What is a Software Bill of Materials, and Why is it Important For Security?

Software bill of materials is a term taken from the manufacturing industry; it is used to keep track of components in the software supply chain. Bill of materials is vital for security because it helps identify which parts of the system in the supply chain contain known vulnerabilities.

What is a software bill of materials?

A software bill of materials (SBOM) is a list of the software components in a given project and their corresponding version numbers and other metadata. The SBOM can be used to track updates and known security vulnerabilities for each component in the software project’s dependencies. It is also helpful for auditing purposes as it ensures that only authorized dependencies are included in a software project. While the SBOM is not directly used to manage software installation and removal, it is a solution leveraged by other tools to achieve the said capability.

The importance of a software bill of materials for security

The SBOM is invaluable for software development teams, purchasing organizations, and end users. It ensures that open source and third-party components, for example, are up to date and provides the visibility of whether project dependencies have known vulnerabilities. Software buyers can, on the other hand, use SBOMs to assess the risk posed by a product by undertaking vulnerability evaluations.

In recent years, there have been countless high-profile incidents of attackers exploiting vulnerabilities in components to compromise systems. The affected organizations could have more effectively mitigated the security failings by keeping an up-to-date and accurate SBOM which in turn was fed to analysis and reporting tools, providing visibility of the defective dependencies.

Organizations should work with their vendors to ensure that they have access to accurate and up-to-date information on the components that make up their projects which are incorporated into systems and/or products. They should also periodically review their SBOMs to ensure they are accurate and complete.

The Benefits of a Software Bill of Materials

SBOMs are essential for security because they can help identify which components need to be updated or patched. Without an up-to-date SBOM, it may be challenging to know which components are vulnerable to attack. There are many benefits to creating and maintaining a software bill of materials (SBOM). Here are a few:

• Companies which use SBOMs are able to determine whether their software is vulnerable to previously disclosed security vulnerabilities, regardless of whether the software is generated internally or acquired commercially. By using SBOMs, software engineering teams can identify harmful attacks during development and deployment by validating code provenance and component relationships. 
• The SBOM also improves efficiency by combining open source and third-party software. In spite of the fact that all organizations use the same components, they examine vulnerabilities and manage compliance risks differently. Using SBOMs to share infrastructure and data could save firms time by facilitating more collaboration between departments.
• By providing a list of all application components and their essential features, it enables enterprises to better comply with various data protection standards.
• It saves enterprises time and money by identifying weak portions early in the software development life cycle (SDLC)

It can be daunting to create an SBOM, but Guardrails makes it easy. With the help of Guardrails, organizations can improve their overall security posture caused by known software vulnerabilities. It also helps to resolve security vulnerabilities faster.

How to create a Software Bill of Materials

SBOMs can be created manually or automatically by organizations or individuals. For minor tasks, manual methods may work, but for large ones, they do not.

A manual procedure requires developers to manually list all components of the software in a spreadsheet, including version, licensing, dependencies, and any other important details. It is best suited to modest projects with a few moving parts. However, it is not suitable for larger tasks. It is simply not possible to create an SBOM inventory manually for a project with thousands of direct and transitive dependencies. Manual methods also carry the risk of human error. The SBOM is often overlooked when updating a dependency.

It is ideal to automate the SBOM for most projects. All components, including languages, libraries, and Docker images, can be tracked with automation. As part of your continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipeline, automated tools can scan all of your software projects and update their associated components as needed. The majority of SBOM generation tools are compatible with CI/CD tooling. As part of this process, these tools automatically scan your software projects and provide a summary of both proprietary and open-source software components, along with relevant attributes such as licenses and library dependencies.

How BOMs Apply to Software Engineering

As a software engineer, you may be wondering how the bill of materials (BOMs) applies to your field. After all, BOMs are typically associated with manufacturing and hardware. But the truth is, BOMs are just as important in software engineering. In manufacturing, this would include things like raw materials, parts, and sub-assemblies. In software engineering, it would consist of things like code libraries.

Track build quality

As someone who is qualified and has managed several build projects (both residential and commercial), the BOM is primarily used for pricing purposes. For construction, plans are used. So, if you’re working on a software project, make sure you have a complete and accurate BOM. It could save you a lot of time and trouble in the long run.

Where can I obtain a software bill of materials?

By using a software composition analysis (SCA) program, you can build a fully open source SBOM, which would include third-party and bespoke components. The SCA tools continuously supply information needed to ensure you are aware of any dependencies that contain known vulnerabilities. GuardRails offers SCA and you can build your SBOM by Getting Started for Free.

Importance of SCA

It is becoming increasingly important for software across virtually every industry to incorporate open source components. To maintain productivity and security, SCA tools aid in tracking open source components used by your applications. To respond quickly to security, licensing, and operational issues associated with open-source software, you just need an organization like Guardrails to maintain a Software Bill of Materials.

What are the challenges of creating a software bill of materials?

There are a few challenges that can arise when creating a Software Bill of Materials. One is the role of adaptability. Another challenge is keeping track of versions for each software component. It is crucial to have an up-to-date and accurate Software Bill of Materials to assess vulnerabilities and risks properly.

Role of Adaptability.

The SBOM is a dynamic document. SBOMs must be included with every new component release. Without corresponding SBOM adjustments, it is extremely dangerous to release and consume new components. In addition to assisting enterprises in incorporating SBOM capabilities into software development, packaging, and release activities, SBOM creation, and management tools are crucial for the wider adoption of SBOM.

Keeping the list updated

Finally, it is important to keep the software bill of materials up to date as new software components are added or removed from the application. Updating the SBOM should not be a problem if Guardrails handles it for you. However, it is important to have an accurate and up-to-date bill of materials so that you can properly manage risks.

Conclusion

By knowing what software runs in your system, you can easily keep track of security vulnerabilities and ensure that your systems are up to date. SBOMs can also be helpful when investigating incidents, as they provide a list of potential attack vectors. SBOMs are as good as the sources, but virtually likely poorer if manually maintained.