A DESCRIPTION OF THE PROBLEM :
I managed to reproduce JDK-8206917 - see below

An exception has occurred in the compiler (10.0.2). Please file a bug against the Java compiler via the Java bug reporting page (http://bugreport.java.com) after checking the Bug Database (http://bugs.java.com) for duplicates. Include your program and the following diagnostic in your report. Thank you.
java.lang.NullPointerException
  at jdk.compiler/com.sun.tools.javac.comp.Flow$FlowAnalyzer.visitApply(Flow.java:1233)
  at jdk.compiler/com.sun.tools.javac.tree.JCTree$JCMethodInvocation.accept(JCTree.java:1634)
  at jdk.compiler/com.sun.tools.javac.tree.TreeScanner.scan(TreeScanner.java:49)
  at jdk.compiler/com.sun.tools.javac.comp.Flow$BaseAnalyzer.scan(Flow.java:396)
  at jdk.compiler/com.sun.tools.javac.tree.TreeScanner.visitAssign(TreeScanner.java:269)
  at jdk.compiler/com.sun.tools.javac.tree.JCTree$JCAssign.accept(JCTree.java:1874)
  at jdk.compiler/com.sun.tools.javac.tree.TreeScanner.visitExec(TreeScanner.java:213)
  at jdk.compiler/com.sun.tools.javac.tree.JCTree$JCExpressionStatement.accept(JCTree.java:1452)
  at jdk.compiler/com.sun.tools.javac.tree.TreeScanner.scan(TreeScanner.java:57)
  at jdk.compiler/com.sun.tools.javac.comp.Flow$FlowAnalyzer.visitBlock(Flow.java:995)
  at jdk.compiler/com.sun.tools.javac.tree.JCTree$JCBlock.accept(JCTree.java:1020)
  at jdk.compiler/com.sun.tools.javac.comp.Flow$FlowAnalyzer.visitMethodDef(Flow.java:962)
  at jdk.compiler/com.sun.tools.javac.tree.JCTree$JCMethodDecl.accept(JCTree.java:866)
  at jdk.compiler/com.sun.tools.javac.comp.Flow$FlowAnalyzer.visitClassDef(Flow.java:925)
  at jdk.compiler/com.sun.tools.javac.tree.JCTree$JCClassDecl.accept(JCTree.java:774)
  at jdk.compiler/com.sun.tools.javac.comp.Flow$FlowAnalyzer.analyzeTree(Flow.java:1325)
  at jdk.compiler/com.sun.tools.javac.comp.Flow$FlowAnalyzer.analyzeTree(Flow.java:1315)
  at jdk.compiler/com.sun.tools.javac.comp.Flow.analyzeTree(Flow.java:216)
  at jdk.compiler/com.sun.tools.javac.main.JavaCompiler.flow(JavaCompiler.java:1393)
  at jdk.compiler/com.sun.tools.javac.main.JavaCompiler.flow(JavaCompiler.java:1367)
  at jdk.compiler/com.sun.tools.javac.main.JavaCompiler.compile(JavaCompiler.java:965)
  at jdk.compiler/com.sun.tools.javac.api.JavacTaskImpl.lambda$doCall$0(JavacTaskImpl.java:100)
at jdk.compiler/com.sun.tools.javac.api.JavacTaskImpl.handleExceptions(JavacTaskImpl.java:142)
  at jdk.compiler/com.sun.tools.javac.api.JavacTaskImpl.doCall(JavacTaskImpl.java:96)
  at jdk.compiler/com.sun.tools.javac.api.JavacTaskImpl.call(JavacTaskImpl.java:90)
...
Errors occurred while compiling module '...'
javac 10.0.2 was used to compile java sources
8/29/2018 4:32 PM - Compilation completed with 1 error and 0 warnings in 2 s 301 ms
Compilation failed: internal java compiler error

STEPS TO FOLLOW TO REPRODUCE THE PROBLEM :
Problem seems to be the diamond at new ParameterizedTypeReference

EXPECTED VERSUS ACTUAL BEHAVIOR :
EXPECTED -
Should compile
ACTUAL -
Doesn't

---------- BEGIN SOURCE ----------
package bug;

import java.util.Set;
import org.springframework.core.ParameterizedTypeReference;
import org.springframework.http.HttpMethod;
import org.springframework.http.ResponseEntity;
import org.springframework.web.client.RestTemplate;

public class BugReport {

  private RestTemplate restTemplate;

  public Set<String> getResult() {
    ResponseEntity<Set<String>> response;
    response = restTemplate.exchange(
         "/abc",
        HttpMethod.GET,
        null,
        new ParameterizedTypeReference<>() {
        });
    return response.getBody();
  }
}

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

CUSTOMER SUBMITTED WORKAROUND :
Filling the diamond cures the problem

new ParameterizedTypeReference<Set<String>>() {}

FREQUENCY : always