diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 1b9935c4c..3d32dbd7a 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -75,17 +75,18 @@ under the License.
         <project.reporting.outputEncoding>UTF-8</project.reporting.outputEncoding>
         <java.version>1.8</java.version>
         <spotless-maven-plugin.version>1.20.0</spotless-maven-plugin.version>
-        <auto-service.version>1.0-rc6</auto-service.version>
+        <auto-service.version>1.1.1</auto-service.version>
         <protobuf.version>3.7.1</protobuf.version>
         <unixsocket.version>2.3.2</unixsocket.version>
         <protoc-jar-maven-plugin.version>3.11.1</protoc-jar-maven-plugin.version>
-        <flink.version>1.16.2</flink.version>
+        <flink.version>1.20.1</flink.version>
         <scala.binary.version>2.12</scala.binary.version>
         <scala.version>2.12.7</scala.version>
         <lz4-java.version>1.8.0</lz4-java.version>
-        <flink-shaded-jackson.version>2.12.4-15.0</flink-shaded-jackson.version>
-        <slf4j-log4j12.version>1.7.32</slf4j-log4j12.version>
+        <flink-shaded-jackson.version>2.18.2-20.0</flink-shaded-jackson.version>
+        <slf4j.version>1.7.36</slf4j.version>
         <test.unit.pattern>**/*Test.*</test.unit.pattern>
+        <testcontainers.version>1.19.3</testcontainers.version>
     </properties>
 
     <dependencies>
@@ -113,24 +114,264 @@ under the License.
 
             <!--
                 Resolve dependency convergence issue:
-                flink-core:1.16.2 depends on kryo:2.24.0
-                flink-java:1.16.2 depends on kryo:2.21 (via com.twitter:chill-java:0.7.6)
+                flink-core:1.17.1 depends on kryo:2.24.0
+                flink-java:1.17.1 depends on kryo:2.21 (via com.twitter:chill-java:0.7.6)
             -->
             <dependency>
                 <groupId>com.esotericsoftware.kryo</groupId>
                 <artifactId>kryo</artifactId>
                 <version>2.24.0</version>
             </dependency>
+
             <!--
                 Resolve dependency convergence issue:
-                flink-connector-kinesis:1.16.2 depends on jackson-databind:2.13.4.2
-                flink-connector-kinesis:1.16.2 depends on jackson-databind:2.13.4
-                (via com.fasterxml.jackson.dataformat:jackson-dataformat-cbor:2.13.4)
-             -->
+                flink-runtime:1.17.1 depends on flink-shaded-force-shading:16.1
+                org.apache.flink:flink-connector-kinesis:4.1.0-1.17 depends on flink-shaded-force-shading:16.0
+            -->
+            <dependency>
+                <groupId>org.apache.flink</groupId>
+                <artifactId>flink-shaded-force-shading</artifactId>
+                <version>16.1</version>
+            </dependency>
+            <dependency>
+                <groupId>org.apache.flink</groupId>
+                <artifactId>flink-streaming-java</artifactId>
+                <version>${flink.version}</version>
+                <exclusions>
+                    <exclusion>
+                        <groupId>org.apache.flink</groupId>
+                        <artifactId>flink-core</artifactId>
+                    </exclusion>
+                    <exclusion>
+                        <groupId>org.apache.flink</groupId>
+                        <artifactId>flink-runtime</artifactId>
+                    </exclusion>
+                    <exclusion>
+                        <groupId>org.apache.flink</groupId>
+                        <artifactId>flink-java</artifactId>
+                    </exclusion>
+                    <exclusion>
+                        <groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
+                        <artifactId>slf4j-api</artifactId>
+                    </exclusion>
+                </exclusions>
+            </dependency>
+            <dependency>
+                <groupId>org.apache.flink</groupId>
+                <artifactId>flink-core</artifactId>
+                <version>${flink.version}</version>
+                <exclusions>
+                    <exclusion>
+                        <groupId>org.apache.commons</groupId>
+                        <artifactId>commons-lang3</artifactId>
+                    </exclusion>
+                    <exclusion>
+                        <groupId>org.apache.commons</groupId>
+                        <artifactId>commons-text</artifactId>
+                    </exclusion>
+                </exclusions>
+            </dependency>
+            <dependency>
+                <groupId>org.apache.flink</groupId>
+                <artifactId>flink-core</artifactId>
+                <type>test-jar</type>
+                <version>${flink.version}</version>
+                <exclusions>
+                    <exclusion>
+                        <groupId>org.apache.commons</groupId>
+                        <artifactId>commons-lang3</artifactId>
+                    </exclusion>
+                    <exclusion>
+                        <groupId>org.apache.commons</groupId>
+                        <artifactId>commons-text</artifactId>
+                    </exclusion>
+                    <exclusion>
+                        <groupId>org.apache.flink</groupId>
+                        <artifactId>flink-shaded-jackson</artifactId>
+                    </exclusion>
+                </exclusions>
+            </dependency>
+            <dependency>
+                <groupId>org.apache.flink</groupId>
+                <artifactId>flink-runtime</artifactId>
+                <version>${flink.version}</version>
+                <exclusions>
+                    <exclusion>
+                        <groupId>org.apache.commons</groupId>
+                        <artifactId>commons-lang3</artifactId>
+                    </exclusion>
+                    <exclusion>
+                        <groupId>org.apache.commons</groupId>
+                        <artifactId>commons-text</artifactId>
+                    </exclusion>
+                    <exclusion>
+                        <groupId>org.apache.flink</groupId>
+                        <artifactId>flink-shaded-jackson</artifactId>
+                    </exclusion>
+                </exclusions>
+            </dependency>
+            <dependency>
+                <groupId>org.apache.flink</groupId>
+                <artifactId>flink-java</artifactId>
+                <version>${flink.version}</version>
+                <exclusions>
+                    <exclusion>
+                        <groupId>org.apache.commons</groupId>
+                        <artifactId>commons-lang3</artifactId>
+                    </exclusion>
+                </exclusions>
+            </dependency>
+            <dependency>
+                <groupId>org.apache.commons</groupId>
+                <artifactId>commons-lang3</artifactId>
+                <version>3.14.0</version>
+            </dependency>
+            <dependency>
+                <groupId>org.apache.commons</groupId>
+                <artifactId>commons-text</artifactId>
+                <version>1.12.0</version>
+            </dependency>
+            <dependency>
+                <groupId>org.apache.flink</groupId>
+                <artifactId>flink-shaded-jackson</artifactId>
+                <version>2.18.2-20.0</version>
+            </dependency>
+            <!--            -->
+            <dependency>
+                <groupId>org.apache.flink</groupId>
+                <artifactId>flink-connector-kinesis</artifactId>
+                <version>5.0.0-1.20</version>
+                <exclusions>
+                    <exclusion>
+                        <groupId>org.apache.flink</groupId>
+                        <artifactId>flink-connector-base</artifactId>
+                    </exclusion>
+                    <exclusion>
+                        <groupId>org.apache.commons</groupId>
+                        <artifactId>commons-lang3</artifactId>
+                    </exclusion>
+                </exclusions>
+            </dependency>
+            <!--            -->
+            <dependency>
+                <groupId>org.apache.flink</groupId>
+                <artifactId>flink-test-utils-junit</artifactId>
+                <version>${flink.version}</version>
+                <scope>test</scope>
+                <exclusions>
+                    <exclusion>
+                        <!-- fix Dependency convergence error for org.apache.commons:commons-compress:1.26.0 -->
+                        <groupId>org.testcontainers</groupId>
+                        <artifactId>testcontainers</artifactId>
+                    </exclusion>
+                </exclusions>
+            </dependency>
+            <dependency>
+                <groupId>org.testcontainers</groupId>
+                <artifactId>testcontainers</artifactId>
+                <version>${testcontainers.version}</version>
+                <exclusions>
+                    <exclusion>
+                        <groupId>org.apache.commons</groupId>
+                        <artifactId>commons-compress</artifactId>
+                    </exclusion>
+                    <exclusion>
+                        <groupId>com.github.docker-java</groupId>
+                        <artifactId>docker-java-api</artifactId>
+                    </exclusion>
+                    <exclusion>
+                        <groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
+                        <artifactId>slf4j-api</artifactId>
+                    </exclusion>
+                    <exclusion>
+                        <groupId>com.kohlschutter.junixsocket</groupId>
+                        <artifactId>junixsocket-common</artifactId>
+                    </exclusion>
+                    <!--
+                        This dependency leads to a version convergence error caused solely by Testcontainers.
+                        See https://github.com/testcontainers/testcontainers-java/issues/3308.
+                    -->
+                    <exclusion>
+                        <groupId>net.java.dev.jna</groupId>
+                        <artifactId>jna</artifactId>
+                    </exclusion>
+                </exclusions>
+            </dependency>
+            <dependency>
+                <groupId>org.apache.commons</groupId>
+                <artifactId>commons-compress</artifactId>
+                <version>1.26.0</version>
+            </dependency>
+            <dependency>
+                <groupId>com.github.docker-java</groupId>
+                <artifactId>docker-java-api</artifactId>
+                <version>3.3.3</version>
+                <exclusions>
+                    <exclusion>
+                        <groupId>com.fasterxml.jackson.core</groupId>
+                        <artifactId>jackson-annotations</artifactId>
+                    </exclusion>
+                    <exclusion>
+                        <groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
+                        <artifactId>slf4j-api</artifactId>
+                    </exclusion>
+                </exclusions>
+            </dependency>
             <dependency>
                 <groupId>com.fasterxml.jackson.core</groupId>
-                <artifactId>jackson-databind</artifactId>
-                <version>2.13.4.2</version>
+                <artifactId>jackson-annotations</artifactId>
+                <version>2.15.2</version>
+            </dependency>
+            <dependency>
+                <groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
+                <artifactId>slf4j-api</artifactId>
+                <version>1.7.36</version>
+            </dependency>
+            <dependency>
+                <groupId>net.java.dev.jna</groupId>
+                <artifactId>jna</artifactId>
+                <version>5.5.0</version>
+            </dependency>
+            <dependency>
+                <groupId>com.kohlschutter.junixsocket</groupId>
+                <artifactId>junixsocket-common</artifactId>
+                <version>${unixsocket.version}</version>
+            </dependency>
+            <!--        -->
+            <dependency>
+                <groupId>org.apache.flink</groupId>
+                <artifactId>flink-connector-kafka</artifactId>
+                <version>3.4.0-1.20</version>
+                <exclusions>
+                    <exclusion>
+                        <groupId>com.google.guava</groupId>
+                        <artifactId>guava</artifactId>
+                    </exclusion>
+                    <exclusion>
+                        <groupId>org.xerial.snappy</groupId>
+                        <artifactId>snappy-java</artifactId>
+                    </exclusion>
+                    <exclusion>
+                        <groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
+                        <artifactId>slf4j-api</artifactId>
+                    </exclusion>
+                </exclusions>
+            </dependency>
+            <dependency>
+                <groupId>com.google.guava</groupId>
+                <artifactId>guava</artifactId>
+                <version>32.1.3-jre</version>
+            </dependency>
+            <dependency>
+                <groupId>org.xerial.snappy</groupId>
+                <artifactId>snappy-java</artifactId>
+                <version>1.1.10.4</version>
+            </dependency>
+            <!-- ???           -->
+            <dependency>
+                <groupId>commons-codec</groupId>
+                <artifactId>commons-codec</artifactId>
+                <version>1.18.0</version>
             </dependency>
         </dependencies>
     </dependencyManagement>
diff --git a/statefun-e2e-tests/pom.xml b/statefun-e2e-tests/pom.xml
index 94d6c11de..4d7eb0885 100644
--- a/statefun-e2e-tests/pom.xml
+++ b/statefun-e2e-tests/pom.xml
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ under the License.
     <packaging>pom</packaging>
 
     <properties>
-        <testcontainers.version>1.15.2</testcontainers.version>
+        <testcontainers.version>1.19.3</testcontainers.version>
     </properties>
 
     <modules>
diff --git a/statefun-e2e-tests/statefun-e2e-tests-common/pom.xml b/statefun-e2e-tests/statefun-e2e-tests-common/pom.xml
index e5faee54c..01665e8a6 100644
--- a/statefun-e2e-tests/statefun-e2e-tests-common/pom.xml
+++ b/statefun-e2e-tests/statefun-e2e-tests-common/pom.xml
@@ -52,41 +52,26 @@ under the License.
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.testcontainers</groupId>
             <artifactId>testcontainers</artifactId>
-            <version>${testcontainers.version}</version>
-            <exclusions>
-                <exclusion>
-                    <groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
-                    <artifactId>slf4j-api</artifactId>
-                </exclusion>
-                <exclusion>
-                    <groupId>org.apache.commons</groupId>
-                    <artifactId>commons-compress</artifactId>
-                </exclusion>
-                <exclusion>
-                    <groupId>com.kohlschutter.junixsocket</groupId>
-                    <artifactId>junixsocket-common</artifactId>
-                </exclusion>
-                <!--
-                    This dependency leads to a version convergence error caused solely by Testcontainers.
-                    See https://github.com/testcontainers/testcontainers-java/issues/3308.
-                -->
-                <exclusion>
-                    <groupId>net.java.dev.jna</groupId>
-                    <artifactId>jna</artifactId>
-                </exclusion>
-            </exclusions>
         </dependency>
-
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>com.github.docker-java</groupId>
+            <artifactId>docker-java-api</artifactId>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>com.fasterxml.jackson.core</groupId>
+            <artifactId>jackson-annotations</artifactId>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
+            <artifactId>slf4j-api</artifactId>
+        </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>net.java.dev.jna</groupId>
             <artifactId>jna</artifactId>
-            <version>5.5.0</version>
         </dependency>
-
         <dependency>
             <groupId>com.kohlschutter.junixsocket</groupId>
             <artifactId>junixsocket-common</artifactId>
-            <version>${unixsocket.version}</version>
         </dependency>
 
         <!-- Flink Config -->
@@ -120,5 +105,11 @@ under the License.
             <artifactId>junit</artifactId>
             <scope>compile</scope>
         </dependency>
+
+        <!--            -->
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>commons-codec</groupId>
+            <artifactId>commons-codec</artifactId>
+        </dependency>
     </dependencies>
 </project>
diff --git a/statefun-e2e-tests/statefun-smoke-e2e-common/pom.xml b/statefun-e2e-tests/statefun-smoke-e2e-common/pom.xml
index 223fa5bd0..aa5a100e7 100644
--- a/statefun-e2e-tests/statefun-smoke-e2e-common/pom.xml
+++ b/statefun-e2e-tests/statefun-smoke-e2e-common/pom.xml
@@ -38,12 +38,6 @@ under the License.
             <groupId>org.apache.flink</groupId>
             <artifactId>statefun-e2e-tests-common</artifactId>
             <version>${project.version}</version>
-            <exclusions>
-                <exclusion>
-                    <groupId>com.fasterxml.jackson.core</groupId>
-                    <artifactId>jackson-annotations</artifactId>
-                </exclusion>
-            </exclusions>
         </dependency>
 
         <!-- Junit -->
@@ -69,8 +63,8 @@ under the License.
         <!-- logging -->
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
-            <artifactId>slf4j-log4j12</artifactId>
-            <version>${slf4j-log4j12.version}</version>
+            <artifactId>slf4j-reload4j</artifactId>
+            <version>${slf4j.version}</version>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>log4j</groupId>
diff --git a/statefun-e2e-tests/statefun-smoke-e2e-driver/pom.xml b/statefun-e2e-tests/statefun-smoke-e2e-driver/pom.xml
index ce530d3b1..fc434f7c5 100644
--- a/statefun-e2e-tests/statefun-smoke-e2e-driver/pom.xml
+++ b/statefun-e2e-tests/statefun-smoke-e2e-driver/pom.xml
@@ -73,32 +73,14 @@ under the License.
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.apache.flink</groupId>
             <artifactId>flink-streaming-java</artifactId>
-            <version>${flink.version}</version>
-            <exclusions>
-                <!--
-                This artifact transitively depends on different versions of slf4j-api.
-                To see the complete list, comment this exclusion run mvn enforcer:enforce.
-                -->
-                <exclusion>
-                    <groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
-                    <artifactId>slf4j-api</artifactId>
-                </exclusion>
-            </exclusions>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
+            <artifactId>slf4j-api</artifactId>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.apache.flink</groupId>
             <artifactId>flink-core</artifactId>
-            <version>${flink.version}</version>
-            <exclusions>
-                <!--
-                This artifact transitively depends on different versions of slf4j-api.
-                To see the complete list, comment this exclusion run mvn enforcer:enforce.
-                -->
-                <exclusion>
-                    <groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
-                    <artifactId>slf4j-api</artifactId>
-                </exclusion>
-            </exclusions>
         </dependency>
     </dependencies>
 
diff --git a/statefun-e2e-tests/statefun-smoke-e2e-embedded/pom.xml b/statefun-e2e-tests/statefun-smoke-e2e-embedded/pom.xml
index 95a1b2137..5da170094 100644
--- a/statefun-e2e-tests/statefun-smoke-e2e-embedded/pom.xml
+++ b/statefun-e2e-tests/statefun-smoke-e2e-embedded/pom.xml
@@ -35,10 +35,6 @@ under the License.
             <scope>test</scope>
             <exclusions>
                 <!-- conflicts with testcontainers -->
-                <exclusion>
-                    <groupId>com.fasterxml.jackson.core</groupId>
-                    <artifactId>jackson-annotations</artifactId>
-                </exclusion>
                 <exclusion>
                     <groupId>com.google.code.findbugs</groupId>
                     <artifactId>jsr305</artifactId>
diff --git a/statefun-flink/pom.xml b/statefun-flink/pom.xml
index 409fcba9b..522b663c6 100644
--- a/statefun-flink/pom.xml
+++ b/statefun-flink/pom.xml
@@ -52,43 +52,6 @@ under the License.
     <dependencyManagement>
         <dependencies>
             <!-- Flink -->
-            <dependency>
-                <groupId>org.apache.flink</groupId>
-                <artifactId>flink-streaming-java</artifactId>
-                <version>${flink.version}</version>
-                <exclusions>
-                    <!--
-                    This artifact transitively depends on different versions of slf4j-api. 
-                    To see the complete list, comment this exclusion run mvn enforcer:enforce.
-                    -->
-                    <exclusion>
-                        <groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
-                        <artifactId>slf4j-api</artifactId>
-                    </exclusion>
-                </exclusions>
-            </dependency>
-            <dependency>
-                <groupId>org.apache.flink</groupId>
-                <artifactId>flink-connector-kafka</artifactId>
-                <version>${flink.version}</version>
-                <exclusions>
-                    <!--
-                    This conflicts with org.xerial.snappy:snappy-java
-                    brought from flink-streaming-java_${scala.binary.version} (transitively)
-                    -->
-                    <exclusion>
-                        <groupId>org.xerial.snappy</groupId>
-                        <artifactId>snappy-java</artifactId>
-                    </exclusion>
-                    <!-- 
-                    Conflicts with the common slf4j-api version that used almost uniformly in Flink. 
-                    -->
-                    <exclusion>
-                        <groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
-                        <artifactId>slf4j-api</artifactId>
-                    </exclusion>
-                </exclusions>
-            </dependency>
             <dependency>
                 <groupId>org.apache.flink</groupId>
                 <artifactId>flink-metrics-dropwizard</artifactId>
@@ -132,12 +95,12 @@ under the License.
             <dependency>
                 <groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
                 <artifactId>slf4j-api</artifactId>
-                <version>1.7.7</version>
+                <version>${slf4j.version}</version>
             </dependency>
             <dependency>
                 <groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
-                <artifactId>slf4j-log4j12</artifactId>
-                <version>1.7.7</version>
+                <artifactId>slf4j-reload4j</artifactId>
+                <version>${slf4j.version}</version>
             </dependency>
             <dependency>
                 <groupId>log4j</groupId>
diff --git a/statefun-flink/statefun-flink-common/pom.xml b/statefun-flink/statefun-flink-common/pom.xml
index 42037eacd..938783845 100644
--- a/statefun-flink/statefun-flink-common/pom.xml
+++ b/statefun-flink/statefun-flink-common/pom.xml
@@ -44,7 +44,14 @@ under the License.
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.apache.flink</groupId>
             <artifactId>flink-core</artifactId>
-            <version>${flink.version}</version>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.apache.commons</groupId>
+            <artifactId>commons-text</artifactId>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.apache.commons</groupId>
+            <artifactId>commons-lang3</artifactId>
         </dependency>
 
         <!-- 3rd party -->
@@ -69,16 +76,34 @@ under the License.
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.apache.flink</groupId>
             <artifactId>flink-core</artifactId>
-            <version>${flink.version}</version>
             <type>test-jar</type>
             <scope>test</scope>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.apache.flink</groupId>
             <artifactId>flink-test-utils-junit</artifactId>
-            <version>${flink.version}</version>
             <scope>test</scope>
         </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.testcontainers</groupId>
+            <artifactId>testcontainers</artifactId>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.apache.commons</groupId>
+            <artifactId>commons-compress</artifactId>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>com.github.docker-java</groupId>
+            <artifactId>docker-java-api</artifactId>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>com.fasterxml.jackson.core</groupId>
+            <artifactId>jackson-annotations</artifactId>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
+            <artifactId>slf4j-api</artifactId>
+        </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>com.google.jimfs</groupId>
             <artifactId>jimfs</artifactId>
diff --git a/statefun-flink/statefun-flink-core/pom.xml b/statefun-flink/statefun-flink-core/pom.xml
index 55e8c0061..78af1c733 100644
--- a/statefun-flink/statefun-flink-core/pom.xml
+++ b/statefun-flink/statefun-flink-core/pom.xml
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ under the License.
     <properties>
         <okhttp.version>3.14.6</okhttp.version>
         <additional-sources.dir>target/additional-sources</additional-sources.dir>
-        <flink-shaded-netty.version>4.1.70.Final-15.0</flink-shaded-netty.version>
+        <flink-shaded-netty.version>4.1.91.Final-17.0</flink-shaded-netty.version>
     </properties>
 
     <dependencies>
@@ -110,10 +110,17 @@ under the License.
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.apache.flink</groupId>
             <artifactId>flink-core</artifactId>
-            <version>${flink.version}</version>
             <type>test-jar</type>
             <scope>test</scope>
         </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.apache.commons</groupId>
+            <artifactId>commons-text</artifactId>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.apache.commons</groupId>
+            <artifactId>commons-lang3</artifactId>
+        </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.apache.flink</groupId>
             <artifactId>flink-test-utils-junit</artifactId>
diff --git a/statefun-flink/statefun-flink-core/src/main/java/org/apache/flink/statefun/flink/core/StatefulFunctionsConfig.java b/statefun-flink/statefun-flink-core/src/main/java/org/apache/flink/statefun/flink/core/StatefulFunctionsConfig.java
index 36a14198b..a59d45a3c 100644
--- a/statefun-flink/statefun-flink-core/src/main/java/org/apache/flink/statefun/flink/core/StatefulFunctionsConfig.java
+++ b/statefun-flink/statefun-flink-core/src/main/java/org/apache/flink/statefun/flink/core/StatefulFunctionsConfig.java
@@ -265,7 +265,7 @@ public void setEmbedded(boolean embedded) {
    */
   public StatefulFunctionsUniverseProvider getProvider(ClassLoader cl) {
     try {
-      return InstantiationUtil.deserializeObject(universeInitializerClassBytes, cl, false);
+      return InstantiationUtil.deserializeObject(universeInitializerClassBytes, cl);
     } catch (IOException | ClassNotFoundException e) {
       throw new IllegalStateException("Unable to initialize.", e);
     }
diff --git a/statefun-flink/statefun-flink-core/src/test/java/org/apache/flink/statefun/flink/core/functions/ReductionsTest.java b/statefun-flink/statefun-flink-core/src/test/java/org/apache/flink/statefun/flink/core/functions/ReductionsTest.java
index 9c36db70c..24e0f6182 100644
--- a/statefun-flink/statefun-flink-core/src/test/java/org/apache/flink/statefun/flink/core/functions/ReductionsTest.java
+++ b/statefun-flink/statefun-flink-core/src/test/java/org/apache/flink/statefun/flink/core/functions/ReductionsTest.java
@@ -27,6 +27,8 @@
 import javax.annotation.Nonnull;
 import org.apache.flink.api.common.ExecutionConfig;
 import org.apache.flink.api.common.JobID;
+import org.apache.flink.api.common.JobInfo;
+import org.apache.flink.api.common.TaskInfo;
 import org.apache.flink.api.common.accumulators.*;
 import org.apache.flink.api.common.accumulators.Histogram;
 import org.apache.flink.api.common.cache.DistributedCache;
@@ -34,6 +36,7 @@
 import org.apache.flink.api.common.functions.BroadcastVariableInitializer;
 import org.apache.flink.api.common.functions.RuntimeContext;
 import org.apache.flink.api.common.state.*;
+import org.apache.flink.api.common.typeinfo.TypeInformation;
 import org.apache.flink.api.common.typeutils.TypeSerializer;
 import org.apache.flink.api.java.tuple.Tuple2;
 import org.apache.flink.metrics.*;
@@ -41,7 +44,7 @@
 import org.apache.flink.runtime.state.*;
 import org.apache.flink.runtime.state.heap.HeapPriorityQueueElement;
 import org.apache.flink.runtime.state.internal.InternalListState;
-import org.apache.flink.shaded.guava30.com.google.common.util.concurrent.MoreExecutors;
+import org.apache.flink.shaded.guava31.com.google.common.util.concurrent.MoreExecutors;
 import org.apache.flink.statefun.flink.core.StatefulFunctionsUniverse;
 import org.apache.flink.statefun.flink.core.TestUtils;
 import org.apache.flink.statefun.flink.core.backpressure.ThresholdBackPressureValve;
@@ -53,6 +56,7 @@
 import org.apache.flink.streaming.api.operators.Triggerable;
 import org.apache.flink.streaming.api.watermark.Watermark;
 import org.apache.flink.streaming.runtime.streamrecord.LatencyMarker;
+import org.apache.flink.streaming.runtime.streamrecord.RecordAttributes;
 import org.apache.flink.streaming.runtime.streamrecord.StreamRecord;
 import org.apache.flink.streaming.runtime.watermarkstatus.WatermarkStatus;
 import org.apache.flink.util.OutputTag;
@@ -154,11 +158,36 @@ public void clear() {}
       };
     }
 
+    @Override
+    public JobInfo getJobInfo() {
+      return null;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public TaskInfo getTaskInfo() {
+      return null;
+    }
+
     @Override
     public ExecutionConfig getExecutionConfig() {
       return new ExecutionConfig();
     }
 
+    @Override
+    public <T> TypeSerializer<T> createSerializer(TypeInformation<T> typeInformation) {
+      return null;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public Map<String, String> getGlobalJobParameters() {
+      return new HashMap<>();
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public boolean isObjectReuseEnabled() {
+      return false;
+    }
+
     // everything below this line would throw UnspportedOperationException()
 
     @Override
@@ -557,6 +586,9 @@ public <X> void collect(OutputTag<X> outputTag, StreamRecord<X> record) {}
     @Override
     public void emitLatencyMarker(LatencyMarker latencyMarker) {}
 
+    @Override
+    public void emitRecordAttributes(RecordAttributes recordAttributes) {}
+
     @Override
     public void collect(StreamRecord<Message> record) {}
 
diff --git a/statefun-flink/statefun-flink-distribution/pom.xml b/statefun-flink/statefun-flink-distribution/pom.xml
index 5ea7b2eb1..6c4b71037 100644
--- a/statefun-flink/statefun-flink-distribution/pom.xml
+++ b/statefun-flink/statefun-flink-distribution/pom.xml
@@ -33,13 +33,11 @@ under the License.
         <!-- 3rd party -->
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
-            <artifactId>slf4j-log4j12</artifactId>
-            <version>${slf4j-log4j12.version}</version>
+            <artifactId>slf4j-reload4j</artifactId>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>log4j</groupId>
             <artifactId>log4j</artifactId>
-            <version>1.2.17</version>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>com.google.protobuf</groupId>
@@ -86,25 +84,21 @@ under the License.
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.apache.flink</groupId>
             <artifactId>flink-core</artifactId>
-            <version>${flink.version}</version>
             <scope>provided</scope>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.apache.flink</groupId>
             <artifactId>flink-java</artifactId>
-            <version>${flink.version}</version>
             <scope>provided</scope>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.apache.flink</groupId>
             <artifactId>flink-streaming-java</artifactId>
-            <version>${flink.version}</version>
             <scope>provided</scope>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.apache.flink</groupId>
             <artifactId>flink-runtime</artifactId>
-            <version>${flink.version}</version>
             <scope>provided</scope>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
@@ -119,6 +113,14 @@ under the License.
             <version>${flink.version}</version>
             <scope>provided</scope>
         </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.apache.commons</groupId>
+            <artifactId>commons-lang3</artifactId>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.apache.commons</groupId>
+            <artifactId>commons-text</artifactId>
+        </dependency>
     </dependencies>
 
     <build>
@@ -199,4 +201,4 @@ under the License.
             </plugin>
         </plugins>
     </build>
-</project>
\ No newline at end of file
+</project>
diff --git a/statefun-flink/statefun-flink-harness/pom.xml b/statefun-flink/statefun-flink-harness/pom.xml
index 2e6c692e4..3b96e0267 100644
--- a/statefun-flink/statefun-flink-harness/pom.xml
+++ b/statefun-flink/statefun-flink-harness/pom.xml
@@ -38,7 +38,26 @@ under the License.
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.apache.flink</groupId>
             <artifactId>flink-streaming-java</artifactId>
-            <version>${flink.version}</version>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.apache.flink</groupId>
+            <artifactId>flink-core</artifactId>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.apache.flink</groupId>
+            <artifactId>flink-runtime</artifactId>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.apache.flink</groupId>
+            <artifactId>flink-java</artifactId>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.apache.commons</groupId>
+            <artifactId>commons-lang3</artifactId>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.apache.commons</groupId>
+            <artifactId>commons-text</artifactId>
         </dependency>
     </dependencies>
 
@@ -72,4 +91,4 @@ under the License.
         </profile>
     </profiles>
 
-</project>
\ No newline at end of file
+</project>
diff --git a/statefun-flink/statefun-flink-io-bundle/pom.xml b/statefun-flink/statefun-flink-io-bundle/pom.xml
index db79e96ad..d1e93c3a5 100644
--- a/statefun-flink/statefun-flink-io-bundle/pom.xml
+++ b/statefun-flink/statefun-flink-io-bundle/pom.xml
@@ -83,14 +83,23 @@ under the License.
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.apache.flink</groupId>
             <artifactId>flink-connector-kafka</artifactId>
-            <version>${flink.version}</version>
         </dependency>
-
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>com.google.guava</groupId>
+            <artifactId>guava</artifactId>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.xerial.snappy</groupId>
+            <artifactId>snappy-java</artifactId>
+        </dependency>
         <!-- flink kinesis connector -->
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.apache.flink</groupId>
             <artifactId>flink-connector-kinesis</artifactId>
-            <version>${flink.version}</version>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.apache.commons</groupId>
+            <artifactId>commons-lang3</artifactId>
         </dependency>
 
         <!-- 3rd party -->
@@ -110,4 +119,4 @@ under the License.
         </dependency>
     </dependencies>
 
-</project>
\ No newline at end of file
+</project>
diff --git a/statefun-flink/statefun-flink-io/pom.xml b/statefun-flink/statefun-flink-io/pom.xml
index b26b912ff..179900ea7 100644
--- a/statefun-flink/statefun-flink-io/pom.xml
+++ b/statefun-flink/statefun-flink-io/pom.xml
@@ -52,7 +52,26 @@ under the License.
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.apache.flink</groupId>
             <artifactId>flink-streaming-java</artifactId>
-            <version>${flink.version}</version>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.apache.flink</groupId>
+            <artifactId>flink-core</artifactId>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.apache.flink</groupId>
+            <artifactId>flink-runtime</artifactId>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.apache.flink</groupId>
+            <artifactId>flink-java</artifactId>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.apache.commons</groupId>
+            <artifactId>commons-text</artifactId>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.apache.commons</groupId>
+            <artifactId>commons-lang3</artifactId>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>com.google.protobuf</groupId>
@@ -124,4 +143,4 @@ under the License.
     </build>
 
 
-</project>
\ No newline at end of file
+</project>
diff --git a/statefun-flink/statefun-flink-launcher/pom.xml b/statefun-flink/statefun-flink-launcher/pom.xml
index b61f6f2e9..db51372ab 100644
--- a/statefun-flink/statefun-flink-launcher/pom.xml
+++ b/statefun-flink/statefun-flink-launcher/pom.xml
@@ -31,17 +31,28 @@ under the License.
 
     <dependencies>
         <!-- Flink -->
+        <!-- Fix Dependency convergence error for org.apache.commons:commons-lang3:3.12.0 -->
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.apache.flink</groupId>
             <artifactId>flink-runtime</artifactId>
-            <version>${flink.version}</version>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.apache.commons</groupId>
+            <artifactId>commons-text</artifactId>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.apache.commons</groupId>
+            <artifactId>commons-lang3</artifactId>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.apache.flink</groupId>
+            <artifactId>flink-shaded-jackson</artifactId>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.apache.flink</groupId>
             <artifactId>flink-clients</artifactId>
             <version>${flink.version}</version>
         </dependency>
-
         <!-- The main Stateful Functions job artifact  -->
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.apache.flink</groupId>
@@ -50,4 +61,4 @@ under the License.
         </dependency>
     </dependencies>
 
-</project>
\ No newline at end of file
+</project>
diff --git a/tools/docker/Dockerfile b/tools/docker/Dockerfile
index 8c84423f1..993e7bc26 100644
--- a/tools/docker/Dockerfile
+++ b/tools/docker/Dockerfile
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-FROM apache/flink:1.16.2-scala_2.12-java8
+FROM flink:1.20.1-scala_2.12-java8
 
 ENV ROLE worker
 ENV MASTER_HOST localhost