BeanDefinitionStoreException Failed to read candidate component class

Another reason is use of Spring 3 with Java 8. Java 8 requires Spring 4.

(not specific to this question, but for those who are googling the error message)

You most likely have conflicting Spring dependencies on your classpath. It's probably an old spring-asm JAR.

Run mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=:spring*:: and check for conflicts. The best way to avoid these is to put a dependency on the spring-framework-bom in your project's dependencyManagement section, as follows

        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-framework-bom</artifactId>
            <version>4.0.3.RELEASE</version>
            <type>pom</type>
            <scope>import</scope>
        </dependency>

These versions are supported.