diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 13f24d7aea..ab3c73ff8a 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -1375,13 +1375,12 @@
         <!-- can't upgrade the plugin yet; as there is an issue with 2.22 no longer running all the tests-->
         <maven-surefire-plugin.version>2.21.0</maven-surefire-plugin.version>
         <maven-compiler-plugin.version>3.8.1</maven-compiler-plugin.version>
-        <exec-maven-plugin.version>1.6.0</exec-maven-plugin.version>
+        <exec-maven-plugin.version>3.0.0</exec-maven-plugin.version>
         <java.version>1.8</java.version>
         <log4j.version>1.2.17</log4j.version>
         <esapi.version>2.2.2.0</esapi.version>
         <jmh-core.version>1.28</jmh-core.version>
         <jmh-generator.version>1.28</jmh-generator.version>
-        <exec-maven-plugin.version>1.6.0</exec-maven-plugin.version>
         <maven-failsafe-plugin.version>2.21.0</maven-failsafe-plugin.version>
         <commons-io.version>2.8.0</commons-io.version>
         <commons-lang.version>2.6</commons-lang.version>