diff --git a/assembly/pom.xml b/assembly/pom.xml
index 7c770d3020..6ca2f28a04 100644
--- a/assembly/pom.xml
+++ b/assembly/pom.xml
@@ -406,7 +406,7 @@
     <dependency>
       <groupId>xerces</groupId>
       <artifactId>xercesImpl</artifactId>
-      <version>2.11.0</version>
+      <version>${xerces-version}</version>
     </dependency>
     <dependency>
       <groupId>xerces</groupId>
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 444c142789..73ba661494 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@
     <xpp3-version>1.1.4c</xpp3-version>
     <xstream-version>1.4.10</xstream-version>
     <xbean-version>4.2</xbean-version>
-    <xerces-version>2.11.0</xerces-version>
+    <xerces-version>2.12.0</xerces-version>
     <jaxb-basics-version>0.6.4</jaxb-basics-version>
     <stompjms-version>1.19</stompjms-version>