#vulnerable code 
                                protected boolean connect() throws IOException {

        if (isConnected()) {
            return false;
        }

        if (!channel().isOpen()) {
            Closer.close(channel());
            setChannel(createSocketChannel(readTimeoutMs, keepAlive));
        }

        InetSocketAddress inetSocketAddress = new InetSocketAddress(getHost(), getPort());
        if (channel().connect(inetSocketAddress)) {
            return true;
        }

        long connectTimeoutLeft = TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS.toNanos(connectTimeoutMs);
        long waitTimeoutMs = 10;
        long waitTimeoutNs = TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS.toNanos(waitTimeoutMs);
        boolean connected;
        try {
            while (!(connected = channel().finishConnect())) {
                Thread.sleep(waitTimeoutMs);
                connectTimeoutLeft -= waitTimeoutNs;

                if (connectTimeoutLeft <= 0) {
                    break;
                }
            }

            if (!connected) {
                throw new ConnectException("Connection timed out. Cannot connect to " + inetSocketAddress + " within "
                        + TimeUnit.NANOSECONDS.toMillis(connectTimeoutLeft) + "ms");
            }

            return connected;
        } catch (InterruptedException e) {
            Thread.currentThread().interrupt();
            throw new IOException("Connection interrupted", e);
        }
    } 
                            #location 7 
                            #vulnerability type NULL_DEREFERENCE
#fixed code
                                protected boolean connect() throws IOException {

        if (isConnected()) {
            return false;
        }

        Closer.close(channel());
        setChannel(createSocketChannel(readTimeoutMs, keepAlive));

        InetSocketAddress inetSocketAddress = new InetSocketAddress(getHost(), getPort());
        if (channel().connect(inetSocketAddress)) {
            return true;
        }

        long connectTimeoutLeft = TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS.toNanos(connectTimeoutMs);
        long waitTimeoutMs = 10;
        long waitTimeoutNs = TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS.toNanos(waitTimeoutMs);
        boolean connected;
        try {
            while (!(connected = channel().finishConnect())) {
                Thread.sleep(waitTimeoutMs);
                connectTimeoutLeft -= waitTimeoutNs;

                if (connectTimeoutLeft <= 0) {
                    break;
                }
            }

            if (!connected) {
                throw new ConnectException("Connection timed out. Cannot connect to " + inetSocketAddress + " within "
                        + TimeUnit.NANOSECONDS.toMillis(connectTimeoutLeft) + "ms");
            }

            return connected;
        } catch (InterruptedException e) {
            Thread.currentThread().interrupt();
            throw new IOException("Connection interrupted", e);
        }
    }