The maven-dependency-versions-check-plugin is a Maven plugin that verifies that the resolved versions of dependencies are at least the versions specified by the dependencies (or their dependencies etc.) if not higher. More specifically, it will check that * The resolved version of every dependency declared explicitly in the current POM is the same or a newer one than what was stated. If the resolved version has a higher major version number than the declared version, then the plugin will issue a warning if configured to do so. Note that enforced declared versions are ignored by the plugin. * For every explicitly declared dependency in the current POM, all its dependency versions are met. I.e. the resolved versions for all dependencies in that dependency's POM are the same or higher than the one stated in that dependency's POM. This is basically the same check as the one above, but using the dependency's POM! Also, if the current POM has exclusions specified for the dependency, then these transitive dependencies are ignored when checking this particular dependency.