diff --git a/build_dependencies.sh b/build_dependencies.sh
index 86d6c353..b890ec13 100755
--- a/build_dependencies.sh
+++ b/build_dependencies.sh
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ cd ${GITHUB_WORKSPACE}
 #1. Install Dependencies and packages
 
 apt update
-apt install -y ninja-build meson curl libsoup2.4-dev libxml2-dev libglib2.0-dev gobject-introspection libgirepository1.0-dev libgtk-3-dev valac pandoc
+apt install -y git python3 python3-pip cmake ninja-build meson curl libsoup2.4-dev libxml2-dev libglib2.0-dev gobject-introspection libgirepository1.0-dev libgtk-3-dev libcurl4-openssl-dev libcunit1-dev valac pandoc
 pip install jsonref
 
 ############################
@@ -28,17 +28,25 @@ cd ..
 
 rm -rf iarmbus ThunderTools Thunder entservices-apis entservices-testframework gssdp
 
+THUNDER_TOOLS_COMMIT_SHA="d5dd83c7c19c49c7f25c558c126500bd2d64f7a4"
+THUNDER_COMMIT_SHA="2c0fcc5529e7da734be558ca6efa05d934dcce31"
 
 git clone https://github.com/rdkcentral/iarmbus.git
 export IARMBUS_PATH=$GITHUB_WORKSPACE/iarmbus
 
-git clone --branch  R4.4.3 https://github.com/rdkcentral/ThunderTools.git
+git clone --branch R4_4-RDK https://github.com/rdkcentral/ThunderTools.git
+cd ThunderTools
+git checkout $THUNDER_TOOLS_COMMIT_SHA
+cd ..
 
-git clone --branch R4.4.1 https://github.com/rdkcentral/Thunder.git
+git clone --branch R4_4-RDK https://github.com/rdkcentral/Thunder.git
+cd Thunder
+git checkout $THUNDER_COMMIT_SHA
+cd ..
 
-git clone --branch main https://github.com/rdkcentral/entservices-apis.git
+git clone --branch develop https://github.com/rdkcentral/entservices-apis.git
 
-git clone https://$GITHUB_TOKEN@github.com/rdkcentral/entservices-testframework.git
+git clone --branch 2.0.0 https://github.com/rdkcentral/entservices-testframework.git
 
 git clone --branch gssdp-1.2.3 https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gssdp.git
 
@@ -60,7 +68,6 @@ cd -
 echo "======================================================================================"
 echo "buliding thunderTools"
 cd ThunderTools
-patch -p1 < $GITHUB_WORKSPACE/entservices-testframework/patches/00010-R4.4-Add-support-for-project-dir.patch
 cd -
 
 
@@ -79,10 +86,6 @@ echo "==========================================================================
 echo "buliding thunder"
 
 cd Thunder
-patch -p1 < $GITHUB_WORKSPACE/entservices-testframework/patches/Use_Legact_Alt_Based_On_ThunderTools_R4.4.3.patch
-patch -p1 < $GITHUB_WORKSPACE/entservices-testframework/patches/error_code_R4_4.patch
-patch -p1 < $GITHUB_WORKSPACE/entservices-testframework/patches/1004-Add-support-for-project-dir.patch
-patch -p1 < $GITHUB_WORKSPACE/entservices-testframework/patches/RDKEMW-733-Add-ENTOS-IDS.patch
 cd -
 
 cmake -G Ninja -S Thunder -B build/Thunder \
diff --git a/server/gdial-rest.c b/server/gdial-rest.c
index 8af53e50..acf202f6 100644
--- a/server/gdial-rest.c
+++ b/server/gdial-rest.c
@@ -812,6 +812,10 @@ static void gdial_rest_http_server_apps_callback(SoupServer *server,
   for (i = 0; elements[i] != NULL; i++) {
     gsize ret;
     /* do not allow any element to be empty, stop on first one */
+    if (elements[i][0] == '\0') {
+      g_strfreev(elements);
+      gdial_rest_server_http_return_if_fail(FALSE, msg, SOUP_STATUS_NOT_IMPLEMENTED);
+    }
     if (j == 0) {
         ret = g_strlcpy(base, elements[i], sizeof(base));
         if (ret >= sizeof(base)) {
@@ -844,12 +848,8 @@ static void gdial_rest_http_server_apps_callback(SoupServer *server,
    */
   const gchar *copied_str[] = {base, app_name, instance, last_elem};
   i = 0; j = 0;
-  while (i < element_num && (unsigned int)i < sizeof(copied_str)/sizeof(copied_str[0])) {
+  while (elements[j] != NULL && i < element_num && (unsigned int)i < sizeof(copied_str)/sizeof(copied_str[0])) {
     bool flag = false;
-    if (strlen(elements[j]) == 0) {
-      j++;
-      continue;
-    }
     invalid_uri = invalid_uri || g_strcmp0(copied_str[i], elements[j]);
     gdial_rest_server_http_check_if_fail(!invalid_uri, msg, SOUP_STATUS_NOT_IMPLEMENTED, flag);
     if(flag){
diff --git a/tests/test_security_uri_validation.py b/tests/test_security_uri_validation.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..066dbaff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_security_uri_validation.py
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+import pathlib
+import unittest
+
+
+class UriValidationGuardrail(unittest.TestCase):
+    def test_empty_path_components_are_rejected_before_copy(self):
+        source = (pathlib.Path(__file__).parents[1] / "server/gdial-rest.c").read_text()
+        loop = source.index("for (i = 0; elements[i] != NULL; i++)", source.rindex("g_strsplit(&path[1]"))
+        copy = source.index("g_strlcpy(base", loop)
+        rejection = source.index("if (elements[i][0] == '\\0')", loop)
+        self.assertLess(rejection, copy)
+        self.assertIn("while (elements[j] != NULL && i < element_num", source)
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    unittest.main()