Created a simple Oracle (non-XA) datasource with no explicit configuration of validation. The below was automatically added (and the same is seen when creating an XA datasource also):

                    <validation>
                        <valid-connection-checker class-name="org.jboss.jca.adapters.jdbc.extensions.oracle.OracleValidConnectionChecker"/>
                        <background-validation>true</background-validation>
                        <stale-connection-checker class-name="org.jboss.jca.adapters.jdbc.extensions.oracle.OracleStaleConnectionChecker"/>
                        <exception-sorter class-name="org.jboss.jca.adapters.jdbc.extensions.oracle.OracleExceptionSorter"/>
                    </validation>

The above is problematic

• Background validation is not recommended in most cases as it is less reliable than validate-on-match (since it runs periodically rather than at the point/time connections are requested from the pool). A better default would be <validate-on-match>true</validate-on-match> with background-validation disabled. Background validation should typically be used only if explicit testing verifies that validate-on-match noticeably impacts performance for end-users.
• Using background-validation without background-validation-millis > 0 will not enable background validation.
• Stale connection checkers are rarely needed (only relevant if applications are explicitly coded to handle StaleConnectionException) so it doesn't really make sense to configure one by default.