diff --git a/.github/workflows/maven.yml b/.github/workflows/maven.yml
index d3219c71..217e8d3f 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/maven.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/maven.yml
@@ -35,10 +35,12 @@ jobs:
         distribution: 'temurin'
         java-version: ${{ matrix.java }}
         cache: 'maven'
+    - name: Set up Maven
+      uses: stCarolas/setup-maven@v4.5
+      with:
+        maven-version: 3.9.2
     - name: Install ci.ant
       run: |
-        cd ./ci.ant
-        mvn clean install
-        cd ..
+        ./mvnw -V clean install -f ci.ant
     - name: Build and run tests
-      run: ./mvnw clean install
+      run: ./mvnw -V clean install
diff --git a/.mvn/wrapper/maven-wrapper.properties b/.mvn/wrapper/maven-wrapper.properties
index ca5ab4ba..e1d6b156 100644
--- a/.mvn/wrapper/maven-wrapper.properties
+++ b/.mvn/wrapper/maven-wrapper.properties
@@ -14,5 +14,5 @@
 # KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
 # specific language governing permissions and limitations
 # under the License.
-distributionUrl=https://repo.maven.apache.org/maven2/org/apache/maven/apache-maven/3.8.7/apache-maven-3.8.7-bin.zip
-wrapperUrl=https://repo.maven.apache.org/maven2/org/apache/maven/wrapper/maven-wrapper/3.1.1/maven-wrapper-3.1.1.jar
+distributionUrl=https://repo.maven.apache.org/maven2/org/apache/maven/apache-maven/3.9.2/apache-maven-3.9.2-bin.zip
+wrapperUrl=https://repo.maven.apache.org/maven2/org/apache/maven/wrapper/maven-wrapper/3.2.0/maven-wrapper-3.2.0.jar
diff --git a/mvnw b/mvnw
index b7f06462..8d937f4c 100755
--- a/mvnw
+++ b/mvnw
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
 # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-# Apache Maven Wrapper startup batch script, version 3.1.1
+# Apache Maven Wrapper startup batch script, version 3.2.0
 #
 # Required ENV vars:
 # ------------------
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ fi
 cygwin=false;
 darwin=false;
 mingw=false
-case "`uname`" in
+case "$(uname)" in
   CYGWIN*) cygwin=true ;;
   MINGW*) mingw=true;;
   Darwin*) darwin=true
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ case "`uname`" in
     # See https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/qa/qa1170/_index.html
     if [ -z "$JAVA_HOME" ]; then
       if [ -x "/usr/libexec/java_home" ]; then
-        JAVA_HOME="`/usr/libexec/java_home`"; export JAVA_HOME
+        JAVA_HOME="$(/usr/libexec/java_home)"; export JAVA_HOME
       else
         JAVA_HOME="/Library/Java/Home"; export JAVA_HOME
       fi
@@ -71,38 +71,38 @@ esac
 
 if [ -z "$JAVA_HOME" ] ; then
   if [ -r /etc/gentoo-release ] ; then
-    JAVA_HOME=`java-config --jre-home`
+    JAVA_HOME=$(java-config --jre-home)
   fi
 fi
 
 # For Cygwin, ensure paths are in UNIX format before anything is touched
 if $cygwin ; then
   [ -n "$JAVA_HOME" ] &&
-    JAVA_HOME=`cygpath --unix "$JAVA_HOME"`
+    JAVA_HOME=$(cygpath --unix "$JAVA_HOME")
   [ -n "$CLASSPATH" ] &&
-    CLASSPATH=`cygpath --path --unix "$CLASSPATH"`
+    CLASSPATH=$(cygpath --path --unix "$CLASSPATH")
 fi
 
 # For Mingw, ensure paths are in UNIX format before anything is touched
 if $mingw ; then
-  [ -n "$JAVA_HOME" ] &&
-    JAVA_HOME="`(cd "$JAVA_HOME"; pwd)`"
+  [ -n "$JAVA_HOME" ] && [ -d "$JAVA_HOME" ] &&
+    JAVA_HOME="$(cd "$JAVA_HOME" || (echo "cannot cd into $JAVA_HOME."; exit 1); pwd)"
 fi
 
 if [ -z "$JAVA_HOME" ]; then
-  javaExecutable="`which javac`"
-  if [ -n "$javaExecutable" ] && ! [ "`expr \"$javaExecutable\" : '\([^ ]*\)'`" = "no" ]; then
+  javaExecutable="$(which javac)"
+  if [ -n "$javaExecutable" ] && ! [ "$(expr "\"$javaExecutable\"" : '\([^ ]*\)')" = "no" ]; then
     # readlink(1) is not available as standard on Solaris 10.
-    readLink=`which readlink`
-    if [ ! `expr "$readLink" : '\([^ ]*\)'` = "no" ]; then
+    readLink=$(which readlink)
+    if [ ! "$(expr "$readLink" : '\([^ ]*\)')" = "no" ]; then
       if $darwin ; then
-        javaHome="`dirname \"$javaExecutable\"`"
-        javaExecutable="`cd \"$javaHome\" && pwd -P`/javac"
+        javaHome="$(dirname "\"$javaExecutable\"")"
+        javaExecutable="$(cd "\"$javaHome\"" && pwd -P)/javac"
       else
-        javaExecutable="`readlink -f \"$javaExecutable\"`"
+        javaExecutable="$(readlink -f "\"$javaExecutable\"")"
       fi
-      javaHome="`dirname \"$javaExecutable\"`"
-      javaHome=`expr "$javaHome" : '\(.*\)/bin'`
+      javaHome="$(dirname "\"$javaExecutable\"")"
+      javaHome=$(expr "$javaHome" : '\(.*\)/bin')
       JAVA_HOME="$javaHome"
       export JAVA_HOME
     fi
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ if [ -z "$JAVACMD" ] ; then
       JAVACMD="$JAVA_HOME/bin/java"
     fi
   else
-    JAVACMD="`\\unset -f command; \\command -v java`"
+    JAVACMD="$(\unset -f command 2>/dev/null; \command -v java)"
   fi
 fi
 
@@ -150,108 +150,99 @@ find_maven_basedir() {
     fi
     # workaround for JBEAP-8937 (on Solaris 10/Sparc)
     if [ -d "${wdir}" ]; then
-      wdir=`cd "$wdir/.."; pwd`
+      wdir=$(cd "$wdir/.." || exit 1; pwd)
     fi
     # end of workaround
   done
-  printf '%s' "$(cd "$basedir"; pwd)"
+  printf '%s' "$(cd "$basedir" || exit 1; pwd)"
 }
 
 # concatenates all lines of a file
 concat_lines() {
   if [ -f "$1" ]; then
-    echo "$(tr -s '\n' ' ' < "$1")"
+    # Remove \r in case we run on Windows within Git Bash
+    # and check out the repository with auto CRLF management
+    # enabled. Otherwise, we may read lines that are delimited with
+    # \r\n and produce $'-Xarg\r' rather than -Xarg due to word
+    # splitting rules.
+    tr -s '\r\n' ' ' < "$1"
   fi
 }
 
-BASE_DIR=$(find_maven_basedir "$(dirname $0)")
+log() {
+  if [ "$MVNW_VERBOSE" = true ]; then
+    printf '%s\n' "$1"
+  fi
+}
+
+BASE_DIR=$(find_maven_basedir "$(dirname "$0")")
 if [ -z "$BASE_DIR" ]; then
   exit 1;
 fi
 
 MAVEN_PROJECTBASEDIR=${MAVEN_BASEDIR:-"$BASE_DIR"}; export MAVEN_PROJECTBASEDIR
-if [ "$MVNW_VERBOSE" = true ]; then
-  echo $MAVEN_PROJECTBASEDIR
-fi
+log "$MAVEN_PROJECTBASEDIR"
 
 ##########################################################################################
 # Extension to allow automatically downloading the maven-wrapper.jar from Maven-central
 # This allows using the maven wrapper in projects that prohibit checking in binary data.
 ##########################################################################################
-if [ -r "$BASE_DIR/.mvn/wrapper/maven-wrapper.jar" ]; then
-    if [ "$MVNW_VERBOSE" = true ]; then
-      echo "Found .mvn/wrapper/maven-wrapper.jar"
-    fi
+wrapperJarPath="$MAVEN_PROJECTBASEDIR/.mvn/wrapper/maven-wrapper.jar"
+if [ -r "$wrapperJarPath" ]; then
+    log "Found $wrapperJarPath"
 else
-    if [ "$MVNW_VERBOSE" = true ]; then
-      echo "Couldn't find .mvn/wrapper/maven-wrapper.jar, downloading it ..."
-    fi
+    log "Couldn't find $wrapperJarPath, downloading it ..."
+
     if [ -n "$MVNW_REPOURL" ]; then
-      wrapperUrl="$MVNW_REPOURL/org/apache/maven/wrapper/maven-wrapper/3.1.1/maven-wrapper-3.1.1.jar"
+      wrapperUrl="$MVNW_REPOURL/org/apache/maven/wrapper/maven-wrapper/3.2.0/maven-wrapper-3.2.0.jar"
     else
-      wrapperUrl="https://repo.maven.apache.org/maven2/org/apache/maven/wrapper/maven-wrapper/3.1.1/maven-wrapper-3.1.1.jar"
+      wrapperUrl="https://repo.maven.apache.org/maven2/org/apache/maven/wrapper/maven-wrapper/3.2.0/maven-wrapper-3.2.0.jar"
     fi
-    while IFS="=" read key value; do
-      case "$key" in (wrapperUrl) wrapperUrl="$value"; break ;;
+    while IFS="=" read -r key value; do
+      # Remove '\r' from value to allow usage on windows as IFS does not consider '\r' as a separator ( considers space, tab, new line ('\n'), and custom '=' )
+      safeValue=$(echo "$value" | tr -d '\r')
+      case "$key" in (wrapperUrl) wrapperUrl="$safeValue"; break ;;
       esac
-    done < "$BASE_DIR/.mvn/wrapper/maven-wrapper.properties"
-    if [ "$MVNW_VERBOSE" = true ]; then
-      echo "Downloading from: $wrapperUrl"
-    fi
-    wrapperJarPath="$BASE_DIR/.mvn/wrapper/maven-wrapper.jar"
+    done < "$MAVEN_PROJECTBASEDIR/.mvn/wrapper/maven-wrapper.properties"
+    log "Downloading from: $wrapperUrl"
+
     if $cygwin; then
-      wrapperJarPath=`cygpath --path --windows "$wrapperJarPath"`
+      wrapperJarPath=$(cygpath --path --windows "$wrapperJarPath")
     fi
 
     if command -v wget > /dev/null; then
-        QUIET="--quiet"
-        if [ "$MVNW_VERBOSE" = true ]; then
-          echo "Found wget ... using wget"
-          QUIET=""
-        fi
+        log "Found wget ... using wget"
+        [ "$MVNW_VERBOSE" = true ] && QUIET="" || QUIET="--quiet"
         if [ -z "$MVNW_USERNAME" ] || [ -z "$MVNW_PASSWORD" ]; then
-            wget $QUIET "$wrapperUrl" -O "$wrapperJarPath"
+            wget $QUIET "$wrapperUrl" -O "$wrapperJarPath" || rm -f "$wrapperJarPath"
         else
-            wget $QUIET --http-user="$MVNW_USERNAME" --http-password="$MVNW_PASSWORD" "$wrapperUrl" -O "$wrapperJarPath"
+            wget $QUIET --http-user="$MVNW_USERNAME" --http-password="$MVNW_PASSWORD" "$wrapperUrl" -O "$wrapperJarPath" || rm -f "$wrapperJarPath"
         fi
-        [ $? -eq 0 ] || rm -f "$wrapperJarPath"
     elif command -v curl > /dev/null; then
-        QUIET="--silent"
-        if [ "$MVNW_VERBOSE" = true ]; then
-          echo "Found curl ... using curl"
-          QUIET=""
-        fi
+        log "Found curl ... using curl"
+        [ "$MVNW_VERBOSE" = true ] && QUIET="" || QUIET="--silent"
         if [ -z "$MVNW_USERNAME" ] || [ -z "$MVNW_PASSWORD" ]; then
-            curl $QUIET -o "$wrapperJarPath" "$wrapperUrl" -f -L
+            curl $QUIET -o "$wrapperJarPath" "$wrapperUrl" -f -L || rm -f "$wrapperJarPath"
         else
-            curl $QUIET --user "$MVNW_USERNAME:$MVNW_PASSWORD" -o "$wrapperJarPath" "$wrapperUrl" -f -L
+            curl $QUIET --user "$MVNW_USERNAME:$MVNW_PASSWORD" -o "$wrapperJarPath" "$wrapperUrl" -f -L || rm -f "$wrapperJarPath"
         fi
-        [ $? -eq 0 ] || rm -f "$wrapperJarPath"
     else
-        if [ "$MVNW_VERBOSE" = true ]; then
-          echo "Falling back to using Java to download"
-        fi
-        javaSource="$BASE_DIR/.mvn/wrapper/MavenWrapperDownloader.java"
-        javaClass="$BASE_DIR/.mvn/wrapper/MavenWrapperDownloader.class"
+        log "Falling back to using Java to download"
+        javaSource="$MAVEN_PROJECTBASEDIR/.mvn/wrapper/MavenWrapperDownloader.java"
+        javaClass="$MAVEN_PROJECTBASEDIR/.mvn/wrapper/MavenWrapperDownloader.class"
         # For Cygwin, switch paths to Windows format before running javac
         if $cygwin; then
-          javaSource=`cygpath --path --windows "$javaSource"`
-          javaClass=`cygpath --path --windows "$javaClass"`
+          javaSource=$(cygpath --path --windows "$javaSource")
+          javaClass=$(cygpath --path --windows "$javaClass")
         fi
         if [ -e "$javaSource" ]; then
             if [ ! -e "$javaClass" ]; then
-                if [ "$MVNW_VERBOSE" = true ]; then
-                  echo " - Compiling MavenWrapperDownloader.java ..."
-                fi
-                # Compiling the Java class
+                log " - Compiling MavenWrapperDownloader.java ..."
                 ("$JAVA_HOME/bin/javac" "$javaSource")
             fi
             if [ -e "$javaClass" ]; then
-                # Running the downloader
-                if [ "$MVNW_VERBOSE" = true ]; then
-                  echo " - Running MavenWrapperDownloader.java ..."
-                fi
-                ("$JAVA_HOME/bin/java" -cp .mvn/wrapper MavenWrapperDownloader "$MAVEN_PROJECTBASEDIR")
+                log " - Running MavenWrapperDownloader.java ..."
+                ("$JAVA_HOME/bin/java" -cp .mvn/wrapper MavenWrapperDownloader "$wrapperUrl" "$wrapperJarPath") || rm -f "$wrapperJarPath"
             fi
         fi
     fi
@@ -260,25 +251,55 @@ fi
 # End of extension
 ##########################################################################################
 
+# If specified, validate the SHA-256 sum of the Maven wrapper jar file
+wrapperSha256Sum=""
+while IFS="=" read -r key value; do
+  case "$key" in (wrapperSha256Sum) wrapperSha256Sum=$value; break ;;
+  esac
+done < "$MAVEN_PROJECTBASEDIR/.mvn/wrapper/maven-wrapper.properties"
+if [ -n "$wrapperSha256Sum" ]; then
+  wrapperSha256Result=false
+  if command -v sha256sum > /dev/null; then
+    if echo "$wrapperSha256Sum  $wrapperJarPath" | sha256sum -c > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+      wrapperSha256Result=true
+    fi
+  elif command -v shasum > /dev/null; then
+    if echo "$wrapperSha256Sum  $wrapperJarPath" | shasum -a 256 -c > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+      wrapperSha256Result=true
+    fi
+  else
+    echo "Checksum validation was requested but neither 'sha256sum' or 'shasum' are available."
+    echo "Please install either command, or disable validation by removing 'wrapperSha256Sum' from your maven-wrapper.properties."
+    exit 1
+  fi
+  if [ $wrapperSha256Result = false ]; then
+    echo "Error: Failed to validate Maven wrapper SHA-256, your Maven wrapper might be compromised." >&2
+    echo "Investigate or delete $wrapperJarPath to attempt a clean download." >&2
+    echo "If you updated your Maven version, you need to update the specified wrapperSha256Sum property." >&2
+    exit 1
+  fi
+fi
+
 MAVEN_OPTS="$(concat_lines "$MAVEN_PROJECTBASEDIR/.mvn/jvm.config") $MAVEN_OPTS"
 
 # For Cygwin, switch paths to Windows format before running java
 if $cygwin; then
   [ -n "$JAVA_HOME" ] &&
-    JAVA_HOME=`cygpath --path --windows "$JAVA_HOME"`
+    JAVA_HOME=$(cygpath --path --windows "$JAVA_HOME")
   [ -n "$CLASSPATH" ] &&
-    CLASSPATH=`cygpath --path --windows "$CLASSPATH"`
+    CLASSPATH=$(cygpath --path --windows "$CLASSPATH")
   [ -n "$MAVEN_PROJECTBASEDIR" ] &&
-    MAVEN_PROJECTBASEDIR=`cygpath --path --windows "$MAVEN_PROJECTBASEDIR"`
+    MAVEN_PROJECTBASEDIR=$(cygpath --path --windows "$MAVEN_PROJECTBASEDIR")
 fi
 
 # Provide a "standardized" way to retrieve the CLI args that will
 # work with both Windows and non-Windows executions.
-MAVEN_CMD_LINE_ARGS="$MAVEN_CONFIG $@"
+MAVEN_CMD_LINE_ARGS="$MAVEN_CONFIG $*"
 export MAVEN_CMD_LINE_ARGS
 
 WRAPPER_LAUNCHER=org.apache.maven.wrapper.MavenWrapperMain
 
+# shellcheck disable=SC2086 # safe args
 exec "$JAVACMD" \
   $MAVEN_OPTS \
   $MAVEN_DEBUG_OPTS \
diff --git a/mvnw.cmd b/mvnw.cmd
index 474c9d6b..c4586b56 100644
--- a/mvnw.cmd
+++ b/mvnw.cmd
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
 @REM ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 @REM ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-@REM Apache Maven Wrapper startup batch script, version 3.1.1
+@REM Apache Maven Wrapper startup batch script, version 3.2.0
 @REM
 @REM Required ENV vars:
 @REM JAVA_HOME - location of a JDK home dir
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ SET MAVEN_JAVA_EXE="%JAVA_HOME%\bin\java.exe"
 set WRAPPER_JAR="%MAVEN_PROJECTBASEDIR%\.mvn\wrapper\maven-wrapper.jar"
 set WRAPPER_LAUNCHER=org.apache.maven.wrapper.MavenWrapperMain
 
-set WRAPPER_URL="https://repo.maven.apache.org/maven2/org/apache/maven/wrapper/maven-wrapper/3.1.1/maven-wrapper-3.1.1.jar"
+set WRAPPER_URL="https://repo.maven.apache.org/maven2/org/apache/maven/wrapper/maven-wrapper/3.2.0/maven-wrapper-3.2.0.jar"
 
 FOR /F "usebackq tokens=1,2 delims==" %%A IN ("%MAVEN_PROJECTBASEDIR%\.mvn\wrapper\maven-wrapper.properties") DO (
     IF "%%A"=="wrapperUrl" SET WRAPPER_URL=%%B
@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@ if exist %WRAPPER_JAR% (
     )
 ) else (
     if not "%MVNW_REPOURL%" == "" (
-        SET WRAPPER_URL="%MVNW_REPOURL%/org/apache/maven/wrapper/maven-wrapper/3.1.1/maven-wrapper-3.1.1.jar"
+        SET WRAPPER_URL="%MVNW_REPOURL%/org/apache/maven/wrapper/maven-wrapper/3.2.0/maven-wrapper-3.2.0.jar"
     )
     if "%MVNW_VERBOSE%" == "true" (
         echo Couldn't find %WRAPPER_JAR%, downloading it ...
@@ -153,6 +153,24 @@ if exist %WRAPPER_JAR% (
 )
 @REM End of extension
 
+@REM If specified, validate the SHA-256 sum of the Maven wrapper jar file
+SET WRAPPER_SHA_256_SUM=""
+FOR /F "usebackq tokens=1,2 delims==" %%A IN ("%MAVEN_PROJECTBASEDIR%\.mvn\wrapper\maven-wrapper.properties") DO (
+    IF "%%A"=="wrapperSha256Sum" SET WRAPPER_SHA_256_SUM=%%B
+)
+IF NOT %WRAPPER_SHA_256_SUM%=="" (
+    powershell -Command "&{"^
+       "$hash = (Get-FileHash \"%WRAPPER_JAR%\" -Algorithm SHA256).Hash.ToLower();"^
+       "If('%WRAPPER_SHA_256_SUM%' -ne $hash){"^
+       "  Write-Output 'Error: Failed to validate Maven wrapper SHA-256, your Maven wrapper might be compromised.';"^
+       "  Write-Output 'Investigate or delete %WRAPPER_JAR% to attempt a clean download.';"^
+       "  Write-Output 'If you updated your Maven version, you need to update the specified wrapperSha256Sum property.';"^
+       "  exit 1;"^
+       "}"^
+       "}"
+    if ERRORLEVEL 1 goto error
+)
+
 @REM Provide a "standardized" way to retrieve the CLI args that will
 @REM work with both Windows and non-Windows executions.
 set MAVEN_CMD_LINE_ARGS=%*
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index e4bc13ae..08c444f6 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -33,8 +33,8 @@
     <properties>
         <project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
         <project.reporting.outputEncoding>UTF-8</project.reporting.outputEncoding>
-        <maven.compiler.source>1.7</maven.compiler.source>
-        <maven.compiler.target>1.7</maven.compiler.target>
+        <maven.compiler.source>8</maven.compiler.source>
+        <maven.compiler.target>8</maven.compiler.target>
     </properties>
 
     <dependencies>
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@
         <dependency>
             <groupId>commons-io</groupId>
             <artifactId>commons-io</artifactId>
-            <version>2.11.0</version>
+            <version>2.13.0</version>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>javax.xml.bind</groupId>
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@
         <dependency>
             <groupId>io.openliberty.tools</groupId>
             <artifactId>liberty-ant-tasks</artifactId>
-            <version>1.9.12</version>
+            <version>1.9.13-SNAPSHOT</version>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>com.fasterxml.jackson.core</groupId>