FULL PRODUCT VERSION :
java version "1.7.0_40"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.7.0_40-b43)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 24.0-b56, mixed mode)

ADDITIONAL OS VERSION INFORMATION :
64-bit Windows. Can't be more specific as the error occured on an end-user's machine, but I've also done some testing with 64-bit windows 7 (Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7601])



A DESCRIPTION OF THE PROBLEM :
I know this is an old JRE, but the same bug is reported against JDK 1.9.0 b116: https://bugs.openjdk.java.net/browse/JDK-8156657

The bug was closed with the assertion that "this is not allowed on windows", which as far as I can tell has no basis. The Windows UI certainly makes it hard to get into this situation (eg. explorer automatically trims leading/trailing whitespace from file/directory names), but when dealing with network file systems it's certainly possible and Windows itself copes with the trailing space fine.

Well, mostly fine. It's hard/impossible to convince to convince cmd.exe to cd into a dir with trailing spaces, but it can access files/subdirectories within it. eg. I'm in a directory tree which looks like:

    abc \
        def\
            ghi\
            c.txt
        lol

That is, the immediate sub-dir "abc " has a trailing space. From here, the following commands fail with "The system cannot find the path specified.":

* cd abc
* cd "abc "
* cd "%CD%\abc \"

But these commands work fine:

* type "abc \def\c.txt"
* type "abc \lol"
* cd "abc \def\ghi"

STEPS TO FOLLOW TO REPRODUCE THE PROBLEM :
1. Export a filesystem which includes a directory with trailing/leading whitespace to a windows machine
2. Try to access and normalize paths under that directory

EXPECTED VERSUS ACTUAL BEHAVIOR :
EXPECTED -
Normalization succeeds.
ACTUAL -
Normalization failed. The exception in this case looks like this (where I've scrambled the path's alphanumeric content to censor customer data):

 java.nio.file.InvalidPathException: Trailing char < > at index 124: \\ei.uqpe.hhh\Ugehrt\IDPIC\GLZ\EXM_Rezxbl\74_Lvagfbqmoxgy_Iwcyjp\Zogbcrxpczhl Toeuyg Nvpwb\Iaucgvdgmyxb Ykcgfd - EQI VGB BIN \Ofrgeki Rnqp\Zoocjlofds\VUC Oiwbvua Ojyvwffadj\Eio Bzxzyi - KR80 17D\91F_Hqdsxpwalt_Lzpfes.gjs
  at sun.nio.fs.WindowsPathParser.normalize(Unknown Source)
  at sun.nio.fs.WindowsPathParser.parse(Unknown Source)
  at sun.nio.fs.WindowsPathParser.parse(Unknown Source)
  at sun.nio.fs.WindowsPath.parse(Unknown Source)
  at sun.nio.fs.WindowsFileSystem.getPath(Unknown Source)
  at java.io.File.toPath(Unknown Source)

where the File in question was provided by JFileChooser.getSelectedFiles().

REPRODUCIBILITY :
This bug can be reproduced rarely.

---------- BEGIN SOURCE ----------
import java.io.File;
import java.io.FileInputStream;

public class trailing_space {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
        /* NOTE: this relies on a pre-existing directory structure like the one in the description existing */
        File dir = new File("abc ");
        File f = new File(dir, "lol");

        /* Dump the contents of "abc \lol" to demonstrate that Windows is not restricting access */
        byte[] buf = new byte[1024];
        try (FileInputStream s = new FileInputStream(f)) {
            int len = s.read(buf);
            System.out.println(new String(buf, 0, len));
        }

        /* Now try to normalise the path -- crashes here */
        System.out.println(f.toPath());
    }
}

---------- END SOURCE ----------

CUSTOMER SUBMITTED WORKAROUND :
Avoid using java.io.Path, I guess. Or rename the directory.