Null pointer exception in device store if stale message encountered

When running STC on 9 nodes:

2017-08-14 16:17:58,582 | ERROR | onos-of-worker-5 | OFChannelHandler | 168 | Error while processing message from switch NiciraSwitchHandshaker

state WAIT_DESCRIPTION_STAT_REPLY
java.lang.NullPointerException
at org.onosproject.store.device.impl.GossipDeviceStore.createOrUpdateDevice(GossipDeviceStore.java:324)[129:org.onosproject.onos-core-dist:1.11.0.SNAPSHOT]
at org.onosproject.net.device.impl.DeviceManager$InternalDeviceProviderService.deviceConnected(DeviceManager.java:527)[127:org.onosproject.onos-core-net:1.11.0.SNAPSHOT]
at org.onosproject.provider.of.device.impl.OpenFlowDeviceProvider$InternalDeviceProvider.switchAdded(OpenFlowDeviceProvider.java:469)[169:org.onosproject.onos-providers-openflow-device:1.11.0.SNAPSHOT]
at org.onosproject.openflow.controller.impl.OpenFlowControllerImpl$OpenFlowSwitchAgent.addConnectedSwitch(OpenFlowControllerImpl.java:641)[168:org.onosproject.onos-protocols-openflow-ctl:1.11.0.SNAPSHOT]
at org.onosproject.openflow.controller.driver.AbstractOpenFlowSwitch.connectSwitch(AbstractOpenFlowSwitch.java:280)[163:org.onosproject.onos-protocols-openflow-api:1.11.0.SNAPSHOT]
at org.onosproject.openflow.controller.impl.OFChannelHandler$ChannelState$6.processOFStatisticsReply(OFChannelHandler.java:557)[168:org.onosproject.onos-protocols-openflow-ctl:1.11.0.SNAPSHOT]
at org.onosproject.openflow.controller.impl.OFChannelHandler$ChannelState.processOFMessage(OFChannelHandler.java:1076)[168:org.onosproject.onos-protocols-openflow-ctl:1.11.0.SNAPSHOT]
at org.onosproject.openflow.controller.impl.OFChannelHandler.channelRead(OFChannelHandler.java:1386)[168:org.onosproject.onos-protocols-openflow-ctl:1.11.0.SNAPSHOT]
at io.netty.channel.AbstractChannelHandlerContext.invokeChannelRead(AbstractChannelHandlerContext.java:363)[98:io.netty.transport:4.1.8.Final]
at io.netty.channel.AbstractChannelHandlerContext.invokeChannelRead(AbstractChannelHandlerContext.java:349)[98:io.netty.transport:4.1.8.Final]
at io.netty.channel.AbstractChannelHandlerContext.fireChannelRead(AbstractChannelHandlerContext.java:341)[98:io.netty.transport:4.1.8.Final]
at io.netty.handler.timeout.IdleStateHandler.channelRead(IdleStateHandler.java:287)[99:io.netty.handler:4.1.8.Final]
at io.netty.channel.AbstractChannelHandlerContext.invokeChannelRead(AbstractChannelHandlerContext.java:363)[98:io.netty.transport:4.1.8.Final]
at io.netty.channel.AbstractChannelHandlerContext.invokeChannelRead(AbstractChannelHandlerContext.java:349)[98:io.netty.transport:4.1.8.Final]
at io.netty.channel.AbstractChannelHandlerContext.fireChannelRead(AbstractChannelHandlerContext.java:341)[98:io.netty.transport:4.1.8.Final]
at io.netty.handler.timeout.IdleStateHandler.channelRead(IdleStateHandler.java:287)[99:io.netty.handler:4.1.8.Final]
at io.netty.channel.AbstractChannelHandlerContext.invokeChannelRead(AbstractChannelHandlerContext.java:363)[98:io.netty.transport:4.1.8.Final]
at io.netty.channel.AbstractChannelHandlerContext.invokeChannelRead(AbstractChannelHandlerContext.java:349)[98:io.netty.transport:4.1.8.Final]
at io.netty.channel.AbstractChannelHandlerContext.fireChannelRead(AbstractChannelHandlerContext.java:341)[98:io.netty.transport:4.1.8.Final]
at io.netty.handler.codec.ByteToMessageDecoder.fireChannelRead(ByteToMessageDecoder.java:293)[100:io.netty.codec:4.1.8.Final]
at io.netty.handler.codec.ByteToMessageDecoder.channelRead(ByteToMessageDecoder.java:267)[100:io.netty.codec:4.1.8.Final]
at io.netty.channel.AbstractChannelHandlerContext.invokeChannelRead(AbstractChannelHandlerContext.java:363)[98:io.netty.transport:4.1.8.Final]
at io.netty.channel.AbstractChannelHandlerContext.invokeChannelRead(AbstractChannelHandlerContext.java:349)[98:io.netty.transport:4.1.8.Final]
at io.netty.channel.AbstractChannelHandlerContext.fireChannelRead(AbstractChannelHandlerContext.java:341)[98:io.netty.transport:4.1.8.Final]
at io.netty.channel.DefaultChannelPipeline$HeadContext.channelRead(DefaultChannelPipeline.java:1334)[98:io.netty.transport:4.1.8.Final]
at io.netty.channel.AbstractChannelHandlerContext.invokeChannelRead(AbstractChannelHandlerContext.java:363)[98:io.netty.transport:4.1.8.Final]
at io.netty.channel.AbstractChannelHandlerContext.invokeChannelRead(AbstractChannelHandlerContext.java:349)[98:io.netty.transport:4.1.8.Final]
at io.netty.channel.DefaultChannelPipeline.fireChannelRead(DefaultChannelPipeline.java:926)[98:io.netty.transport:4.1.8.Final]
at io.netty.channel.nio.AbstractNioByteChannel$NioByteUnsafe.read(AbstractNioByteChannel.java:129)[98:io.netty.transport:4.1.8.Final]
at io.netty.channel.nio.NioEventLoop.processSelectedKey(NioEventLoop.java:642)[98:io.netty.transport:4.1.8.Final]
at io.netty.channel.nio.NioEventLoop.processSelectedKeysOptimized(NioEventLoop.java:565)[98:io.netty.transport:4.1.8.Final]
at io.netty.channel.nio.NioEventLoop.processSelectedKeys(NioEventLoop.java:479)[98:io.netty.transport:4.1.8.Final]
at io.netty.channel.nio.NioEventLoop.run(NioEventLoop.java:441)[98:io.netty.transport:4.1.8.Final]
at io.netty.util.concurrent.SingleThreadEventExecutor$5.run(SingleThreadEventExecutor.java:858)[96:io.netty.common:4.1.8.Final]
at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:745)[:1.8.0_101]