Suddenly getting ##[error]System.ArgumentNullException: Value cannot be null. (Parameter 'input') - azure-devops

Question

Problem appeared just today - previously it was working fine. Suddenly getting the error:
##[error]System.ArgumentNullException: Value cannot be null. (Parameter ‘input’)
at System.Text.RegularExpressions.Regex.Replace(String input, String replacement)
at Microsoft.VisualStudio.Services.Agent.Util.StringUtil.DeactivateVsoCommands(String input)
at Microsoft.VisualStudio.Services.Agent.Worker.WorkerUtilities.DeactivateVsoCommandsFromJobMessageVariables(AgentJobRequestMessage message)
at Microsoft.VisualStudio.Services.Agent.Worker.Worker.RunAsync(String pipeIn, String pipeOut)
at Microsoft.VisualStudio.Services.Agent.Worker.Program.MainAsync(IHostContext context, String[] args)
Error reported in diagnostic logs. Please examine the log for more details.
- /home/vsts/agents/2.213.1/_diag/Worker_20221110-110312-utc.log
Pool: Azure Pipelines
Image: ubuntu-latest
Queued: Today at 13:00 [manage parallel jobs]
The agent request is already running or has already completed.
The stage seems waiting for the agent and after that fails with above message.
After cancelling the pipeline and restarting the stage - the same error. What is the problem? What would be temporary workaround?
Our pipelines are defined with yaml.
I have no access to the log indicated above so can not provide more details from there.
Regards,
Roman.
UPDATE 14/11/2022:
After applying patch 2.213.2 to MS hosted agents Microsoft has resolved the issue

Answer 1

===============================================
Update 11/14
According to this latest release for the agent, the error has been fixed in the version of 2.213.2.
You could try to update again and test to see if the issue persists.
If the issue is still observed, you could share the latest status with us.

Answer 2

This issue started yesterday also for us. It's indeed related to the fact the pipeline is using Subversion source. We mitigated the issue by switching to our own private/custom agent pool. Moved away from the public azure devops agents.
Update 1:
The mitigation worked for a few hours but all pipelines are now failing with:
##[error]System.ArgumentOutOfRangeException: The startIndex argument must be greater than or equal to zero. (Parameter 'startIndex')
at System.Collections.Concurrent.ConcurrentStack`1.ValidatePushPopRangeInput(T[] items, Int32 startIndex, Int32 count)
at System.Collections.Concurrent.ConcurrentStack`1.PushRange(T[] items, Int32 startIndex, Int32 count)
at System.Collections.Concurrent.ConcurrentStack`1.PushRange(T[] items)
at Agent.Plugins.Repository.SvnCliManager.<>c__DisplayClass3_0.<GetSvnWorkingCopyPaths>b__0(String fld)
at System.Linq.Parallel.ForAllOperator`1.ForAllEnumerator`1.MoveNext(TInput& currentElement, Int32& currentKey)
at System.Linq.Parallel.ForAllSpoolingTask`2.SpoolingWork()
at System.Linq.Parallel.SpoolingTaskBase.Work()
at System.Linq.Parallel.QueryTask.BaseWork(Object unused)
at System.Linq.Parallel.QueryTask.<>c.<.cctor>b__10_0(Object o)
at System.Threading.Tasks.Task.InnerInvoke()
at System.Threading.Tasks.Task.<>c.<.cctor>b__274_0(Object obj)
at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.RunFromThreadPoolDispatchLoop(Thread threadPoolThread, ExecutionContext executionContext, ContextCallback callback, Object state)
--- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---
at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.RunFromThreadPoolDispatchLoop(Thread threadPoolThread, ExecutionContext executionContext, ContextCallback callback, Object state)
at System.Threading.Tasks.Task.ExecuteWithThreadLocal(Task& currentTaskSlot, Thread threadPoolThread)

Answer 3

Had the same issue that started yesterday 11/10/2022 with subversion and Azure Hosted Build Agents. Had to build an on premise hosted agent and point build pipeline to use that instead of the azure hosted one.