diff --git a/util/pom.xml b/util/pom.xml
index 9681135b81..94e9266ca2 100644
--- a/util/pom.xml
+++ b/util/pom.xml
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@
         <dependency>
             <groupId>com.google.protobuf</groupId>
             <artifactId>protobuf-java</artifactId>
-            <version>3.4.0</version>
+            <version>3.16.3</version>
         </dependency>
         <!-- test dependencies -->
         <dependency>