SpringBoot Upgrade java 21 to existing spring boot 2.7.0 application

I am trying to upgrade an existing application using spring boot version 2.7.0. with java 21 and getting below exception while running the application.

nested exception is org.springframework.core.NestedIOException: ASM ClassReader failed to parse class file - probably due to a new Java class file version that isn't supported yet: file [xxxApplication.class]; nested exception is java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Unsupported class file major version 65\r\n\tat o.s.c.a.ClassPathScanningCandidateComponentProvider.scanCandidateComponents(ClassPathScanningCandidateComponentProvider.java:457)\r\n\tat o.s.c.a.ClassPathScanningCandidateComponentProvider.findCandidateComponents(ClassPathScanningCandidateComponentProvider.java:316)\r\n\tat o.s.c.a.ClassPathBeanDefinitionScanner.doScan(ClassPathBeanDefinitionScanner.java:276)\r\n\tat o.s.c.a.C...\r\n"}

Please suggest the solution

Comment From: wilkinsona

Java 21 requires Spring Boot 2.7.17 or later. Also, please note that OSS support for Spring Boot 2.7.x has ended. You should upgrade to 3.2.x as soon as possible. Alternatively, commercial support is available.