To override a private method in a third-party module class, the most effective approach is to use a preference. This involves creating a custom class with the corrected logic and then defining this class as a preference for the original one in thedi.xmlfile. Plugins cannot be used to override private methods, final methods, final classes, or classes created without dependency injection. Therefore, the preference mechanism, which allows for the substitution of the entire class, becomes the viable method to override a private method and modify its behavior​​.