runtime: NRE in System.Text.RegularExpresssions on ARM64

Steps to reproduce

1. Create a new app in VS from template “ASP.NET Core with React.js”
2. Name a project and solution as “testspa”
3. Select .NET 7
4. Create Dockerfile in the solution file directory:

FROM mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/aspnet:7.0-jammy-arm64v8 AS base
RUN apt-get update
RUN apt-get install -y curl
RUN apt-get install -y libpng-dev libjpeg-dev curl libxi6 build-essential libgl1-mesa-glx
RUN curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_lts.x | bash -
RUN apt-get install -y nodejs
WORKDIR /app
EXPOSE 80
EXPOSE 443

FROM mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/sdk:7.0-jammy-arm64v8 AS build
RUN apt-get update
RUN apt-get install -y curl
RUN apt-get install -y libpng-dev libjpeg-dev curl libxi6 build-essential libgl1-mesa-glx
RUN curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_lts.x | bash -
RUN apt-get install -y nodejs
WORKDIR /src
COPY ["testspa/testspa.csproj", "testspa/"]
RUN dotnet restore "testspa/testspa.csproj"
COPY . .
WORKDIR "/src/testspa"
RUN dotnet build "testspa.csproj" -c Release -o /app/build

FROM build AS publish
RUN dotnet publish "testspa.csproj" -c Release -o /app/publish /p:UseAppHost=false

FROM base AS final
WORKDIR /app
COPY --from=publish /app/publish .
ENTRYPOINT ["dotnet", "testspa.dll"]

1. Open terminal and go to solution directory
2. Build an image:

docker build -t testspa .

Expected result:

A solution should be built and container image should be created

Actual result:

dotnet restore command fails with:

------
 > [build  9/12] RUN dotnet restore "testspa/testspa.csproj":
dotnet/msbuild#21 15.85 MSBUILD : error : This is an unhandled exception in MSBuild -- PLEASE UPVOTE AN EXISTING ISSUE OR FILE A NEW ONE AT https://aka.ms/msbuild/unhandled. [/src/testspa/testspa.csproj]
dotnet/msbuild#21 15.85 MSBUILD : error :     System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object. [/src/testspa/testspa.csproj]
dotnet/msbuild#21 15.85 MSBUILD : error :    at Regex1_Scan(RegexRunner, ReadOnlySpan`1) [/src/testspa/testspa.csproj]
dotnet/msbuild#21 15.85 MSBUILD : error :    at System.Text.RegularExpressions.Regex.ScanInternal(RegexRunnerMode mode, Boolean reuseMatchObject, String input, Int32 beginning, RegexRunner runner, ReadOnlySpan`1 span, Boolean returnNullIfReuseMatchObject) [/src/testspa/testspa.csproj]
dotnet/msbuild#21 15.85 MSBUILD : error :    at System.Text.RegularExpressions.Regex.RunAllMatchesWithCallback[TState](String inputString, ReadOnlySpan`1 inputSpan, Int32 startat, TState& state, MatchCallback`1 callback, RegexRunnerMode mode, Boolean reuseMatchObject) [/src/testspa/testspa.csproj]
dotnet/msbuild#21 15.85 MSBUILD : error :    at System.Text.RegularExpressions.Regex.RunAllMatchesWithCallback[TState](String input, Int32 startat, TState& state, MatchCallback`1 callback, RegexRunnerMode mode, Boolean reuseMatchObject) [/src/testspa/testspa.csproj]
dotnet/msbuild#21 15.85 MSBUILD : error :    at System.Text.RegularExpressions.Regex.Replace(MatchEvaluator evaluator, Regex regex, String input, Int32 count, Int32 startat) [/src/testspa/testspa.csproj]
dotnet/msbuild#21 15.85 MSBUILD : error :    at Microsoft.Build.Evaluation.Expander`2.MetadataExpander.ExpandMetadataLeaveEscaped(String expression, IMetadataTable metadata, ExpanderOptions options, IElementLocation elementLocation) [/src/testspa/testspa.csproj]
dotnet/msbuild#21 15.85 MSBUILD : error :    at Microsoft.Build.Evaluation.Expander`2.ExpandIntoStringLeaveEscaped(String expression, ExpanderOptions options, IElementLocation elementLocation, LoggingContext loggingContext) [/src/testspa/testspa.csproj]
dotnet/msbuild#21 15.85 MSBUILD : error :    at Microsoft.Build.Evaluation.Evaluator`4.EvaluateItemDefinitionElement(ProjectItemDefinitionElement itemDefinitionElement) [/src/testspa/testspa.csproj]
dotnet/msbuild#21 15.85 MSBUILD : error :    at Microsoft.Build.Evaluation.Evaluator`4.EvaluateItemDefinitionGroupElement(ProjectItemDefinitionGroupElement itemDefinitionGroupElement) [/src/testspa/testspa.csproj]
dotnet/msbuild#21 15.85 MSBUILD : error :    at Microsoft.Build.Evaluation.Evaluator`4.Evaluate() [/src/testspa/testspa.csproj]
dotnet/msbuild#21 15.85 MSBUILD : error :    at Microsoft.Build.Evaluation.Evaluator`4.Evaluate(IEvaluatorData`4 data, Project project, ProjectRootElement root, ProjectLoadSettings loadSettings, Int32 maxNodeCount, PropertyDictionary`1 environmentProperties, ILoggingService loggingService, IItemFactory`2 itemFactory, IToolsetProvider toolsetProvider, ProjectRootElementCacheBase projectRootElementCache, BuildEventContext buildEventContext, ISdkResolverService sdkResolverService, Int32 submissionId, EvaluationContext evaluationContext, Boolean interactive) [/src/testspa/testspa.csproj]
dotnet/msbuild#21 15.85 MSBUILD : error :    at Microsoft.Build.Execution.ProjectInstance.Initialize(ProjectRootElement xml, IDictionary`2 globalProperties, String explicitToolsVersion, String explicitSubToolsetVersion, Int32 visualStudioVersionFromSolution, BuildParameters buildParameters, ILoggingService loggingService, BuildEventContext buildEventContext, ISdkResolverService sdkResolverService, Int32 submissionId, Nullable`1 projectLoadSettings, EvaluationContext evaluationContext) [/src/testspa/testspa.csproj]
dotnet/msbuild#21 15.85 MSBUILD : error :    at Microsoft.Build.Execution.ProjectInstance..ctor(String projectFile, IDictionary`2 globalProperties, String toolsVersion, BuildParameters buildParameters, ILoggingService loggingService, BuildEventContext buildEventContext, ISdkResolverService sdkResolverService, Int32 submissionId, Nullable`1 projectLoadSettings) [/src/testspa/testspa.csproj]
dotnet/msbuild#21 15.85 MSBUILD : error :    at Microsoft.Build.BackEnd.BuildRequestConfiguration.<>c__DisplayClass60_0.<LoadProjectIntoConfiguration>b__0() [/src/testspa/testspa.csproj]
dotnet/msbuild#21 15.85 MSBUILD : error :    at Microsoft.Build.BackEnd.BuildRequestConfiguration.InitializeProject(BuildParameters buildParameters, Func`1 loadProjectFromFile) [/src/testspa/testspa.csproj]
dotnet/msbuild#21 15.85 MSBUILD : error :    at Microsoft.Build.BackEnd.RequestBuilder.BuildProject() [/src/testspa/testspa.csproj]
dotnet/msbuild#21 15.85 MSBUILD : error :    at Microsoft.Build.BackEnd.RequestBuilder.BuildAndReport() [/src/testspa/testspa.csproj]
------

Debian

If you try to do the same but with the base image with tag 7.0-bullseye-slim-arm64v8 which is based on Debian, the dotnet restore command also fails with:

------
 > [build  9/12] RUN dotnet restore "testspa/testspa.csproj":
dotnet/msbuild#22 17.28 /usr/share/dotnet/sdk/7.0.100/Sdks/Microsoft.NET.Sdk/targets/Microsoft.NET.TargetFrameworkInference.targets(55,5): error MSB4184: The expression "[MSBuild]::GetTargetFrameworkVersion(net7.0, 2)" cannot be evaluated. Exception has been thrown by the target of an invocation. [/src/testspa/testspa.csproj]
------

.NET 7 on Linux amd64

Everything works well if I use the base images with the tag “7.0” which is targeted amd64. So, it is an ARM issue.

.NET 6 on ARM

If you run the same on .NET6 everything works perfectly with Ubuntu and Debian base images for ARM64v8.