Cannot cast String to FileInfoMatcherDescription

[xo355]

Building Maven projects usually works, but for some projects, build fails with an exception in M2E:

!ENTRY org.eclipse.core.resources 4 75 2026-02-16 16:26:43.594
!MESSAGE Errors occurred during the build.
!SUBENTRY 1 org.eclipse.m2e.core 4 75 2026-02-16 16:26:43.594
!MESSAGE Errors running builder 'Maven Project Builder' on project 'foo-1.2.3'.
!STACK 0
java.lang.ClassCastException: class java.lang.String cannot be cast to class [Lorg.eclipse.core.resources.FileInfoMatcherDescription; (java.lang.String is in module java.base of loader 'bootstrap'; [Lorg.eclipse.core.resources.FileInfoMatcherDescription; is in unnamed module of loader org.eclipse.osgi.internal.loader.EquinoxClassLoader @136ac799)
    at org.eclipse.core.resources.filtermatchers.CompoundFileInfoMatcher.initialize(CompoundFileInfoMatcher.java:41)
    at org.eclipse.core.internal.resources.Filter.match(Filter.java:74)
    at org.eclipse.core.internal.resources.Filter.filterExcludes(Filter.java:165)
    at org.eclipse.core.internal.resources.Filter.filter(Filter.java:119)
    at org.eclipse.core.internal.resources.Resource.filterChildren(Resource.java:2132)
    at org.eclipse.core.internal.resources.Resource.filterChildren(Resource.java:2092)
    at org.eclipse.core.internal.localstore.UnifiedTree.getLocalList(UnifiedTree.java:396)
    at org.eclipse.core.internal.localstore.UnifiedTree.addChildren(UnifiedTree.java:160)
    at org.eclipse.core.internal.localstore.UnifiedTree.addNodeChildrenToQueue(UnifiedTree.java:275)
    at org.eclipse.core.internal.localstore.UnifiedTree.accept(UnifiedTree.java:129)
    at org.eclipse.core.internal.localstore.FileSystemResourceManager.refreshResource(FileSystemResourceManager.java:1086)
    at org.eclipse.core.internal.localstore.FileSystemResourceManager.refresh(FileSystemResourceManager.java:1069)
    at org.eclipse.core.internal.resources.Resource.refreshLocal(Resource.java:1683)
    at org.eclipse.m2e.core.internal.builder.MavenBuilderImpl.refreshResources(MavenBuilderImpl.java:325)
    at org.eclipse.m2e.core.internal.builder.MavenBuilderImpl.build(MavenBuilderImpl.java:196)
    at org.eclipse.m2e.core.internal.builder.MavenBuilder$1.method(MavenBuilder.java:164)
    at org.eclipse.m2e.core.internal.builder.MavenBuilder$1.method(MavenBuilder.java:1)
    at org.eclipse.m2e.core.internal.builder.MavenBuilder$BuildMethod.lambda$1(MavenBuilder.java:109)
    at org.eclipse.m2e.core.internal.embedder.MavenExecutionContext.executeBare(MavenExecutionContext.java:458)
    at org.eclipse.m2e.core.internal.embedder.MavenExecutionContext.execute(MavenExecutionContext.java:292)
    at org.eclipse.m2e.core.internal.builder.MavenBuilder$BuildMethod.lambda$0(MavenBuilder.java:100)
    at org.eclipse.m2e.core.internal.embedder.MavenExecutionContext.executeBare(MavenExecutionContext.java:458)
    at org.eclipse.m2e.core.internal.embedder.MavenExecutionContext.execute(MavenExecutionContext.java:339)
    at org.eclipse.m2e.core.internal.embedder.MavenExecutionContext.execute(MavenExecutionContext.java:278)
    at org.eclipse.m2e.core.internal.builder.MavenBuilder$BuildMethod.execute(MavenBuilder.java:83)
    at org.eclipse.m2e.core.internal.builder.MavenBuilder.build(MavenBuilder.java:192)
    at org.eclipse.core.internal.events.BuildManager$2.run(BuildManager.java:1109)
    at org.eclipse.core.runtime.SafeRunner.run(SafeRunner.java:47)
    at org.eclipse.core.internal.events.BuildManager.basicBuild(BuildManager.java:299)
    at org.eclipse.core.internal.events.BuildManager.basicBuild(BuildManager.java:355)
    at org.eclipse.core.internal.events.BuildManager$1.run(BuildManager.java:449)
    at org.eclipse.core.runtime.SafeRunner.run(SafeRunner.java:47)
    at org.eclipse.core.internal.events.BuildManager.basicBuild(BuildManager.java:452)
    at org.eclipse.core.internal.events.BuildManager.basicBuildLoop(BuildManager.java:564)
    at org.eclipse.core.internal.events.BuildManager.basicBuildLoop(BuildManager.java:512)
    at org.eclipse.core.internal.events.BuildManager.build(BuildManager.java:594)
    at org.eclipse.core.internal.events.AutoBuildJob.doBuild(AutoBuildJob.java:208)
    at org.eclipse.core.internal.events.AutoBuildJob.run(AutoBuildJob.java:309)
    at org.eclipse.core.internal.jobs.Worker.run(Worker.java:63)

Edit: adding $HOME/.metadata/.plugins/org.eclipse.m2e.logback/0.log:

2026-02-16 16:26:43,585 [Worker-1712: Building] WARN  o.apache.maven.project.MavenProject - Direct modification of compileSourceRoots through add() is deprecated and will not work in Maven 4.0.0. Please use the add/remove methods instead. If you're using a plugin that causes this warning, please upgrade to the latest version and report an issue if the warning persists. To disable these warnings, set -Dmaven.project.sourceRoots.warningsDisabled=true on the command line, in the .mvn/maven.config file, or in project POM properties.
2026-02-16 16:26:43,585 [Worker-1712: Building] WARN  o.apache.maven.project.MavenProject - Direct modification of testCompileSourceRoots through clear() is deprecated and will not work in Maven 4.0.0. Please use the add/remove methods instead. If you're using a plugin that causes this warning, please upgrade to the latest version and report an issue if the warning persists. To disable these warnings, set -Dmaven.project.sourceRoots.warningsDisabled=true on the command line, in the .mvn/maven.config file, or in project POM properties.
2026-02-16 16:26:43,585 [Worker-1712: Building] WARN  o.apache.maven.project.MavenProject - Direct modification of testCompileSourceRoots through add() is deprecated and will not work in Maven 4.0.0. Please use the add/remove methods instead. If you're using a plugin that causes this warning, please upgrade to the latest version and report an issue if the warning persists. To disable these warnings, set -Dmaven.project.sourceRoots.warningsDisabled=true on the command line, in the .mvn/maven.config file, or in project POM properties.

I'm not aware of any unusual peculiarities in the failing project. Does anybody have any suggestion on what to look for to solve this?

POMs

parent-pom.xml
pom.xml

Versions & environment

• Version: 2025-09 (4.37)
• Build id: I20250905-0730
• Eclipse.org - m2e M2E Maven Integration for Eclipse Core 2.9.1.20250811-2022 org.eclipse.m2e.feature
• eclipse_installation_details.txt
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux release 9.6, with openjdk 21.0.7 2025-04-15 LTS, OpenJDK Runtime Environment (Red_Hat-21.0.7.0.6-1) (build 21.0.7+6-LTS), OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM (Red_Hat-21.0.7.0.6-1) (build 21.0.7+6-LTS, mixed mode, sharing)