VerifyError: Rejecting class android.support.g.b b

Question

This is similar to Rejecting class because it failed compile-time verification Android and java.lang.VerifyError: Verifier rejected class on Lollipop when using release APK but the origin of my problem is still unknown and all the proposed solutions do not help.

Manually installing a signed release apk with MultiDex support and ProGuard enabled throws this exception on start:

475-475/? E/AndroidRuntime: FATAL EXCEPTION: main
                            Process: ..., PID: 475
                            java.lang.VerifyError: Verifier rejected class android.support.g.b due to bad method void android.support.g.b.<init>() (declaration of 'android.support.g.b' appears in /data/app/...-2/base.apk)
                                at ...MyApp.attachBaseContext(Unknown Source)
                                at android.app.Application.attach(Application.java:181)

This will not happen with -dontoptimize. Current minimal optimization setting:

-optimizations "code/*"

I get the same error without -optimizations or with less restrictive options. Adding -keep class android.* wont help either. I get no error with "code/removal/*,code/simplification/*", but this ignores -assumenosideeffects

android.support.g.b is the obfuscated android.support.multidex.MultiDex class itself, and the error is caused when the overridden attachBaseContext(Context) is called:

@Override
protected void attachBaseContext(Context base) {

    super.attachBaseContext(base);
    MultiDex.install(this);
}

Decoding this method (the default constructor) with the byte code viewer results in:

private b() { // <init> //()V
    return
}

• It would be useful to disable optimization by class specification.
• Alternative: Knowing the minimum -optimizations option that considers -assumenosideeffects

Answer 1

Do not use member wildcards with -assumenosideeffects because this will "spill over" to Object for other classes. See https://sourceforge.net/p/proguard/bugs/716/#98d4

Similar problems may come up for any rules with interfaces. Example:

-assumenosideeffects class * implements Interface {
    public <init>();
    public Object interfacemethod(); # May concern methods with same signature in other Objects
}