Gradle 7.6.3 fails to incrementally compile when the classpath contains a multi-release jar with a Java 21 class

[CRogers]

Current Behavior

Jackson 2.16.1's jackson-core library is a multi-release jar containing a Java 21 (class file major version 65) class:

META-INF/versions/21/com/fasterxml/jackson/core/io/doubleparser/FastDoubleSwar.class

On Gradle 7.6.3, when this library is included in the classpath that is sent to the Java compiler, it fails to incrementally compile:

[INFO] [org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.compile.incremental.SelectiveCompiler] Full recompilation is required because FastIntegerMath.class could not be analyzed for incremental compilation. See the debug log for more details. Analysis took 0.439 secs.

(I could not see more details in the debug log)

Projects that used to recompile in seconds now take minutes, which destroys devex.

Expected Behavior

Incremental compilation continues to work when multi-release jars contain classes that are too high for Gradle to understand.

Under the scenes, I would expect these classes to be ignored like, in the multi-release jar fixes for the plugin classpath instrumentation (#27633).

Either that, or merely bumping asm may be enough as temporary fix.

Context (optional)

The context is the same for the plugin classpath issue: #27156 (comment) (please read).

Summary: We are in the middle of an immense Gradle 7 -> Gradle 8 migration. As a customer of a number of governments, we must keep libraries updated when there are CVEs (this is our sad compliance reality). A CVE could force us to upgrade Jackson at any time. This would cause all projects still on Gradle 7 to lose incremental compilation, hugely damaging devex. It's not quite as bad as the plugin classpath issue, but still not good.

Unless this had been fixed in Gradle 8, current and future versions of Gradle will also have the same problem for multi-release jars for future versions of java. Ideal would be fixing it similar to the plugin classpath instrumentation fixes to stop this happening in the future.

Gradle 7.6.4 has not be released yet - would it be possible to slip in a fix for this too? Even if it's just an asm bump, that would buy us plenty of time.

Steps to Reproduce

Run repro.sh in this repo: https://github.com/CRogers/gradle-7.6.3-inc-compilation-jackson

Gradle version

7.6.3

Build scan URL (optional)

No response

Your Environment (optional)

No response

[ljacomet]

Thank you for taking the time to report this

It makes sense to include an ASM version bump in the 7.6.4 release to me.

[ov7a]

Fixed in #27868 and will be included in 7.6.4