diff --git a/cffu-bom/pom.xml b/cffu-bom/pom.xml
index cd9e4b4d6..151e165d9 100644
--- a/cffu-bom/pom.xml
+++ b/cffu-bom/pom.xml
@@ -154,7 +154,7 @@
 						<!-- https://central.sonatype.org/publish/publish-portal-maven/#publishing -->
 						<groupId>org.sonatype.central</groupId>
 						<artifactId>central-publishing-maven-plugin</artifactId>
-						<version>0.9.0</version>
+						<version>0.10.0</version>
 						<extensions>true</extensions>
 						<configuration>
 							<publishingServerId>central</publishingServerId>
diff --git a/cffu-core/src/main/java/io/foldright/cffu2/ConcurrencyLimitExecutor.java b/cffu-core/src/main/java/io/foldright/cffu2/ConcurrencyLimitExecutor.java
index 810c52c9b..981cdb706 100644
--- a/cffu-core/src/main/java/io/foldright/cffu2/ConcurrencyLimitExecutor.java
+++ b/cffu-core/src/main/java/io/foldright/cffu2/ConcurrencyLimitExecutor.java
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@
 import java.util.ArrayDeque;
 import java.util.Deque;
 import java.util.concurrent.Executor;
-import java.util.concurrent.RejectedExecutionException;
 import java.util.concurrent.locks.Lock;
 import java.util.concurrent.locks.ReentrantLock;
 
@@ -58,10 +57,6 @@ public void execute(Runnable command) {
         //       so no need to declare it as type AtomicBoolean for thread safety.
         final boolean[] locking = {true};
         try {
-            if (syncRunnerCount >= maxConcurrency) throw new RejectedExecutionException("reject new task:"
-                    + " synchronous running task(s) (i.e. CallerRunsPolicy) already occupy"
-                    + " all concurrency slot(s) of " + ConcurrencyLimitExecutor.this);
-
             queue.add(command);
             if (workerCount >= maxConcurrency) return;
 
@@ -93,13 +88,19 @@ private void syncRun() {
                     try {
                         command.run();
                     } finally {
+                        boolean scheduleAsyncWorker = false;
                         lock.lock();
                         try {
                             workerCount--;
                             syncRunnerCount--;
+                            if (!queue.isEmpty() && workerCount < maxConcurrency) {
+                                incrementWorkerCount();
+                                scheduleAsyncWorker = true;
+                            }
                         } finally {
                             lock.unlock();
                         }
+                        if (scheduleAsyncWorker) submitAsyncWorkerAfterSyncRun();
                     }
                 }
 
@@ -154,6 +155,20 @@ private void asyncWork() {
         }
     }
 
+    private void submitAsyncWorkerAfterSyncRun() {
+        try {
+            executor.execute(this::asyncWork);
+        } catch (Throwable e) {
+            lock.lock();
+            try {
+                workerCount--;
+            } finally {
+                lock.unlock();
+            }
+            logUncaughtException(ERROR, super.toString() + "#submitAsyncWorkerAfterSyncRun", e);
+        }
+    }
+
     @GuardedBy("lock")
     private void incrementWorkerCount() {
         workerCount++;
diff --git a/cffu-core/src/test/java/io/foldright/cffu2/ConcurrencyLimitExecutorTest.kt b/cffu-core/src/test/java/io/foldright/cffu2/ConcurrencyLimitExecutorTest.kt
index b0b1f9097..c3a40d51f 100644
--- a/cffu-core/src/test/java/io/foldright/cffu2/ConcurrencyLimitExecutorTest.kt
+++ b/cffu-core/src/test/java/io/foldright/cffu2/ConcurrencyLimitExecutorTest.kt
@@ -157,12 +157,10 @@ class ConcurrencyLimitExecutorTest : FunSpec({
     }
 
     /**
-     * ❗❗ TODO: Due to the limitation in the current ConcurrencyLimitExecutor implementation,
-     * if all tasks execute synchronously,
-     *  - the remaining tasks in the work queue cannot be executed!
-     *  - the task execution is only triggered by task submission.
+     * Regression test: when all submitted tasks execute synchronously at the base executor,
+     * queued tasks must still be drained after synchronous runners complete.
      */
-    test("sync execution at MoreExecutors.directExecutor(), multi-threaded submission").config(enabled = false) {
+    test("sync execution at MoreExecutors.directExecutor(), multi-threaded submission") {
         val concurrencyLimitExecutor = ConcurrencyLimitExecutor(3, MoreExecutors.directExecutor())
 
         val concurrencyChecker = ConcurrencyChecker(3)
diff --git a/demos/pom.xml b/demos/pom.xml
index adf0a4bed..412691246 100644
--- a/demos/pom.xml
+++ b/demos/pom.xml
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 		<project.reporting.outputEncoding>${project.build.sourceEncoding}</project.reporting.outputEncoding>
 		<maven.deploy.skip>true</maven.deploy.skip>
 
-		<kotlin.version>2.3.0</kotlin.version>
+		<kotlin.version>2.3.10</kotlin.version>
 		<kotlin.compiler.jvmTarget>${maven.compiler.source}</kotlin.compiler.jvmTarget>
 
 		<!-- overridden by submodule -->
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
 		<demo.module.name/>
 
 		<!-- testing dependencies versions -->
-		<junit5.version>5.14.1</junit5.version>
+		<junit5.version>5.14.2</junit5.version>
 	</properties>
 
 	<modules>
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@
 				<plugin>
 					<groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
 					<artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
-					<version>3.14.1</version>
+					<version>3.15.0</version>
 					<configuration>
 						<!-- https://maven.apache.org/plugins/maven-compiler-plugin/compile-mojo.html#compilerArgs -->
 						<compilerArgs>
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 1485b55f4..a475686e1 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@
 		<jsr305.version>3.0.2</jsr305.version>
 		<jetbrains.annotations.version>26.0.2-1</jetbrains.annotations.version>
 
-		<kotlin.version>2.3.0</kotlin.version>
+		<kotlin.version>2.3.10</kotlin.version>
 
 		<slf4j.version>2.0.17</slf4j.version>
 		<log4j2.version>2.25.3</log4j2.version>
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@
 		<guava.version>33.5.0-jre</guava.version>
 
 		<!-- testing dependencies versions -->
-		<junit5.version>5.14.1</junit5.version>
+		<junit5.version>5.14.2</junit5.version>
 		<kotest.version>5.9.1</kotest.version>
 	</properties>
 
@@ -148,7 +148,7 @@
 			<dependency>
 				<groupId>org.assertj</groupId>
 				<artifactId>assertj-bom</artifactId>
-				<version>3.27.6</version>
+				<version>3.27.7</version>
 				<type>pom</type>
 				<scope>import</scope>
 			</dependency>
@@ -392,7 +392,7 @@
 				<plugin>
 					<groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
 					<artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
-					<version>3.14.1</version>
+					<version>3.15.0</version>
 					<configuration>
 						<!-- https://maven.apache.org/plugins/maven-compiler-plugin/compile-mojo.html#compilerArgs -->
 						<compilerArgs>
@@ -469,7 +469,7 @@
 				<plugin>
 					<groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
 					<artifactId>maven-dependency-plugin</artifactId>
-					<version>3.9.0</version>
+					<version>3.10.0</version>
 				</plugin>
 				<plugin>
 					<groupId>io.github.git-commit-id</groupId>
@@ -1090,7 +1090,7 @@
 						<!-- https://central.sonatype.org/publish/publish-portal-maven/#publishing -->
 						<groupId>org.sonatype.central</groupId>
 						<artifactId>central-publishing-maven-plugin</artifactId>
-						<version>0.9.0</version>
+						<version>0.10.0</version>
 						<extensions>true</extensions>
 						<configuration>
 							<publishingServerId>central</publishingServerId>