[Bug]: RAR falsely claims an assembly reference has a higher version

[AArnott]

Issue Description

All references are to NuGet.VisualStudio.Contracts 17.2.0.0. The binding redirect is to 17.6.0.0. RAR false claims that another referenced assembly references 17.6.0.0 when in fact it only references 17.2.0.0:

Note the > marked lines below.

Warnings
    C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\IntPreview\MSBuild\Current\Bin\amd64\Microsoft.Common.CurrentVersion.targets(2352,5): warning MSB3277: Found conflicts between different versions of "NuGet.VisualStudio.Contracts" that could not be resolved. [C:\VS\src\vsproject\PackageAndDeploy\DeploymentService.UnitTests\DeploymentService.UnitTests.csproj]
        There was a conflict between "NuGet.VisualStudio.Contracts, Version=17.2.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a" and "NuGet.VisualStudio.Contracts, Version=17.6.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a".
        "NuGet.VisualStudio.Contracts, Version=17.2.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a" was chosen because it was primary and "NuGet.VisualStudio.Contracts, Version=17.6.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a" was not.
        References which depend on "NuGet.VisualStudio.Contracts, Version=17.2.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a" [C:\_nugetpackages\nuget.visualstudio.contracts\17.2.0\lib\netstandard2.0\NuGet.VisualStudio.Contracts.dll].
            C:\_nugetpackages\nuget.visualstudio.contracts\17.2.0\lib\netstandard2.0\NuGet.VisualStudio.Contracts.dll
                Project file item includes which caused reference "C:\_nugetpackages\nuget.visualstudio.contracts\17.2.0\lib\netstandard2.0\NuGet.VisualStudio.Contracts.dll".
                    C:\_nugetpackages\nuget.visualstudio.contracts\17.2.0\lib\netstandard2.0\NuGet.VisualStudio.Contracts.dll
>       References which depend on "NuGet.VisualStudio.Contracts, Version=17.6.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a" [].
>           C:\VS\out\binaries\x86chk\bin\netsdk\vsproject\DeploymentService\net472\Microsoft.VisualStudio.TailoredProjectServices.dll
                Project file item includes which caused reference "C:\VS\out\binaries\x86chk\bin\netsdk\vsproject\DeploymentService\net472\Microsoft.VisualStudio.TailoredProjectServices.dll".
                    C:\VS\out\binaries\x86chk\bin\netsdk\vsproject\DeploymentService\net472\Microsoft.VisualStudio.TailoredProjectServices.dll

Full binlog: msbuild-RAR-false-assembly-reference.binlog

I realize I have a problem in that there is no 17.6.0.0 assembly to reference, yet the binding redirects want it. I'll work on that. But the RAR warning is misleading and had I not already known the problem, I might have wasted a lot of time chasing the wrong problem, so I wanted to share here.

Steps to Reproduce

In the VS repo, run the following steps:

git checkout f238cf001782293096a220d752c82977a6b2a8b4
.\retail.ps1
bm /r src\vsproject\PackageAndDeploy\DeploymentService.UnitTests

Expected Behavior

RAR would be satisfied that all references are consistently to 17.2.0.0.
Maybe it would warn that the binding redirect is to 17.6.0.0, which is suspicious given the assembly references.

Actual Behavior

RAR warns that some assembly references are to 17.6.0.0, which is simply untrue.

Analysis

No response

Versions & Configurations

MSBuild version 17.6.0-preview-23112-04+dba9b2343 for .NET Framework
17.6.0.11204

[rainersigwald]

Thanks and sorry for the noise. I think this bad experience is a combination of #4757 and #7412.