diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index e94d1bab1f..9b6ad7d071 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -4,9 +4,10 @@
 # Base image for GenAIComps based OPEA Python applications
 # Build: docker build -t opea/comps-base -f Dockerfile .
 
-FROM python:3.11-slim
+ARG IMAGE_NAME=python
+ARG IMAGE_TAG=3.11-slim
 
-RUN apt-get update
+FROM ${IMAGE_NAME}:${IMAGE_TAG} AS base
 
 ENV HOME=/home/user
 
@@ -14,9 +15,13 @@ RUN useradd -m -s /bin/bash user && \
     mkdir -p $HOME && \
     chown -R user $HOME
 
+# get security updates
+RUN apt-get update && apt-get upgrade -y && \
+    apt-get clean && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
+
 WORKDIR $HOME
 
-COPY *.toml *.py *.txt *.md LICENSE .
+COPY *.toml *.py *.txt *.md LICENSE ./
 
 RUN pip install --no-cache-dir --upgrade pip setuptools && \
     pip install --no-cache-dir -r requirements.txt