diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 0e56cb71531..8ce106c3dea 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -637,11 +637,6 @@
         <version>${sonarJava.version}</version>
         <type>sonar-plugin</type>
       </dependency>
-      <dependency>
-        <groupId>asm</groupId>
-        <artifactId>asm-all</artifactId>
-        <version>3.2</version>
-      </dependency>
       <dependency>
         <groupId>org.codehaus.plexus</groupId>
         <artifactId>plexus-classworlds</artifactId>
@@ -663,6 +658,7 @@
         <version>10.0.1</version>
         <exclusions>
           <exclusion>
+            <!-- should be declared with scope provided -->
             <groupId>com.google.code.findbugs</groupId>
             <artifactId>jsr305</artifactId>
           </exclusion>
@@ -771,6 +767,10 @@
             <groupId>javax.transaction</groupId>
             <artifactId>jta</artifactId>
           </exclusion>
+          <exclusion>
+            <groupId>xml-apis</groupId>
+            <artifactId>xml-apis</artifactId>
+          </exclusion>
         </exclusions>
       </dependency>
       <dependency>
@@ -870,6 +870,10 @@
             <groupId>org.codehaus.woodstox</groupId>
             <artifactId>stax2-api</artifactId>
           </exclusion>
+          <exclusion>
+            <groupId>stax</groupId>
+            <artifactId>stax-api</artifactId>
+          </exclusion>
           <exclusion>
             <groupId>org.codehaus.woodstox</groupId>
             <artifactId>woodstox-core-asl</artifactId>
@@ -984,6 +988,12 @@
         <groupId>org.codehaus.woodstox</groupId>
         <artifactId>stax2-api</artifactId>
         <version>3.0.1</version>
+        <exclusions>
+          <exclusion>
+            <groupId>stax</groupId>
+            <artifactId>stax-api</artifactId>
+          </exclusion>
+        </exclusions>
       </dependency>
       <dependency>
         <groupId>javax.servlet</groupId>
@@ -1005,16 +1015,6 @@
         <artifactId>junit</artifactId>
         <version>4.10</version>
       </dependency>
-      <dependency>
-        <groupId>xerces</groupId>
-        <artifactId>xercesImpl</artifactId>
-        <version>2.8.1</version>
-      </dependency>
-      <dependency>
-        <groupId>xalan</groupId>
-        <artifactId>xalan</artifactId>
-        <version>2.7.1</version>
-      </dependency>
       <dependency>
         <groupId>xmlunit</groupId>
         <artifactId>xmlunit</artifactId>
diff --git a/sonar-application/pom.xml b/sonar-application/pom.xml
index 66290c24389..7dc02556456 100644
--- a/sonar-application/pom.xml
+++ b/sonar-application/pom.xml
@@ -275,8 +275,8 @@
             <configuration>
               <rules>
                 <requireFilesSize>
-                  <minsize>60000000</minsize>
-                  <maxsize>65000000</maxsize>
+                  <minsize>55000000</minsize>
+                  <maxsize>60000000</maxsize>
                   <files>
                     <file>${project.build.directory}/sonar-${project.version}.zip</file>
                   </files>
diff --git a/sonar-duplications/pom.xml b/sonar-duplications/pom.xml
index aed2cbbbd4c..e5de5abc1f3 100644
--- a/sonar-duplications/pom.xml
+++ b/sonar-duplications/pom.xml
@@ -42,6 +42,16 @@
       <artifactId>pmd</artifactId>
       <version>4.3</version>
       <scope>test</scope>
+      <exclusions>
+        <exclusion>
+          <groupId>xml-apis</groupId>
+          <artifactId>xml-apis</artifactId>
+        </exclusion>
+        <exclusion>
+          <groupId>xerces</groupId>
+          <artifactId>xercesImpl</artifactId>
+        </exclusion>
+      </exclusions>
     </dependency>
     <dependency>
       <groupId>junit</groupId>
diff --git a/sonar-plugin-api/pom.xml b/sonar-plugin-api/pom.xml
index 494d2291242..801b6306397 100644
--- a/sonar-plugin-api/pom.xml
+++ b/sonar-plugin-api/pom.xml
@@ -122,14 +122,6 @@
       <groupId>org.codehaus.staxmate</groupId>
       <artifactId>staxmate</artifactId>
     </dependency>
-    <dependency>
-      <groupId>xerces</groupId>
-      <artifactId>xercesImpl</artifactId>
-    </dependency>
-    <dependency>
-      <groupId>xalan</groupId>
-      <artifactId>xalan</artifactId>
-    </dependency>
     <dependency>
       <groupId>javax.servlet</groupId>
       <artifactId>javax.servlet-api</artifactId>
diff --git a/sonar-server/pom.xml b/sonar-server/pom.xml
index 271bdc3d315..5e29e621f81 100644
--- a/sonar-server/pom.xml
+++ b/sonar-server/pom.xml
@@ -77,10 +77,6 @@
       <groupId>commons-configuration</groupId>
       <artifactId>commons-configuration</artifactId>
     </dependency>
-    <dependency>
-      <groupId>com.h2database</groupId>
-      <artifactId>h2</artifactId>
-    </dependency>
     <dependency>
       <groupId>com.thoughtworks.xstream</groupId>
       <artifactId>xstream</artifactId>
diff --git a/sonar-testing-harness/pom.xml b/sonar-testing-harness/pom.xml
index 10e29942062..99e4077deaf 100644
--- a/sonar-testing-harness/pom.xml
+++ b/sonar-testing-harness/pom.xml
@@ -48,7 +48,6 @@
       <groupId>org.dbunit</groupId>
       <artifactId>dbunit</artifactId>
       <exclusions>
-        <!--  removing commons lang 2.1 and xerces-->
         <exclusion>
           <groupId>commons-lang</groupId>
           <artifactId>commons-lang</artifactId>