diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 6cf51d5ff36..d6e8611a626 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@
             <plugin>
                 <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                 <artifactId>maven-source-plugin</artifactId>
-                <version>3.2.1</version>
+                <version>3.3.1</version>
                 <executions>
                     <execution>
                         <id>attach-sources</id>
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@
             <plugin>
                 <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
                 <artifactId>buildnumber-maven-plugin</artifactId>
-                <version>1.4</version>
+                <version>3.2.0</version>
                 <executions>
                     <execution>
                         <phase>validate</phase>
@@ -103,12 +103,12 @@
             <plugin>
                 <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                 <artifactId>maven-resources-plugin</artifactId>
-                <version>3.1.0</version>
+                <version>3.3.1</version>
             </plugin>
             <plugin>
                 <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                 <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
-                <version>3.8.0</version>
+                <version>3.13.0</version>
                 <configuration>
                     <compilerArgument>-parameters</compilerArgument> <!-- make sure parameters are compiled by name into the jar -->
                 </configuration>
@@ -181,7 +181,7 @@
             </plugin>
             <plugin>
                 <artifactId>maven-clean-plugin</artifactId>
-                <version>3.0.0</version>
+                <version>3.3.2</version>
                 <configuration>
                     <filesets>
                         <fileset>
@@ -198,7 +198,7 @@
             <plugin>
                 <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                 <artifactId>maven-surefire-plugin</artifactId>
-                <version>2.22.2</version>
+                <version>3.2.5</version>
                 <executions>
                     <execution>
                         <id>test</id>
@@ -226,7 +226,7 @@
             <plugin>
                 <groupId>org.jacoco</groupId>
                 <artifactId>jacoco-maven-plugin</artifactId>
-                <version>0.8.5</version>
+                <version>0.8.12</version>
                 <executions>
                     <execution>
                         <goals>
@@ -245,7 +245,7 @@
             <plugin>
                 <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                 <artifactId>maven-dependency-plugin</artifactId>
-                <version>3.5.0</version>
+                <version>3.6.1</version>
                 <executions>
                     <execution>
                         <goals>
@@ -261,7 +261,7 @@
             <plugin>
                 <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                 <artifactId>maven-release-plugin</artifactId>
-                <version>2.5.3</version>
+                <version>3.0.1</version>
                 <configuration>
                     <tagNameFormat>v@{project.version}</tagNameFormat>
                     <arguments>-Drascal.compile.skip -Drascal.tutor.skip -DskipTests</arguments>
@@ -270,7 +270,7 @@
             <plugin>
                 <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                 <artifactId>maven-shade-plugin</artifactId>
-                <version>2.4.1</version>
+                <version>3.5.3</version>
                 <executions>
                     <execution>
                         <phase>package</phase>
@@ -309,6 +309,26 @@
                     </execution>
                 </executions>
             </plugin>
+            <plugin><!-- make sure users are using recent versions of maven -->
+                <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
+                <artifactId>maven-enforcer-plugin</artifactId>
+                <version>3.4.1</version>
+                <executions>
+                    <execution>
+                        <id>enforce-maven</id>
+                        <goals>
+                        <goal>enforce</goal>
+                        </goals>
+                        <configuration>
+                            <rules>
+                                <requireMavenVersion>
+                                    <version>(3.8,)</version> <!-- ideally this would be 3.9+, but GH actions is still on 3.8 -->
+                                </requireMavenVersion>
+                            </rules>
+                        </configuration>
+                    </execution>
+                </executions>
+            </plugin>
         </plugins>
         <pluginManagement>
             <plugins>