java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Malformed \uxxxx encoding while mvn install

Question

While running mvn install in my project, I end up with this error. While a lot of answers and resources point out errors in / vs \, I want to mention that I have no local changes and this repo just works fine for others in my team. It worked fine for me as well before.

Running on Mac Os 10.15.7 with JDK 1.8.0_291

Please find the full stacktrace:

java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Malformed \uxxxx encoding.
    at java.util.Properties.loadConvert (Properties.java:672)
    at java.util.Properties.load0 (Properties.java:455)
    at java.util.Properties.load (Properties.java:408)
    at org.eclipse.aether.internal.impl.TrackingFileManager.read (TrackingFileManager.java:56)
    at org.eclipse.aether.internal.impl.DefaultUpdateCheckManager.read (DefaultUpdateCheckManager.java:511)
    at org.eclipse.aether.internal.impl.DefaultUpdateCheckManager.checkMetadata (DefaultUpdateCheckManager.java:250)
    at org.eclipse.aether.internal.impl.DefaultMetadataResolver.resolve (DefaultMetadataResolver.java:302)
    at org.eclipse.aether.internal.impl.DefaultMetadataResolver.resolveMetadata (DefaultMetadataResolver.java:181)
    at org.apache.maven.repository.internal.DefaultVersionRangeResolver.getVersions (DefaultVersionRangeResolver.java:198)
    at org.apache.maven.repository.internal.DefaultVersionRangeResolver.resolveVersionRange (DefaultVersionRangeResolver.java:148)
    at org.apache.maven.repository.internal.DefaultModelResolver.resolveModel (DefaultModelResolver.java:197)
    at org.apache.maven.model.building.DefaultModelBuilder.readParentExternally (DefaultModelBuilder.java:1070)
    at org.apache.maven.model.building.DefaultModelBuilder.readParent (DefaultModelBuilder.java:846)
    at org.apache.maven.model.building.DefaultModelBuilder.build (DefaultModelBuilder.java:337)
    at org.apache.maven.repository.internal.DefaultArtifactDescriptorReader.loadPom (DefaultArtifactDescriptorReader.java:292)
    at org.apache.maven.repository.internal.DefaultArtifactDescriptorReader.readArtifactDescriptor (DefaultArtifactDescriptorReader.java:171)
    at org.eclipse.aether.internal.impl.collect.DefaultDependencyCollector.resolveCachedArtifactDescriptor (DefaultDependencyCollector.java:538)
    at org.eclipse.aether.internal.impl.collect.DefaultDependencyCollector.getArtifactDescriptorResult (DefaultDependencyCollector.java:523)
    at org.eclipse.aether.internal.impl.collect.DefaultDependencyCollector.processDependency (DefaultDependencyCollector.java:410)
    at org.eclipse.aether.internal.impl.collect.DefaultDependencyCollector.processDependency (DefaultDependencyCollector.java:362)
    at org.eclipse.aether.internal.impl.collect.DefaultDependencyCollector.process (DefaultDependencyCollector.java:349)
    at org.eclipse.aether.internal.impl.collect.DefaultDependencyCollector.doRecurse (DefaultDependencyCollector.java:506)
    at org.eclipse.aether.internal.impl.collect.DefaultDependencyCollector.processDependency (DefaultDependencyCollector.java:458)
    at org.eclipse.aether.internal.impl.collect.DefaultDependencyCollector.processDependency (DefaultDependencyCollector.java:362)
    at org.eclipse.aether.internal.impl.collect.DefaultDependencyCollector.process (DefaultDependencyCollector.java:349)
    at org.eclipse.aether.internal.impl.collect.DefaultDependencyCollector.doRecurse (DefaultDependencyCollector.java:506)
    at org.eclipse.aether.internal.impl.collect.DefaultDependencyCollector.processDependency (DefaultDependencyCollector.java:458)
    at org.eclipse.aether.internal.impl.collect.DefaultDependencyCollector.processDependency (DefaultDependencyCollector.java:362)
    at org.eclipse.aether.internal.impl.collect.DefaultDependencyCollector.process (DefaultDependencyCollector.java:349)
    at org.eclipse.aether.internal.impl.collect.DefaultDependencyCollector.doRecurse (DefaultDependencyCollector.java:506)
    at org.eclipse.aether.internal.impl.collect.DefaultDependencyCollector.processDependency (DefaultDependencyCollector.java:458)
    at org.eclipse.aether.internal.impl.collect.DefaultDependencyCollector.processDependency (DefaultDependencyCollector.java:362)
    at org.eclipse.aether.internal.impl.collect.DefaultDependencyCollector.process (DefaultDependencyCollector.java:349)
    at org.eclipse.aether.internal.impl.collect.DefaultDependencyCollector.doRecurse (DefaultDependencyCollector.java:506)
    at org.eclipse.aether.internal.impl.collect.DefaultDependencyCollector.processDependency (DefaultDependencyCollector.java:458)
    at org.eclipse.aether.internal.impl.collect.DefaultDependencyCollector.processDependency (DefaultDependencyCollector.java:362)
    at org.eclipse.aether.internal.impl.collect.DefaultDependencyCollector.process (DefaultDependencyCollector.java:349)
    at org.eclipse.aether.internal.impl.collect.DefaultDependencyCollector.doRecurse (DefaultDependencyCollector.java:506)
    at org.eclipse.aether.internal.impl.collect.DefaultDependencyCollector.processDependency (DefaultDependencyCollector.java:458)
    at org.eclipse.aether.internal.impl.collect.DefaultDependencyCollector.processDependency (DefaultDependencyCollector.java:362)
    at org.eclipse.aether.internal.impl.collect.DefaultDependencyCollector.process (DefaultDependencyCollector.java:349)
    at org.eclipse.aether.internal.impl.collect.DefaultDependencyCollector.doRecurse (DefaultDependencyCollector.java:506)
    at org.eclipse.aether.internal.impl.collect.DefaultDependencyCollector.processDependency (DefaultDependencyCollector.java:458)
    at org.eclipse.aether.internal.impl.collect.DefaultDependencyCollector.processDependency (DefaultDependencyCollector.java:362)
    at org.eclipse.aether.internal.impl.collect.DefaultDependencyCollector.process (DefaultDependencyCollector.java:349)
    at org.eclipse.aether.internal.impl.collect.DefaultDependencyCollector.doRecurse (DefaultDependencyCollector.java:506)
    at org.eclipse.aether.internal.impl.collect.DefaultDependencyCollector.processDependency (DefaultDependencyCollector.java:458)
    at org.eclipse.aether.internal.impl.collect.DefaultDependencyCollector.processDependency (DefaultDependencyCollector.java:362)
    at org.eclipse.aether.internal.impl.collect.DefaultDependencyCollector.process (DefaultDependencyCollector.java:349)
    at org.eclipse.aether.internal.impl.collect.DefaultDependencyCollector.collectDependencies (DefaultDependencyCollector.java:254)
    at org.eclipse.aether.internal.impl.DefaultRepositorySystem.collectDependencies (DefaultRepositorySystem.java:284)
    at org.apache.maven.project.DefaultProjectDependenciesResolver.resolve (DefaultProjectDependenciesResolver.java:169)
    at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.internal.LifecycleDependencyResolver.getDependencies (LifecycleDependencyResolver.java:243)
    at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.internal.LifecycleDependencyResolver.resolveProjectDependencies (LifecycleDependencyResolver.java:147)
    at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.internal.MojoExecutor.ensureDependenciesAreResolved (MojoExecutor.java:248)
    at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.internal.MojoExecutor.execute (MojoExecutor.java:202)
    at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.internal.MojoExecutor.execute (MojoExecutor.java:156)
    at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.internal.MojoExecutor.execute (MojoExecutor.java:148)
    at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.internal.LifecycleModuleBuilder.buildProject (LifecycleModuleBuilder.java:117)
    at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.internal.LifecycleModuleBuilder.buildProject (LifecycleModuleBuilder.java:81)
    at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.internal.builder.singlethreaded.SingleThreadedBuilder.build (SingleThreadedBuilder.java:56)
    at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.internal.LifecycleStarter.execute (LifecycleStarter.java:128)
    at org.apache.maven.DefaultMaven.doExecute (DefaultMaven.java:305)
    at org.apache.maven.DefaultMaven.doExecute (DefaultMaven.java:192)
    at org.apache.maven.DefaultMaven.execute (DefaultMaven.java:105)
    at org.apache.maven.cli.MavenCli.execute (MavenCli.java:957)
    at org.apache.maven.cli.MavenCli.doMain (MavenCli.java:289)
    at org.apache.maven.cli.MavenCli.main (MavenCli.java:193)
    at jdk.internal.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0 (Native Method)
    at jdk.internal.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke (NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:78)
    at jdk.internal.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke (DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43)
    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke (Method.java:567)
    at org.codehaus.plexus.classworlds.launcher.Launcher.launchEnhanced (Launcher.java:282)
    at org.codehaus.plexus.classworlds.launcher.Launcher.launch (Launcher.java:225)
    at org.codehaus.plexus.classworlds.launcher.Launcher.mainWithExitCode (Launcher.java:406)
    at org.codehaus.plexus.classworlds.launcher.Launcher.main (Launcher.java:347)
[ERROR] 

I have already tried the following:

1. Reinstalled java on my mac
2. Reinstalled maven
3. Tried to invalidate cache and restart IntelliJ multiple times.

Answer 1

For me it turned out to be a corrupted dependency as well.
I did not want to go through the process of setting up the debugger, so decided to look for files containing \u0000 in my ~/.m2 directory by running:

grep -rnw ~/.m2 -e '\u0000'

after that you will get the files which are corrupted, delete those files and then build the maven.