1. Add properties before <dependency> tag

   ext['spring-security.version']='5.8.2'
   dependencies {
     implementation 'org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-actuator'
     implementation 'org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-data-jpa'
     implementation 'org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-mail'
     implementation 'org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-graphql'
     implementation 'org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-security'
     implementation 'org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-validation'
   }

2. Native Gradle way

   dependencies {
       // import a BOM
       implementation platform('org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-dependencies:2.7.9')
   
       // define dependencies without versions
       implementation 'com.google.code.gson:gson'
       implementation 'dom4j:dom4j'
   }

• Recheck by this command:

  ./gradlew dependencyInsight --dependency=jackson-databind

References:

• https://nexocode.com/blog/posts/spring-dependencies-in-gradle/