diff --git a/api/build.gradle b/api/build.gradle
index c92bcc90c..55b448fd2 100644
--- a/api/build.gradle
+++ b/api/build.gradle
@@ -53,15 +53,13 @@ dependencies {
         exclude group: 'io.projectreactor.ipc', module: 'reactor-netty'
     }
 
-    runtimeOnly libs.micrometer.registry.prometheus
+    runtimeOnly(libs.micrometer.registry.prometheus){
+        exclude group: 'com.google.protobuf', module: 'protobuf-java' because("Micrometer uses protobuf-java 4.x, which is incompatible with protobuf-java 3.x used by various dependencies of this project. See https://github.com/prometheus/client_java/issues/1431")
+    }
 
     // CVE Fixes
     implementation libs.apache.commons.compress
     implementation libs.okhttp3.logging.intercepter
-    implementation libs.json.smart
-    implementation libs.netty.common
-    implementation libs.netty.handler
-    implementation libs.spring.context
 
     implementation libs.modelcontextprotocol.spring.webflux
     implementation libs.victools.jsonschema.generator
@@ -89,11 +87,7 @@ dependencies {
     testImplementation libs.testcontainers
     testImplementation libs.testcontainers.kafka
     testImplementation libs.testcontainers.jupiter
-    testImplementation libs.junit.jupiter.engine
-    testImplementation libs.mockito.core
-    testImplementation libs.mockito.jupiter
     testImplementation libs.bytebuddy
-    testImplementation libs.assertj
     testImplementation libs.jsonschemavalidator
     testImplementation(libs.kafka.clients) { artifact { classifier = "test" } }
     testImplementation libs.bouncycastle.bcpkix
diff --git a/gradle/libs.versions.toml b/gradle/libs.versions.toml
index edb5cd99d..2c186526e 100644
--- a/gradle/libs.versions.toml
+++ b/gradle/libs.versions.toml
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 [versions]
-spring-boot = '3.4.5'
+spring-boot = '3.5.3'
 
 aws-msk-auth = '2.3.0'
 azure-identity = '1.15.4'
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@ apache-commons-pool2 = '2.12.1'
 apache-datasketches = '3.1.0'
 apache-commons-compress = '1.26.0'
 
-assertj = '3.25.3'
 avro = '1.11.4'
 byte-buddy = '1.14.19'
 confluent = '7.9.0'
@@ -21,8 +20,6 @@ lombok = '1.18.34'
 odd-oddrn-generator = '0.1.17'
 odd-oddrn-client = '0.1.41'
 cel = '0.3.0'
-junit = '5.11.2'
-mockito = '5.16.0'
 okhttp3 = '4.12.0'
 testcontainers = '1.20.6'
 swagger-integration-jakarta = '2.2.28'
@@ -38,9 +35,6 @@ testng = '7.10.0'
 bonigarcia-webdrivermanager = '5.9.3'
 aspectj = '1.9.21'
 
-# CVE fixes
-netty = '4.1.119.Final'
-
 [plugins]
 spring-boot = { id = 'org.springframework.boot', version.ref = 'spring-boot' }
 spring-dependency-management = { id = 'io.spring.dependency-management', version = '1.1.3' }
@@ -101,11 +95,6 @@ testcontainers = { module = 'org.testcontainers:testcontainers', version.ref = '
 testcontainers-kafka = { module = 'org.testcontainers:kafka', version.ref = 'testcontainers' }
 testcontainers-jupiter = { module = 'org.testcontainers:junit-jupiter', version.ref = 'testcontainers' }
 
-junit-jupiter-engine = { module = 'org.junit.jupiter:junit-jupiter-engine', version.ref = 'junit' }
-
-mockito-core = { module = 'org.mockito:mockito-core', version.ref = 'mockito' }
-mockito-jupiter = { module = 'org.mockito:mockito-junit-jupiter', version.ref = 'mockito' }
-
 okhttp3 = { module = 'com.squareup.okhttp3:okhttp', version.ref = 'okhttp3' }
 okhttp3-mockwebserver = { module = 'com.squareup.okhttp3:mockwebserver', version.ref = 'okhttp3' }
 okhttp3-logging-intercepter = { module = 'com.squareup.okhttp3:logging-interceptor', version.ref = 'okhttp3' }
@@ -114,7 +103,6 @@ opendatadiscovery-oddrn = { module = 'org.opendatadiscovery:oddrn-generator-java
 opendatadiscovery-client = { module = 'org.opendatadiscovery:ingestion-contract-client', version.ref = 'odd-oddrn-client' }
 
 bytebuddy = { module = 'net.bytebuddy:byte-buddy', version.ref = 'byte-buddy' }
-assertj = { module = 'org.assertj:assertj-core', version.ref = 'assertj' }
 jsonschemavalidator = { module = 'com.github.java-json-tools:json-schema-validator', version.ref = 'json-schema-validator' }
 
 allure-testng = { module = 'io.qameta.allure:allure-testng', version.ref = 'allure' }
@@ -126,12 +114,6 @@ aspectj = { module = 'org.aspectj:aspectjweaver', version.ref = 'aspectj' }
 bonigarcia-webdrivermanager = { module = 'io.github.bonigarcia:webdrivermanager', version.ref = 'bonigarcia-webdrivermanager' }
 netty-resolver-dns-native = { module = 'io.netty:netty-resolver-dns-native-macos' }
 
-# CVE fixes
-json-smart = { module = 'net.minidev:json-smart', version = '2.5.2' }
-netty-common = { module = 'io.netty:netty-common', version.ref = 'netty' }
-netty-handler = { module = 'io.netty:netty-handler', version.ref = 'netty' }
-spring-context = { module = 'org.springframework:spring-context', version = '6.2.7' }
-
 # test scope
 bouncycastle-bcpkix = { module = 'org.bouncycastle:bcpkix-jdk18on', version = '1.80' }