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Software Bill of Materials (SBOM)
What is a Software Bill of Materials (SBOM)?
An SBOM is a comprehensive list of all the components, libraries, and dependencies that make up a software product. It includes information such as version numbers and licenses of each component. SBOM tools have emerged as essential components in modern development workflows, helping teams track and secure the complex web of dependencies that make up modern applications. But what exactly is an SBOM, why does it matter, and how can you effectively implement it in your development process?
As we indicated, a Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) is essentially an inventory or "ingredient list" for your software. Just as food products list ingredients so consumers know what they're eating, an SBOM documents all components that make up a software application, including:
- Open source components
- Third-party libraries
- Custom code
- Software frameworks
- Runtime dependencies
Each component in an SBOM is documented with critical metadata such as:
- Component name and version
- License information
- Component supplier
- Known vulnerabilities
- Dependency relationships
The concept isn't new—manufacturing industries have used bills of materials for decades. But as software has grown increasingly complex, with applications routinely incorporating hundreds or thousands of components, SBOMs have become essential for understanding what actually resides in your code.
SBOM Formats and Standards
Several standards have emerged to define how SBOMs should be structured and shared:
- SPDX (Software Package Data Exchange): Developed by the Linux Foundation, SPDX is an ISO standard (ISO/IEC 5962) that provides a format for communicating software bill of materials information.
- CycloneDX: An OWASP project designed specifically for application security contexts, with a focus on being lightweight and easy to implement.
- SWID (Software Identification Tags): ISO/IEC 19770-2 standard that identifies software products uniquely, often used in asset management.
While these formats have different strengths, they all serve the same fundamental purpose: creating a standardized, machine-readable inventory of software components that can be easily shared and analyzed.
Why SBOM Tools Are Becoming Essential
The rise of SBOM tools isn't happening in a vacuum. Several factors are driving their rapid adoption across industries:
Regulatory Requirements
Government agencies worldwide are increasingly mandating SBOMs:
- The U.S. Executive Order 14028 requires SBOMs for vendors selling to federal agencies
- The EU Cyber Resilience Act proposes similar requirements
- Various sector-specific regulations in healthcare, finance, and critical infrastructure now reference SBOMs
Organizations that are held to these mandates are now passing them along to their software vendor suppliers, making compliance a contractual requirement to do business. All of this reflects the growing recognition that software transparency is necessary for national and economic security.
Growing Complexity of Software Supply Chains
Modern applications aren't built from scratch—they're assembled. A typical enterprise application might contain:
- 70-90% third-party code (both commercial and open source)
- Multiple layers of dependencies (dependencies of dependencies)
- Components from dozens or hundreds of different suppliers
Teams simply cannot track all these moving parts manually.
Core Benefits of Implementing SBOM Tools
Organizations implementing SBOM tools as part of their development workflow realize several immediate and long-term benefits:
Enhanced Vulnerability Management
SBOM tools dramatically improve vulnerability management by:
- Providing a comprehensive inventory of all components that need to be monitored
- Enabling rapid identification of affected systems when new vulnerabilities are discovered
- Reducing the "time to patch" critical vulnerabilities
- Eliminating blind spots where unknown components might harbor vulnerabilities
When the next major vulnerability emerges, organizations with mature SBOM practices can answer the critical question—"Are we affected?"—in minutes rather than days or weeks.
Improved License Compliance
Software licenses create legal obligations that can have serious consequences if violated. SBOM tools help teams:
- Identify all licenses in use across the application
- Flag potentially incompatible or problematic licenses
- Ensure compliance with license terms and conditions
- Reduce legal and financial risks associated with license violations
This visibility is particularly important for open source components, which often come with specific license requirements that must be followed.
Better Risk Management
Beyond vulnerabilities and licenses, SBOMs improve overall risk management by providing insights into:
- Component age and maintenance status (identifying abandoned dependencies)
- Supplier diversity (revealing over-reliance on particular vendors)
- Software provenance (understanding where code originated)
- Component quality and security practices
These insights help organizations make more informed decisions about which components to use and which might need replacement.
Streamlined Development Lifecycle
Contrary to the misconception that security slows development, properly implemented SBOM tools actually accelerate development by:
- Reducing late-stage security surprises that cause delays
- Automating component evaluation and approval
- Supporting faster dependency updates
- Enabling better component selection decisions
Teams spend less time fixing security issues and more time building valuable features when they have visibility into their components from the start.