7.3.0 introduced odd behaviour when passing parentheses as arguments to some other programs

[philipp-naused]

Prerequisites

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• Refer to Differences between Windows PowerShell 5.1 and PowerShell.

Steps to reproduce

I noticed some odd behavior when trying to pass an argument with escaped parentheses to some external programs.

Passing escaped parentheses to some programs no longer works correctly in PowerShell 7.3.0:
e.g.:
dotnet test """$(where.exe dotnet)"""
results in error:
C:\Program Files\dotnet\dotnet.exe(1,1): error MSB4025: The project file could not be loaded. Data at the root level is invalid. Line 1, position 1.

This only happens with PowerShell 7.3.0. It does not happen in 7.2.7 or 5.1.

I don't think this is a bug in dotnet.exe (7.0.100) since I have also tried this with nunit3-console (3.16.0):
When using nunit3-console the error is

System.ArgumentException : Illegal characters in path.

--ArgumentException
Illegal characters in path.
   at System.IO.LongPathHelper.Normalize(String path, UInt32 maxPathLength, Boolean checkInvalidCharacters, Boolean expandShortPaths)
   at System.IO.Path.NormalizePath(String path, Boolean fullCheck, Int32 maxPathLength, Boolean expandShortPaths)
   at System.IO.Path.GetFullPathInternal(String path)
   at NUnit.Engine.TestPackage..ctor(String filePath)
   at NUnit.Engine.TestPackage..ctor(IList`1 testFiles)
   at NUnit.ConsoleRunner.ConsoleRunner.MakeTestPackage(ConsoleOptions options)
   at NUnit.ConsoleRunner.ConsoleRunner.Execute()
   at NUnit.ConsoleRunner.Program.Main(String[] args)

When using PowerShell 7.2.7 or 5.1, I get the correct error:
System.BadImageFormatException : Format of the executable (.exe) or library (.dll) is invalid.

I have also tried alternate means of escaping the character:
dotnet test $('"' + "$(where.exe dotnet)" + '"')
dotnet test "`"$(where.exe dotnet)`""
All with the same result.

Note: I'm only using $(where.exe dotnet) as an arbitrary example. I get the same behavior with any assembly I try to test.

Expected behavior

Dotnet.exe returns something like:

Microsoft (R) Test Execution Command Line Tool Version 17.4.0 (x64)
Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation.  All rights reserved.

Starting test execution, please wait...
A total of 1 test files matched the specified pattern.
No test is available in C:\Program Files\dotnet\dotnet.exe. Make sure that test discoverer & executors are registered and platform & framework version settings are appropriate and try again.

Actual behavior

C:\Program Files\dotnet\dotnet.exe(1,1): error MSB4025: The project file could not be loaded. Data at the root level is invalid. Line 1, position 1.

Error details

Get-Error does not return anything in this case.

Environment data

Name                           Value
----                           -----
PSVersion                      7.3.0
PSEdition                      Core
GitCommitId                    7.3.0
OS                             Microsoft Windows 10.0.19044
Platform                       Win32NT
PSCompatibleVersions           {1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0…}
PSRemotingProtocolVersion      2.3
SerializationVersion           1.1.0.1
WSManStackVersion              3.0

Visuals

No response

[philipp-naused]

Ok, I just found #18554 and #18694

Seems that this is an undocumented breaking change in 7.3.0 that may get reverted in 7.3.1.

If I'm right about this, I suppose this issue can be closed as a duplicate of #18554.

[mklement0]

Nothing has changed in 7.3.1 so far.
For a relevant discussion, see:

• Add msbuild to NativeCommandProcessor (s_legacyCommands) in PWSH 7.3 #18660 (comment)