[DEFECT] DOT_ENABLE_NAV_PERMISSION_CHECK breaks all drop downs regardless of permissions

Problem Statement

When ENABLE_NAV_PERMISSION_CHECK is set to true, it causes drop down menus to no longer function, even if the folders have CMS Anonymous view permissions. In my local testing environment when loading the main index page, it throws.

[24/03/26 19:29:46:844 UTC]  WARN navigation.NavResultHydrated: getChildren Cannot invoke "org.apache.velocity.tools.view.context.ViewContext.getRequest()" because "this.context" is null @ url:GET//demo.dotcms.com/store/ | lang:1 | ip:172.64.80.1 | Admin:false | start:03-24-2026 01:17:32 UTC  ref:http://localhost:8080/

[24/03/26 19:29:46:969 UTC]  WARN navigation.NavResultHydrated: getChildren Cannot invoke "org.apache.velocity.tools.view.context.ViewContext.getRequest()" because "this.context" is null @ ConnectorThreadPool-1

Steps to Reproduce

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/1ff07d37-f5ee-4dfc-9119-f7c73e18d2c0

Acceptance Criteria

Ensure that DOT_ENABLE_NAV_PERMISSION_CHECK properly checks permissions and displays drop down menus when the permissions are met.

dotCMS Version

Evergreen 26.03.17-01

Severity

High - Major functionality broken

Links

https://dotcms.freshdesk.com/a/tickets/36021

Start by reproducing the failure with DOT_ENABLE_NAV_PERMISSION_CHECK enabled and inspect the navigation permission-check path around NavResultHydrated, using the reported null ViewContext warning as the first clue. Verify the behavior with folders that have CMS Anonymous view permissions; done means dropdowns render when permissions are met and the reported exception no longer occurs.