Maven Dependency Audit Skill

Audit Maven dependencies for updates, vulnerabilities, and conflicts.

When to Use

• User says "check dependencies" / "audit dependencies" / "outdated dependencies"
• Before a release
• Regular maintenance (monthly recommended)
• After security advisory

Audit Workflow

1. Check for updates - Find outdated dependencies
2. Analyze tree - Find conflicts and duplicates
3. Security scan - Check for vulnerabilities
4. Report - Summary with prioritized actions

1. Check for Outdated Dependencies

Command

mvn versions:display-dependency-updates

Output Analysis

[INFO] The following dependencies in Dependencies have newer versions:
[INFO]   org.slf4j:slf4j-api ......................... 1.7.36 -> 2.0.9
[INFO]   com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-databind . 2.14.0 -> 2.16.1
[INFO]   org.junit.jupiter:junit-jupiter ............. 5.9.0 -> 5.10.1

Categorize Updates

Check Plugin Updates Too

mvn versions:display-plugin-updates

2. Analyze Dependency Tree

Full Tree

mvn dependency:tree

Filter for Specific Dependency

mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=org.slf4j

Find Conflicts

Look for:

[INFO] +- com.example:module-a:jar:1.0:compile
[INFO] |  \- org.slf4j:slf4j-api:jar:1.7.36:compile
[INFO] +- com.example:module-b:jar:1.0:compile
[INFO] |  \- org.slf4j:slf4j-api:jar:2.0.9:compile (omitted for conflict)

Flags:

• (omitted for conflict)

  - Version conflict resolved by Maven

• (omitted for duplicate)

  - Same version, no issue
• Multiple versions of same library - Potential runtime issues

Analyze Unused Dependencies

mvn dependency:analyze

Output:

[WARNING] Used undeclared dependencies found:
[WARNING]    org.slf4j:slf4j-api:jar:2.0.9:compile
[WARNING] Unused declared dependencies found:
[WARNING]    commons-io:commons-io:jar:2.11.0:compile

3. Security Vulnerability Scan

Option A: OWASP Dependency-Check (Recommended)

Add to pom.xml:

<plugin>
    <groupId>org.owasp</groupId>
    <artifactId>dependency-check-maven</artifactId>
    <version>9.0.7</version>
</plugin>

Run:

mvn dependency-check:check

Output: HTML report in

target/dependency-check-report.html

Option B: Maven Dependency Plugin

mvn dependency:analyze-report

Option C: GitHub Dependabot

If using GitHub, enable Dependabot alerts in repository settings.

Severity Levels

4. Generate Audit Report

Output Format

## Dependency Audit Report

**Project:** {project-name}
**Date:** {date}
**Total Dependencies:** {count}

### Security Issues

| Dependency | Current | CVE | Severity | Fixed In |
|------------|---------|-----|----------|----------|
| log4j-core | 2.14.0 | CVE-2021-44228 | Critical | 2.17.1 |

### Outdated Dependencies

#### Major Updates (Review Required)
| Dependency | Current | Latest | Notes |
|------------|---------|--------|-------|
| slf4j-api | 1.7.36 | 2.0.9 | API changes, see migration guide |

#### Minor/Patch Updates (Safe)
| Dependency | Current | Latest |
|------------|---------|--------|
| junit-jupiter | 5.9.0 | 5.10.1 |
| jackson-databind | 2.14.0 | 2.16.1 |

### Conflicts Detected
- slf4j-api: 1.7.36 vs 2.0.9 (resolved to 2.0.9)

### Unused Dependencies
- commons-io:commons-io:2.11.0 (consider removing)

### Recommendations
1. **Immediate:** Update log4j-core to fix CVE-2021-44228
2. **This sprint:** Update minor/patch versions
3. **Plan:** Evaluate slf4j 2.x migration

Common Scenarios

Scenario: Check Before Release

# Quick check
mvn versions:display-dependency-updates -q

# Full audit
mvn versions:display-dependency-updates && \
mvn dependency:analyze && \
mvn dependency-check:check

Scenario: Find Why Dependency is Included

mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=commons-logging

Scenario: Force Specific Version (Resolve Conflict)

<dependencyManagement>
    <dependencies>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
            <artifactId>slf4j-api</artifactId>
            <version>2.0.9</version>
        </dependency>
    </dependencies>
</dependencyManagement>

Scenario: Exclude Transitive Dependency

<dependency>
    <groupId>com.example</groupId>
    <artifactId>some-library</artifactId>
    <version>1.0</version>
    <exclusions>
        <exclusion>
            <groupId>commons-logging</groupId>
            <artifactId>commons-logging</artifactId>
        </exclusion>
    </exclusions>
</dependency>

Token Optimization

• Use

  -q

  (quiet) flag for less verbose output
• Filter with

  -Dincludes=groupId:artifactId

  when looking for specific deps
• Run commands separately and summarize findings
• Don't paste entire dependency tree - summarize conflicts

Quick Commands Reference

mvn versions:display-dependency-updates

mvn versions:display-plugin-updates

mvn dependency:tree

mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=groupId

mvn dependency:analyze

mvn dependency-check:check

mvn versions:use-latest-releases

mvn versions:use-latest-snapshots

Update Strategies

Conservative (Recommended for Production)

1. Update patch versions freely
2. Update minor versions with basic testing
3. Major versions require migration plan

Aggressive (For Active Development)

# Update all to latest (use with caution!)
mvn versions:use-latest-releases
mvn versions:commit  # or versions:revert

Selective

# Update specific dependency
mvn versions:use-latest-versions -Dincludes=org.junit.jupiter