diff --git a/apps/kafka-integration/core/pom.xml b/apps/kafka-integration/core/pom.xml
index f90f451d..c1a948b4 100644
--- a/apps/kafka-integration/core/pom.xml
+++ b/apps/kafka-integration/core/pom.xml
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@
         <dependency>
             <groupId>com.google.protobuf</groupId>
             <artifactId>protobuf-java</artifactId>
-            <version>3.0.0</version>
+            <version>3.16.3</version>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.onosproject</groupId>