Class compiled by a more recent version of the Java Runtime (0.0), this version of the Java Runtime only recognizes class file versions up to 52.0

I want to edit a jar file, with byte code, and i created a project to edit it.
I have 2 functions :

    public static byte[] transform(byte[] buf){
    ClassNode classNode = new ClassNode();
    ClassReader classReader = new ClassReader(buf);
    classReader.accept(classNode, ClassReader.EXPAND_FRAMES);

    for (MethodNode method : classNode.methods) {
        if(method.name.equals(shouldSideBeRenderedMethod) && method.desc.startsWith("(L") && method.desc.endsWith(";IIII)Z")){
            System.out.println("[*] Patching bytecode of shouldSideBeRendered...");
            InsnList insnList = new InsnList();

            Label label0 = new Label();
            insnList.add(new LabelNode(label0));
            insnList.add(new VarInsnNode(ALOAD, 0));
            insnList.add(new FieldInsnNode(GETFIELD, blockClass.replaceAll("\\.", "/"), unlocalizedNameField, "Ljava/lang/String;"));
            insnList.add(new LdcInsnNode("stone"));
            insnList.add(new MethodInsnNode(INVOKEVIRTUAL, "java/lang/String", "equals", "(Ljava/lang/Object;)Z", false));
            Label label1 = new Label();
            insnList.add(new JumpInsnNode(IFNE, new LabelNode(label1)));
            insnList.add(new InsnNode(ICONST_1));
            Label label2 = new Label();
            insnList.add(new JumpInsnNode(GOTO, new LabelNode(label2)));
            insnList.add(new LabelNode(label1));
            insnList.add(new FrameNode(Opcodes.F_SAME, 0, null, 0, null));
            insnList.add(new InsnNode(ICONST_0));
            insnList.add(new LabelNode(label2));
            insnList.add(new FrameNode(Opcodes.F_SAME1, 0, null, 1, new Object[]{Opcodes.INTEGER}));
            insnList.add(new InsnNode(IRETURN));
            Label label3 = new Label();
            insnList.add(new LabelNode(label3));

            method.instructions.insertBefore(method.instructions.getFirst(), insnList);
        }
    }

    return new ClassWriter(classReader, ClassWriter.COMPUTE_MAXS | ClassWriter.COMPUTE_FRAMES).toByteArray();
}

And

JarFile jarFile = new JarFile(jarPath);
    List<JarEntry> entries = Collections.list(jarFile.entries());
    HashMap<String, byte[]> classMap = new HashMap<>();
    entries.forEach(jarEntry -> {
        try {
            if(jarEntry.getName().equals(blockClass.replaceAll("\\.", "/") + ".class")){
                classMap.put(jarEntry.getName(), transform(IOUtils.toByteArray(jarFile.getInputStream(jarEntry))));
            }else{
                classMap.put(jarEntry.getName(), IOUtils.toByteArray(jarFile.getInputStream(jarEntry)));
            }
        } catch (IOException e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    });
    System.out.println("[+] Jar loaded !");

    System.out.println("[*] Writing patched jar...");
    try {
        JarOutputStream jarOutputStream = new JarOutputStream(new FileOutputStream("output.jar"));
        for (Map.Entry<String, byte[]> entry : classMap.entrySet()) {
            JarEntry jarEntry = new JarEntry(entry.getKey());
            jarOutputStream.putNextEntry(jarEntry);
            jarOutputStream.write(entry.getValue());
            jarOutputStream.closeEntry();
        }
        jarOutputStream.close();

        System.out.println("[+] Patched jar successfully written to output.jar !");
    } catch (Exception e) {
        e.printStackTrace();
    }

The code works, i got the jar, but when i launch it : Exception in thread "main" java.lang.UnsupportedClassVersionError: net/minecraft/m/d has been compiled by a more recent version of the Java Runtime (class file version 0.0), this version of the Java Runtime only recognizes class file versions up to 52.0

I tried to find a way to set class file version, but can’t find one, any idea pls ?

>Solution :

Your statement

return new ClassWriter(classReader,
        ClassWriter.COMPUTE_MAXS | ClassWriter.COMPUTE_FRAMES).toByteArray();

create a new ClassWriter but doesn’t write anything to it before requesting the generated bytecode.

You have to populate it with the class information. In your specific case:

ClassWriter cw = new ClassWriter(classReader,
                                 ClassWriter.COMPUTE_MAXS | ClassWriter.COMPUTE_FRAMES);
classNode.accept(cw);
return cw.toByteArray();

Like classReader.accept(classNode, ClassReader.EXPAND_FRAMES); copied all information from the class reader to the classNode, the classNode.accept(cw); will copy the modified information from the classNode to the class writer.

To answer the question literally, a call to
visit​(int version, int access, java.lang.String name, java.lang.String signature, java.lang.String superName, java.lang.String[] interfaces) will specify the main information of the class, including the version number, however, the method will be invoked automatically when using the Visitor Pattern.