Patch version of 2.18, released 28-Feb-2025.

Following fixes are included in this patch release.

• #1391: Fix issue where the parser can read back old number state when parsing later numbers
• #1397: Jackson changes additional values to infinite in case of special JSON structures and existing infinite values
• #1398: Fix issue that feature COMBINE_UNICODE_SURROGATES_IN_UTF8 doesn't work when custom CharacterEscapes are used

• #4444: The KeyDeserializer specified in the class with @JsonDeserialize(keyUsing = ...) is overwritten by the KeyDeserializer specified in the ObjectMapper.
• #4827: Subclassed Throwable deserialization fails since v2.18.0 - no creator index for property 'cause'
• #4844: Fix wrapped array handling wrt null by StdDeserializer
• #4848: Avoid type pollution in StringCollectionDeserializer
• #4860: ConstructorDetector.USE_PROPERTIES_BASED does not work with multiple constructors since 2.18
• #4878: When serializing a Map via Converter(StdDelegatingSerializer), a NullPointerException is thrown due to missing key serializer
• #4908: Deserialization behavior change with @JsonCreator and @ConstructorProperties between 2.17 and 2.18
• #4917: BigDecimal deserialization issue when using @JsonCreator
• #4920: Creator properties are ignored on abstract types when collecting bean properties, breaking AsExternalTypeDeserializer
• #4922: Failing @JsonMerge with a custom Map
• #4932: Conversion of MissingNode throws JsonProcessingException

• #541: SmileParser.getValueAsString() FIELD_NAME bug (same for CBOR, Protobuf)

• #333: ZonedDateTime serialization with @JsonFormat.pattern never uses it while WRITE_DATES_WITH_ZONE_ID enabled

• #161: Jakarta does not have jakarta.validation as module-info dependency

• #904: Fixed a problem where context was not being propagated properly when serializing an unboxed value of value class or a value retrieved with JsonValue. This fixes a problem where an error would occur when serializing a value class that wraps a Map