diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 800af72aa..1ce8b1304 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ on: push
 jobs:
 
   ci:
-    uses: europeana/metis-actions/.github/workflows/ci.yml@jdk17
+    uses: europeana/metis-actions/.github/workflows/ci.yml@jdk21
     with:
       sonar_organization: europeana
       sonar_project_key: europeana_metis-framework
@@ -14,14 +14,14 @@ jobs:
 
   deploy-artifacts:
     needs: ci
-    uses: europeana/metis-actions/.github/workflows/deploy-artifacts.yml@jdk17
+    uses: europeana/metis-actions/.github/workflows/deploy-artifacts.yml@jdk21
     secrets:
       ARTIFACTORY_USERNAME: ${{ secrets.ARTIFACTORY_USERNAME }}
       ARTIFACTORY_PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.ARTIFACTORY_PASSWORD }}
 
   docker-build_metis-authentication:
     needs: ci
-    uses: europeana/metis-actions/.github/workflows/docker-build-push.yml@jdk17
+    uses: europeana/metis-actions/.github/workflows/docker-build-push.yml@jdk21
     with:
       docker-organization: europeana
       docker-image-name: metis-authentication
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ jobs:
       DOCKER_HUB_PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.DOCKER_HUB_PASSWORD }}
   docker-build_metis-core:
     needs: ci
-    uses: europeana/metis-actions/.github/workflows/docker-build-push.yml@jdk17
+    uses: europeana/metis-actions/.github/workflows/docker-build-push.yml@jdk21
     with:
       docker-organization: europeana
       docker-image-name: metis-core
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ jobs:
       DOCKER_HUB_PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.DOCKER_HUB_PASSWORD }}
   docker-build_metis-dereference:
     needs: ci
-    uses: europeana/metis-actions/.github/workflows/docker-build-push.yml@jdk17
+    uses: europeana/metis-actions/.github/workflows/docker-build-push.yml@jdk21
     with:
       docker-organization: europeana
       docker-image-name: metis-dereference
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ jobs:
       DOCKER_HUB_PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.DOCKER_HUB_PASSWORD }}
   docker-build_metis-repository:
     needs: ci
-    uses: europeana/metis-actions/.github/workflows/docker-build-push.yml@jdk17
+    uses: europeana/metis-actions/.github/workflows/docker-build-push.yml@jdk21
     with:
       docker-organization: europeana
       docker-image-name: metis-repository
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 3f107c4df..559135d09 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ on:
 
 jobs:
   ci-release:
-    uses: europeana/metis-actions/.github/workflows/release.yml@jdk17
+    uses: europeana/metis-actions/.github/workflows/release.yml@jdk21
     with:
       release-version: ${{ github.event.inputs.release-version }}
       commit-hash-branch: ${{ github.event.inputs.commit-hash-branch }}
diff --git a/metis-authentication/metis-authentication-rest-client/pom.xml b/metis-authentication/metis-authentication-rest-client/pom.xml
index 47dc71469..aae552528 100644
--- a/metis-authentication/metis-authentication-rest-client/pom.xml
+++ b/metis-authentication/metis-authentication-rest-client/pom.xml
@@ -34,9 +34,8 @@
       <version>${project.version}</version>
     </dependency>
     <dependency>
-      <groupId>com.github.tomakehurst</groupId>
-      <artifactId>wiremock</artifactId>
-      <scope>test</scope>
+      <groupId>org.wiremock</groupId>
+      <artifactId>wiremock-standalone</artifactId>
     </dependency>
     <dependency>
       <groupId>org.junit.jupiter</groupId>
diff --git a/metis-core/metis-core-service/pom.xml b/metis-core/metis-core-service/pom.xml
index 79071c52b..78392ac0c 100644
--- a/metis-core/metis-core-service/pom.xml
+++ b/metis-core/metis-core-service/pom.xml
@@ -83,9 +83,8 @@
       <scope>test</scope>
     </dependency>
     <dependency>
-      <groupId>com.github.tomakehurst</groupId>
-      <artifactId>wiremock</artifactId>
-      <scope>test</scope>
+      <groupId>org.wiremock</groupId>
+      <artifactId>wiremock-standalone</artifactId>
       <exclusions>
         <exclusion>
           <groupId>com.fasterxml.jackson.core</groupId>
diff --git a/metis-core/pom.xml b/metis-core/pom.xml
index 7a83c55c3..a11d34adc 100644
--- a/metis-core/pom.xml
+++ b/metis-core/pom.xml
@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@
 
   <properties>
     <project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
-    <version.spring.boot>2.7.5</version.spring.boot>
   </properties>
 
   <modules>
diff --git a/metis-enrichment/metis-enrichment-client/pom.xml b/metis-enrichment/metis-enrichment-client/pom.xml
index 0ad836cab..de7750e9d 100644
--- a/metis-enrichment/metis-enrichment-client/pom.xml
+++ b/metis-enrichment/metis-enrichment-client/pom.xml
@@ -28,10 +28,8 @@
       <artifactId>mockito-core</artifactId>
     </dependency>
     <dependency>
-      <groupId>com.github.tomakehurst</groupId>
-      <artifactId>wiremock-jre8</artifactId>
-      <version>${version.wiremock-jre}</version>
-      <scope>test</scope>
+      <groupId>org.wiremock</groupId>
+      <artifactId>wiremock-standalone</artifactId>
     </dependency>
     <dependency>
       <groupId>eu.europeana.metis</groupId>
diff --git a/metis-harvesting/pom.xml b/metis-harvesting/pom.xml
index 8d71633cc..19016c0a9 100644
--- a/metis-harvesting/pom.xml
+++ b/metis-harvesting/pom.xml
@@ -37,9 +37,8 @@
             <version>${version.saxon.he}</version>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
-            <groupId>com.github.tomakehurst</groupId>
-            <artifactId>wiremock</artifactId>
-            <version>${version.com.github.tomakehurst.wiremock}</version>
+            <groupId>org.wiremock</groupId>
+            <artifactId>wiremock-standalone</artifactId>
             <scope>test</scope>
             <exclusions>
                 <exclusion>
diff --git a/metis-media-service/pom.xml b/metis-media-service/pom.xml
index 836ca468d..82357a3f7 100644
--- a/metis-media-service/pom.xml
+++ b/metis-media-service/pom.xml
@@ -36,12 +36,6 @@
       <version>${version.mpd.parser}</version>
     </dependency>
 
-    <dependency>
-      <groupId>com.github.tomakehurst</groupId>
-      <artifactId>wiremock</artifactId>
-      <scope>test</scope>
-    </dependency>
-
     <dependency>
       <groupId>com.fasterxml.jackson.core</groupId>
       <artifactId>jackson-databind</artifactId>
@@ -133,10 +127,8 @@
       <artifactId>mockito-core</artifactId>
     </dependency>
     <dependency>
-      <groupId>com.github.tomakehurst</groupId>
-      <artifactId>wiremock-jre8</artifactId>
-      <version>${version.wiremock-jre}</version>
-      <scope>test</scope>
+      <groupId>org.wiremock</groupId>
+      <artifactId>wiremock-standalone</artifactId>
     </dependency>
   </dependencies>
 </project>
diff --git a/metis-media-service/src/test/java/eu/europeana/metis/mediaprocessing/extraction/AudioVideoProcessorTest.java b/metis-media-service/src/test/java/eu/europeana/metis/mediaprocessing/extraction/AudioVideoProcessorTest.java
index aa0021d16..b471fb754 100644
--- a/metis-media-service/src/test/java/eu/europeana/metis/mediaprocessing/extraction/AudioVideoProcessorTest.java
+++ b/metis-media-service/src/test/java/eu/europeana/metis/mediaprocessing/extraction/AudioVideoProcessorTest.java
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 package eu.europeana.metis.mediaprocessing.extraction;
 
 import static com.github.tomakehurst.wiremock.client.WireMock.aResponse;
-import static com.github.tomakehurst.wiremock.client.WireMock.containing;
 import static com.github.tomakehurst.wiremock.client.WireMock.get;
 import static com.github.tomakehurst.wiremock.client.WireMock.urlEqualTo;
 import static com.github.tomakehurst.wiremock.core.WireMockConfiguration.wireMockConfig;
@@ -470,7 +469,6 @@ void testParseMpdResource() throws MediaExtractionException, URISyntaxException
         .thenReturn(new URI("http://127.0.0.1:" + portForWireMock + "/test-url.mpd"));
 
     wireMockServer.stubFor(get(urlEqualTo("/test-url.mpd"))
-        .withHeader("Accept", containing("text"))
         .willReturn(aResponse()
             .withStatus(200)
             .withHeader("Content-Type", "application/xml")
diff --git a/metis-validation/metis-validation-service/pom.xml b/metis-validation/metis-validation-service/pom.xml
index ad781577f..26b0e9cef 100644
--- a/metis-validation/metis-validation-service/pom.xml
+++ b/metis-validation/metis-validation-service/pom.xml
@@ -75,11 +75,9 @@
       <version>${version.spring.context}</version>
     </dependency>
 
-    <!-- https://mvnrepository.com/artifact/com.github.tomakehurst/wiremock -->
     <dependency>
-      <groupId>com.github.tomakehurst</groupId>
-      <artifactId>wiremock</artifactId>
-      <scope>test</scope>
+      <groupId>org.wiremock</groupId>
+      <artifactId>wiremock-standalone</artifactId>
     </dependency>
     <dependency>
       <groupId>org.powermock</groupId>
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 1b73f4484..61c028201 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@
           <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
           <version>${version.maven.compiler.plugin}</version>
           <configuration>
-            <release>17</release>
+            <release>21</release>
           </configuration>
         </plugin>
         <!--Setup highest directory path, so that it can be used as a variable avoiding relative paths-->
@@ -132,7 +132,6 @@
     <version.awaitability>1.7.0</version.awaitability>
     <version.bouncycastle>1.68</version.bouncycastle>
     <version.build.helper.maven.plugin>1.4</version.build.helper.maven.plugin>
-    <version.com.github.tomakehurst.wiremock>2.27.2</version.com.github.tomakehurst.wiremock>
     <version.com.zoho.crm.java-sdk>3.0.1</version.com.zoho.crm.java-sdk>
     <version.apache.commons.text>1.10.0</version.apache.commons.text>
     <version.commonscompress>1.21</version.commonscompress>
@@ -180,7 +179,7 @@
     <version.slf4j>1.7.30</version.slf4j>
     <version.solr.solrj>8.8.2</version.solr.solrj>
     <version.spring>5.3.7</version.spring>
-    <version.spring.boot>2.7.8</version.spring.boot>
+    <version.spring.boot>2.7.18</version.spring.boot>
     <version.spring.beans>${version.spring}</version.spring.beans>
     <version.spring.context>${version.spring}</version.spring.context>
     <version.spring.security>5.5.0</version.spring.security>
@@ -190,7 +189,7 @@
     <version.swagger>3.0.0</version.swagger>
     <version.swagger.annotations>1.6.2</version.swagger.annotations>
     <version.tika.core>1.26</version.tika.core>
-    <version.wiremock-jre>2.35.1</version.wiremock-jre>
+    <version.org.wiremock>3.3.1</version.org.wiremock>
     <version.testcontainers>1.19.0</version.testcontainers>
     <version.xerces>2.12.2</version.xerces>
     <version.xmlunit.matchers>2.8.2</version.xmlunit.matchers>
@@ -567,9 +566,9 @@
         <scope>test</scope>
       </dependency>
       <dependency>
-        <groupId>com.github.tomakehurst</groupId>
-        <artifactId>wiremock</artifactId>
-        <version>${version.com.github.tomakehurst.wiremock}</version>
+        <groupId>org.wiremock</groupId>
+        <artifactId>wiremock-standalone</artifactId>
+        <version>${version.org.wiremock}</version>
         <scope>test</scope>
         <exclusions>
           <exclusion>