ADDITIONAL SYSTEM INFORMATION :
$ ./mvnw --version
Apache Maven 3.9.11 (3e54c93a704957b63ee3494413a2b544fd3d825b)
Maven home: /home/user/m2/wrapper/dists/apache-maven-3.9.11/a2d47e15
Java version: 17.0.12, vendor: Oracle Corporation, runtime: /home/user/jdk-17.0.12
Default locale: de_DE, platform encoding: UTF-8
OS name: "linux", version: "6.8.0-85-generic", arch: "amd64", family: "unix"


A DESCRIPTION OF THE PROBLEM :
Javadoc cannot be generated with newer JDKs, JDK8 worked fine:
java.lang.NullPointerException: Cannot invoke "com.sun.source.util.DocTreePath.getTreePath()" because "path" is null

There used to be a different bugfix for above error message, but it does not seem to solve the issue I'm running into.

STEPS TO FOLLOW TO REPRODUCE THE PROBLEM :
git clone https://github.com/apache/creadur-rat.git
cd creadur-rat
./mvnw javadoc:javadoc

EXPECTED VERSUS ACTUAL BEHAVIOR :
EXPECTED -
Javadoc generation should happen as it did in other releases
ACTUAL -
[ERROR] error: An internal exception has occurred.
[ERROR] (java.lang.NullPointerException: Cannot invoke "com.sun.source.util.DocTreePath.getTreePath()" because "path" is null)
[ERROR] Please file a bug against the javadoc tool via the Java bug reporting page
[ERROR] (https://bugreport.java.com) after checking the Bug Database (https://bugs.java.com)
[ERROR] for duplicates. Include error messages and the following diagnostic in your report. Thank you.
[ERROR] java.lang.NullPointerException: Cannot invoke "com.sun.source.util.DocTreePath.getTreePath()" because "path" is null
[ERROR] at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.tool.JavadocLog.getDiagnosticSource(JavadocLog.java:618)
[ERROR] at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.tool.JavadocLog.print(JavadocLog.java:245)
[ERROR] at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.doclets.toolkit.Messages.report(Messages.java:187)
[ERROR] at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.doclets.toolkit.Messages.warning(Messages.java:133)
[ERROR] at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.doclets.formats.html.HtmlDocletWriter.seeTagToContent(HtmlDocletWriter.java:1068)
[ERROR] at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.doclets.formats.html.HtmlDocletWriter$2.visitLink(HtmlDocletWriter.java:1545)
[ERROR] at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.doclets.formats.html.HtmlDocletWriter$2.visitLink(HtmlDocletWriter.java:1397)
[ERROR] at jdk.compiler/com.sun.tools.javac.tree.DCTree$DCLink.accept(DCTree.java:538)
[ERROR] at jdk.compiler/com.sun.source.util.SimpleDocTreeVisitor.visit(SimpleDocTreeVisitor.java:79)
[ERROR] at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.doclets.formats.html.HtmlDocletWriter.commentTagsToContent(HtmlDocletWriter.java:1629)
[ERROR] at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.doclets.formats.html.TagletWriterImpl.throwsTagOutput(TagletWriterImpl.java:410)
[ERROR] at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.doclets.toolkit.taglets.ThrowsTaglet.throwsTagsOutput(ThrowsTaglet.java:214)
[ERROR] at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.doclets.toolkit.taglets.ThrowsTaglet.inheritThrowsDocumentation(ThrowsTaglet.java:155)
[ERROR] at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.doclets.toolkit.taglets.ThrowsTaglet.getAllBlockTagOutput(ThrowsTaglet.java:177)
[ERROR] at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.doclets.toolkit.taglets.TagletWriter.getBlockTagOutput(TagletWriter.java:288)
[ERROR] at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.doclets.formats.html.HtmlDocletWriter.getBlockTagOutput(HtmlDocletWriter.java:365)
[ERROR] at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.doclets.formats.html.HtmlDocletWriter.getBlockTagOutput(HtmlDocletWriter.java:351)
[ERROR] at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.doclets.formats.html.HtmlDocletWriter.addTagsInfo(HtmlDocletWriter.java:337)
[ERROR] at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.doclets.formats.html.MethodWriterImpl.addTags(MethodWriterImpl.java:175)
[ERROR] at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.doclets.toolkit.builders.MethodBuilder.buildTagInfo(MethodBuilder.java:190)
[ERROR] at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.doclets.toolkit.builders.MethodBuilder.buildMethodDoc(MethodBuilder.java:128)
[ERROR] at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.doclets.toolkit.builders.MethodBuilder.build(MethodBuilder.java:106)
[ERROR] at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.doclets.toolkit.builders.ClassBuilder.buildMethodDetails(ClassBuilder.java:398)
[ERROR] at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.doclets.toolkit.builders.ClassBuilder.buildMemberDetails(ClassBuilder.java:346)
[ERROR] at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.doclets.toolkit.builders.ClassBuilder.buildClassDoc(ClassBuilder.java:149)
[ERROR] at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.doclets.toolkit.builders.ClassBuilder.build(ClassBuilder.java:113)
[ERROR] at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.doclets.formats.html.HtmlDoclet.generateClassFiles(HtmlDoclet.java:376)
[ERROR] at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.doclets.toolkit.AbstractDoclet.generateClassFiles(AbstractDoclet.java:286)
[ERROR] at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.doclets.formats.html.HtmlDoclet.generateClassFiles(HtmlDoclet.java:199)
[ERROR] at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.doclets.toolkit.AbstractDoclet.startGeneration(AbstractDoclet.java:212)
[ERROR] at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.doclets.toolkit.AbstractDoclet.run(AbstractDoclet.java:115)
[ERROR] at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.doclet.StandardDoclet.run(StandardDoclet.java:103)
[ERROR] at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.tool.Start.parseAndExecute(Start.java:556)
[ERROR] at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.tool.Start.begin(Start.java:393)
[ERROR] at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.tool.Start.begin(Start.java:342)
[ERROR] at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.tool.Main.execute(Main.java:63)
[ERROR] at jdk.javadoc/jdk.javadoc.internal.tool.Main.main(Main.java:52)
[ERROR] 1 error
[ERROR] 100 warnings
[ERROR] Command line was: /home/user/jdk-17.0.12/bin/javadoc -J-Duser.language= -J-Duser.country= @options @packages
[ERROR]
[ERROR] Refer to the generated Javadoc files in '/home/user/creadur-rat/apache-rat-core/target/reports/apidocs' dir.
[ERROR]
[ERROR] -> [Help 1]