ADDITIONAL SYSTEM INFORMATION :
Windows 10, JDK 17.0.2 (and 18-ea)

A DESCRIPTION OF THE PROBLEM :
Running javadoc throws an exception:

error: An internal exception has occurred.
        (java.lang.IllegalStateException: ERRONEOUS)
Please file a bug against the javadoc tool via the Java bug reporting page
(http://bugreport.java.com) after checking the Bug Database (http://bugs.java.com)
for duplicates. Include error messages and the following diagnostic in your report. Thank you.
java.lang.IllegalStateException: ERRONEOUS
        at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.doclets.formats.html.HtmlDocletWriter.seeTagToContent(HtmlDocletWriter.java:1014)
        at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.doclets.formats.html.TagletWriterImpl.seeTagOutput(TagletWriterImpl.java:325)
        at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.doclets.toolkit.taglets.SeeTaglet.getAllBlockTagOutput(SeeTaglet.java:82)
        at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.doclets.toolkit.taglets.TagletWriter.getBlockTagOutput(TagletWriter.java:315)
        at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.doclets.formats.html.HtmlDocletWriter.getBlockTagOutput(HtmlDocletWriter.java:359)
        at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.doclets.formats.html.HtmlDocletWriter.getBlockTagOutput(HtmlDocletWriter.java:345)
        at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.doclets.formats.html.HtmlDocletWriter.addTagsInfo(HtmlDocletWriter.java:331)
        at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.doclets.formats.html.ClassWriterImpl.addClassTagInfo(ClassWriterImpl.java:224)
        at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.doclets.toolkit.builders.ClassBuilder.buildClassTagInfo(ClassBuilder.java:299)
        at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.doclets.toolkit.builders.ClassBuilder.buildClassInfo(ClassBuilder.java:168)
        at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.doclets.toolkit.builders.ClassBuilder.buildClassDoc(ClassBuilder.java:130)
        at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.doclets.toolkit.builders.ClassBuilder.build(ClassBuilder.java:108)
        at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.doclets.formats.html.HtmlDoclet.generateClassFiles(HtmlDoclet.java:391)
        at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.doclets.toolkit.AbstractDoclet.generateClassFiles(AbstractDoclet.java:286)
        at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.doclets.formats.html.HtmlDoclet.generateClassFiles(HtmlDoclet.java:197)
        at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.doclets.toolkit.AbstractDoclet.startGeneration(AbstractDoclet.java:212)
        at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.doclets.toolkit.AbstractDoclet.run(AbstractDoclet.java:115)
        at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.doclet.StandardDoclet.run(StandardDoclet.java:103)
        at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.tool.Start.parseAndExecute(Start.java:556)
        at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.tool.Start.begin(Start.java:393)
        at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.tool.Start.begin(Start.java:342)
        at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.tool.Main.execute(Main.java:63)
        at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.tool.Main.main(Main.java:52)
1 error

REGRESSION : Last worked in version 16

STEPS TO FOLLOW TO REPRODUCE THE PROBLEM :
call javadoc tool (just the standard doclet) to generate html documentation. A publicly available codebase where the error occurs can be found here: https://github.com/miho/VMF/tree/master/core

EXPECTED VERSUS ACTUAL BEHAVIOR :
EXPECTED -
javadoc should run without throwing an java.lang.IllegalStateException.
ACTUAL -
javadoc fails with the following output:

error: An internal exception has occurred.
        (java.lang.IllegalStateException: ERRONEOUS)
Please file a bug against the javadoc tool via the Java bug reporting page
(http://bugreport.java.com) after checking the Bug Database (http://bugs.java.com)
for duplicates. Include error messages and the following diagnostic in your report. Thank you.
java.lang.IllegalStateException: ERRONEOUS
        at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.doclets.formats.html.HtmlDocletWriter.seeTagToContent(HtmlDocletWriter.java:1014)
        at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.doclets.formats.html.TagletWriterImpl.seeTagOutput(TagletWriterImpl.java:325)
        at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.doclets.toolkit.taglets.SeeTaglet.getAllBlockTagOutput(SeeTaglet.java:82)
        at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.doclets.toolkit.taglets.TagletWriter.getBlockTagOutput(TagletWriter.java:315)
        at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.doclets.formats.html.HtmlDocletWriter.getBlockTagOutput(HtmlDocletWriter.java:359)
        at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.doclets.formats.html.HtmlDocletWriter.getBlockTagOutput(HtmlDocletWriter.java:345)
        at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.doclets.formats.html.HtmlDocletWriter.addTagsInfo(HtmlDocletWriter.java:331)
        at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.doclets.formats.html.ClassWriterImpl.addClassTagInfo(ClassWriterImpl.java:224)
        at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.doclets.toolkit.builders.ClassBuilder.buildClassTagInfo(ClassBuilder.java:299)
        at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.doclets.toolkit.builders.ClassBuilder.buildClassInfo(ClassBuilder.java:168)
        at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.doclets.toolkit.builders.ClassBuilder.buildClassDoc(ClassBuilder.java:130)
        at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.doclets.toolkit.builders.ClassBuilder.build(ClassBuilder.java:108)
        at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.doclets.formats.html.HtmlDoclet.generateClassFiles(HtmlDoclet.java:391)
        at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.doclets.toolkit.AbstractDoclet.generateClassFiles(AbstractDoclet.java:286)
        at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.doclets.formats.html.HtmlDoclet.generateClassFiles(HtmlDoclet.java:197)
        at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.doclets.toolkit.AbstractDoclet.startGeneration(AbstractDoclet.java:212)
        at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.doclets.toolkit.AbstractDoclet.run(AbstractDoclet.java:115)
        at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.doclet.StandardDoclet.run(StandardDoclet.java:103)
        at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.tool.Start.parseAndExecute(Start.java:556)
        at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.tool.Start.begin(Start.java:393)
        at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.tool.Start.begin(Start.java:342)
        at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.tool.Main.execute(Main.java:63)
        at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.tool.Main.main(Main.java:52)
1 error

---------- BEGIN SOURCE ----------
Since the root of the problem is unknown, there is no sample code that demonstrates the problem. There's a publicly available project that seems to trigger the exception: https://github.com/miho/VMF/tree/master/core
---------- END SOURCE ----------

CUSTOMER SUBMITTED WORKAROUND :
There is no known workaround on JDK 17. Use JDK 16 or 11 to generate the documentation.

FREQUENCY : always