Reproduced running NetBeans in a current Jigsaw build (jdk repo ID bd170b081acf), but probably would be reproducible in any JDK 8 build (I do not have one handy). For reproducing in Jigsaw, need a development build of NetBeans containing changeset a791c3b01fe6 (should be available in nightly builds within a day or two) to avoid unrelated problems. For non-Jigsaw JDK 8, probably any NetBeans build will do; if a release build rather than a development build, just need one special step.

0. Running 64-bit Ubuntu 12.04 in GNOME 3 shell.
1. Start NetBeans using JDK 7: --jdkhome /.../jdk7 --userdir /tmp/testud
2. If using a release build, turn on View > Toolbars > Memory; in a development build this should be enabled already.
3. Right-click the memory usage control in the toolbar, and uncheck "Drop Shadow".
4. Close IDE.
5. Start using JDK 8 in same userdir: --jdkhome /.../jdk8 --userdir /tmp/testud
6. (note that status text not printed in splash screen... possibly related bug)
7. Right-click memory control and turn back on "Drop Shadow"
8. JVM instantly crashes.

If you try to start using JDK 8 in a fresh userdir, the crash is immediate, since "Drop Shadow" is on by default and you do not get a chance to disable it.

C [libmlib_image.so+0x2733] mlib_ImageSet+0x13
C [libmlib_image.so+0x28cc] j2d_mlib_ImageCreateStruct+0x6c
C [libawt.so+0x8d61f] allocateArray+0x4af
C [libawt.so+0x8f1a8] Java_sun_awt_image_ImagingLib_convolveBI+0x2e8
j sun.awt.image.ImagingLib.convolveBI(Ljava/awt/image/BufferedImage;Ljava/awt/image/BufferedImage;Ljava/awt/image/Kernel;I)I+0
j sun.awt.image.ImagingLib.filter(Ljava/awt/image/BufferedImageOp;Ljava/awt/image/BufferedImage;Ljava/awt/image/BufferedImage;)Ljava/awt/image/BufferedImage;+223
j java.awt.image.ConvolveOp.filter(Ljava/awt/image/BufferedImage;Ljava/awt/image/BufferedImage;)Ljava/awt/image/BufferedImage;+160
j sun.java2d.pipe.DrawImage.transformImage(Lsun/java2d/SunGraphics2D;Ljava/awt/image/BufferedImage;Ljava/awt/image/BufferedImageOp;II)V+41
j sun.java2d.pipe.ValidatePipe.transformImage(Lsun/java2d/SunGraphics2D;Ljava/awt/image/BufferedImage;Ljava/awt/image/BufferedImageOp;II)V+19
j sun.java2d.SunGraphics2D.drawImage(Ljava/awt/image/BufferedImage;Ljava/awt/image/BufferedImageOp;II)V+15
j org.openide.actions.HeapView.paintDropShadowText(Ljava/awt/Graphics;II)V+136
j org.openide.actions.HeapView.paintComponent(Ljava/awt/Graphics;)V+214

NB source: https://hg.netbeans.org/core-main/raw-file/default/openide.actions/src/org/openide/actions/HeapView.java