f7ce865690ff8797b/9594c7f9e8a1cd28054ff71b933fdc3b/0018c223e978d13aeec87488bc333c70/d4c484ca41745b69286372286f3f30aa/362f8d6579892af8a9c5f38b4e664b07/f28f3a8b846271c68bdbc09992d88d28/915107073e394e3471173ec4633137fa/5eac9dac6dd84afcb35f4805af9d8b34/e1a24630cbf9ced9dffcc123b70b2e43/ab4ffa55f688360e0c12aef543c18351/*"
},
{
"Effect": "Allow",
"Action": "s3:ListBucket",
"Resource": "arn:aws:s3:::my-very-long-s3-bucket",
"Condition": {
"StringLike": {
"s3:prefix": "catalog/f5a4d86558ed1f7fddec42ce11d8ee3a/e3fa7fd44796b949fce728cb334f3c15/f031eb9dc709150a3e1e9a76e9af550a/5598924229adee97260cda483d70674c/0857633d48470f538d1fc4cdc789c753/c4c06b9b673a710f7ce865690ff8797b/9594c7f9e8a1cd28054ff71b933fdc3b/0018c223e978d13aeec87488bc333c70/d4c484ca41745b69286372286f3f30aa/362f8d6579892af8a9c5f38b4e664b07/f28f3a8b846271c68bdbc09992d88d28/915107073e394e3471173ec4633137fa/5eac9dac6dd84afcb35f4805af9d8b34/e1a24630cbf9ced9dffcc123b70b2e43/ab4ffa55f688360e0c12aef543c18351/*"
}
}
},
{
"Effect": "Allow",
"Action": "s3:GetBucketLocation",
"Resource": "arn:aws:s3:::my-very-long-s3-bucket"
},
{
"Effect": "Allow",
"Action": [
"s3:GetObject",
"s3:GetObjectVersion"
],
"Resource": "arn:aws:s3:::my-very-long-s3-bucket/catalog/f5a4d86558ed1f7fddec42ce11d8ee3a/e3fa7fd44796b949fce728cb334f3c15/f031eb9dc709150a3e1e9a76e9af550a/5598924229adee97260cda483d70674c/0857633d48470f538d1fc4cdc789c753/c4c06b9b673a710f7ce865690ff8797b/9594c7f9e8a1cd28054ff71b933fdc3b/0018c223e978d13aeec87488bc333c70/d4c484ca41745b69286372286f3f30aa/362f8d6579892af8a9c5f38b4e664b07/f28f3a8b846271c68bdbc09992d88d28/915107073e394e3471173ec4633137fa/5eac9dac6dd84afcb35f4805af9d8b34/e1a24630cbf9ced9dffcc123b70b2e43/ab4ffa55f688360e0c12aef543c18351/*"
}
]
}
```

I don't think we can eliminate the STS limitation at all. But I think Polaris could be improved to better deal with this error. For example:

* The returned HTTP code (400) is correct (Bad Request) but the associated error message should be clearer for the user. The current one may not be understandable for everyone.
* During namespace creation, no check is performed on the total length of the path. It might be worth adding so that the failure happens earlier.
* Parts of the STS policy could be merged together (AFAICT): the `s3:PutObject` and `s3:DeleteObject` statements could be merged with the `s3:GetObject` and `s3:GetObjectVersion` statements. This would allow Polaris to support longer paths, while not removing the maximum path limitation entirely though.

### To Reproduce

* Create a deeply nested namespace structure with long length (e.g. `f5a4d86558ed1f7fddec42ce11d8ee3a/e3fa7fd44796b949fce728cb334f3c15/f031eb9dc709150a3e1e9a76e9af550a/5598924229adee97260cda483d70674c/0857633d48470f538d1fc4cdc789c753/c4c06b9b673a710f7ce865690ff8797b/9594c7f9e8a1cd28054ff71b933fdc3b/0018c223e978d13aeec87488bc333c70/d4c484ca41745b69286372286f3f30aa/362f8d6579892af8a9c5f38b4e664b07/f28f3a8b846271c68bdbc09992d88d28/915107073e394e3471173ec4633137fa/5eac9dac6dd84afcb35f4805af9d8b34/e1a24630cbf9ced9dffcc123b70b2e43/ab4ffa55f688360e0c12aef543c18351`)
* Create a table in the last namespace

### Actual Behavior

_No response_

### Expected Behavior

_No response_

### Additional context

_No response_

### System information

_No response_

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

Research direction

Start at polaris-core/src/main/java/org/apache/polaris/core/storage/aws/AwsCredentialsStorageIntegration.java around line 175 and reproduce the failure with the deeply nested namespace path described in the issue. Compare the possible handling approaches—clearer STS errors, namespace path-length validation, or merging policy statements—and confirm the chosen behavior against the AWS policy limit. Done means the agreed handling prevents or clearly reports this failure.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
aws, java
Domain
backend, cloud
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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