Ubuntu server 23.04 netplan cloud-init python error

I've tried to find a solution and an answer myself before but didn't succeed.

I recently changed my wi-fi SSID and thus had to reflect that change in my ubuntu server configs.

On the raspi 4 everything worked as intended and the device connected to the new SSID.

On the raspi 3 I repeated the same steps as on the rapi 4 however any command related to netplan or cloud-init results in a traceback error being thrown at me.

System setup and state

• running Ubuntu server 23.04 on two raspberry pi (3 and 4)
• both systems are up to date
• changed config in both /boot/firmware/network-config files to reflect the new SSIDs
• tripple checked for any syntax errors or issues with indentation
• executed netplan try and netplan apply

Problem description

• Executing any netplan or cloud-init command will output errors. Even when I try to just run very basic netplan -h or cloud-init -h the same errors appear.

See log below:

> netplan -h
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/sbin/netplan", line 23, in <module>
    netplan.main()
  File "/usr/share/netplan/netplan/cli/core.py", line 48, in main
    self.parse_args()
  File "/usr/share/netplan/netplan/cli/core.py", line 41, in parse_args
    import netplan.cli.commands
  File "/usr/share/netplan/netplan/cli/commands/__init__.py", line 21, in <module>
    from netplan.cli.commands.migrate import NetplanMigrate
  File "/usr/share/netplan/netplan/cli/commands/migrate.py", line 26, in <module>
    import yaml
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1176, in _find_and_load
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1147, in _find_and_load_unlocked
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 690, in _load_unlocked
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap_external>", line 936, in exec_module
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap_external>", line 1069, in get_code
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap_external>", line 729, in _compile_bytecode
EOFError: marshal data too short

> cloud-init -h
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/bin/cloud-init", line 33, in <module>
    sys.exit(load_entry_point('cloud-init==23.2.1', 'console_scripts', 'cloud-init')())
             ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/bin/cloud-init", line 25, in importlib_load_entry_point
    return next(matches).load()
           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/lib/python3.11/importlib/metadata/__init__.py", line 202, in load
    module = import_module(match.group('module'))
             ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/lib/python3.11/importlib/__init__.py", line 126, in import_module
    return _bootstrap._gcd_import(name[level:], package, level)
           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1204, in _gcd_import
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1176, in _find_and_load
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1147, in _find_and_load_unlocked
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 690, in _load_unlocked
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap_external>", line 940, in exec_module
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 241, in _call_with_frames_removed
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/cloudinit/cmd/main.py", line 27, in <module>
    from cloudinit.config.modules import Modules
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/cloudinit/config/modules.py", line 14, in <module>
    from cloudinit import config, importer
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/cloudinit/importer.py", line 15, in <module>
    from cloudinit import util
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/cloudinit/util.py", line 46, in <module>
    from cloudinit import (
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/cloudinit/safeyaml.py", line 11, in <module>
    import yaml
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1176, in _find_and_load
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1147, in _find_and_load_unlocked
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 690, in _load_unlocked
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap_external>", line 936, in exec_module
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap_external>", line 1069, in get_code
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap_external>", line 729, in _compile_bytecode
EOFError: marshal data too short

• checked /var/log/syslog just to find more apparently python3 related errors i.e. in apt_news.py and esm_cache.py

What I have tried so far

• re-installing netplan, cloud-init and even python using apt --reinstall install <package>
• purged netplan and cloud-init and re-installed it
• checked for any missing or broken packages

To my very limited knowledge it looks like there is some general python error happening but I have no clue on how to resolve it. Please consider my linux/ubuntu knowlegde rather basic having worked myself through many hours of tutorials during the pandemic to set up the raspberry pi as a home server.

I would appreciate any input or hint that might lead me into the right direction :)