Table of Contents
This comprehensive guide covers everything you need to know about SBOMs along with a detailed review of the top SBOM solutions available today.
As software supply chain attacks continue to threaten organizations, there is a growing need to secure the full list of components that make up modern applications. This is where SBOMs, or software bills of materials, come into play.
SBOMs offer a complete inventory of all commercial, open-source, and third-party components used within an application. With this transparency, developers can identify vulnerable components, ensure licensing compliance, and share detailed metadata with stakeholders.
In this guide, we will cover:
- What are SBOMs and why are they important?
- The role of SBOMs in modern software development
- Overview of industry-standard SBOM formats
- The top 9 SBOM solutions in 2023
- Detailed reviews of each solution and who they are best suited for
- Conclusion and recommendations
What are SBOMs and Why are They Important?
As defined by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), an SBOM is:
“A formal record containing the details and supply chain relationships of various components used in building software.”
In simpler terms, an SBOM is a list of ingredients that make up software, similar to a nutrition label.
SBOMs detail every component from open source libraries to commercial packages to development tools and processes. With intricate modern software involving countless building blocks from a range of sources, keeping track of everything is critical yet complex.
This standardized approach allows organizations to:
- Identify vulnerabilities: Continuously monitor all components for newly discovered vulnerabilities.
- Verify integrity: Utilize cryptographic signatures to validate the provenance and integrity of components.
- Ensure compliance: Confirm usage adheres to open source licensing for all incorporated components.
- Enhance visibility: Share detailed metadata with stakeholders to build trust.
According to a 2022 survey from the Cloud Native Computing Foundation, over 75% of organizations now consider SBOMs as “very” or “extremely” important.
The Role of SBOMs in Modern Software Development
SBOMs play an integral role in securing the modern software supply chain in two key ways:
1. Mitigating Software Supply Chain Attacks
Baden actors frequently exploit vulnerabilities in widely used open source components to launch impactful supply chain attacks. For example, the widespread Log4j vulnerability in late 2021 and the SolarWinds attack in 2020 highlight the broad damage from a single vulnerable component.
Since SBOMs offer a complete inventory of components, developers can quickly identify affected libraries and take remediation measures.
2. Ensuring License Compliance
Open source licenses come with specific usage guidelines and restrictions. Without a comprehensive list of incorporated components, organizations run the risk of unknowingly violating these open source licenses.
SBOMs help map all open source dependencies to confirm usage complies with license agreements. This avoids potential legal issues down the road.
Industry Standard SBOM Formats
While SBOMs can be generated based on individual organizational needs, standardized formats allow for easier interoperability:
- CycloneDX: An open standard created by OWASP endorsed for broader use across industries.
- SPDX: A Linux Foundation standard format dating back to 2010 focused on open source compliance.
- SWID: An ISO standard approach that embeds metadata like software IDs and versions into applications.
These formats balance flexibility with easy cross-comparability across SBOMs.
List of the Best SBOM Solutions in 2023
Here are the top 9 SBOM solutions to consider this year:
- Scribe Security (Recommended)
- Mend
- CodeNotary
- Anchore
- FOSSA
- Cybeats
- Snyk
- JFrog
- Endor Labs
Comparison Table of Top Software Bill of Materials Solutions
| Solution | Best Suited For | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Scribe Security | Comprehensive SBOM management including sharing capabilities | 5/5 stars |
| Mend | Broad range of SCA tools including automated response | 4.2/5 stars |
| CodeNotary | Real-time SBOMs collected on single dashboard | 4.2/5 stars |
| Anchore | Visibility into SBOM changes during build process | 4.5/5 stars |
| FOSSA | Flexible custom SBOM generation | 4/5 stars |
| Cybeats | Continuous SBOM risk assessments | 4/5 stars |
| Snyk | Advanced SCA for full dependency graphs | 4.2/5 stars |
| JFrog | Simple SPDX and CycloneDX generation | 4.2/5 stars |
| Endor Labs | Centralized SBOM inventory management | 4/5 stars |
Below we take a deeper look at each top SBOM solution along with ideal use cases:
#1) Scribe Security (Recommended)
Best For: Comprehensive SBOM management, including generating, managing, and sharing SBOMS to continuously attest to the security and integrity of software
Scribe Security‘s software platform takes an end-to-end approach to SBOMs:
- Integrates directly into CI/CD pipelines to digitally sign and automatically generate SBOMs on each build.
- Provides continuous integrity attestations using cryptographic hashes to validate provenance.
- Offers actionable insights around newly discovered vulnerabilities along with detailed component evidence.
- Enables SBOM sharing with both internal teams and external stakeholders as needed.
- Ensures enforcement of security policies and standards like SLSA and SSDF.
In essence, Scribe Security automates SBOM generation while giving teams the tools to act on risks, assure compliance, and share with end users.
Verdict: Our top choice for its comprehensive capabilities around SBOM generation, management and sharing.
Website: Scribe Security
#2) Mend
Best For: Users wanting a range of SCA tools, including automated responses
Formerly known as WhiteSource, Mend offers robust SCA capabilities including real-time SBOM generation.
It leverages AI and ML tools to scan and inventory open source components, direct/transitive dependencies, and license compliance risks. Mend also auto-generates security policies and responds to vulnerabilities as they emerge.
Verdict: Mend allows teams to quickly create SBOMs while incorporating other critical SCA tools.
Website: Mend Software Composition Analysis
#3) CodeNotary
Best For: Real-time SBOMs collected on a single dashboard
CodeNotary‘s TrueSBOM solution takes a active scanning approach by continually monitoring for vulnerabilities in order to produce updated SBOMs in real-time.
It also allows managing SBOMs from a central dashboard to simplify workflows. TrueSBOM integrates with popular CI/CD tools while offering capabilities like comparing runtime vs. at rest SBOMs.
Verdict: Enables real-time visibility into your SBOM surface through continuous automated scanning.
Website: CodeNotary TrueSBOM
#4) Anchore
Best For: Highly visible in-depth SBOMs that track changes during the build process
Anchore‘s end-to-end platform focuses on SBOM visibility, tracking, and sharing:
- Generates SBOMs during any phase of software development using open-source Syft tool.
- Centrally stores SBOMs in a repository for monitoring and quick reactions.
- Compares SBOMs across builds to pinpoint unexpected changes.
- Share SBOMs associated with specific projects or entire application.
Verdict: Anchore improves SBOM visibility while tracking risks that emerge during integration.
Website: Anchore SBOM Solutions
#5) FOSSA
Best For: Easy-to-generate custom SBOMs (choose your own data fields) in multiple formats, including SPDX
FOSSA focuses maximum flexibility for SBOM generation based on individual organizational needs.
It allows choosing exactly which data fields to include, output format (SPDX, CycloneDX, etc.), and delivery method based on use case (download, self-host, FOSSA-host).
Their specialized license compliance and open source vulnerability tools pair with deep software architecture mapping automation.
Verdict: FOSSA‘s customizability simplifies tailored SBOM creation for diverse scenarios.
Website: FOSSA
#6) Cybeats
Best For: Continuous risk visibility for software supply chain attacks
Cybeats SBOM studio offers an enterprise-scale solution for understanding and protecting against software supply chain risk.
Key capabilities:
- Map and monitor all third party and open source components
- Continuous automated assessments of supply chain vulnerabilities
- Software license analysis for compliance
- Quantify business risk associated with identified software issues
- Support for SBOM standards like SPDX and CycloneDX
Verdict: Cybeats simplifies understanding supply chain risk through continuous automated SBOM analysis.
Website: Cybeats SBOM Studio
#7) Snyk
Best For: Developers wanting advanced SCA to create full dependency graphs
Snyk offers a developer-first SCA approach to securing open source dependencies with capabilities to scan manifests and lock files to identify vulnerabilities and license issues.
It also produces the open source snyk2spdx tool to generate SBOMs from Snyk scan results.
Verdict: Snyk provides robust infrastructure for developers to contribute to open source SBOM initiatives.
Website: Snyk Open Source Security Management
#8) JFrog
Best For: DevSecOps teams needing simple SPDX and CycloneDX generation
JFrog Xray delivers SCA tools that integrate with JFrog Artifactory to help developers easily produce SBOMs in both SPDX and CycloneDX formats for security and compliance use cases.
Verdict: JFrog Artifactory + Xray makes SBOM generation in standard formats straightforward for developers.
Website: JFrog SBOM Documentation
#9) Endor Labs
Best For: Centralized SBOM inventory management
Endor Lab‘s platform simplifies creating, managing, and analyzing SBOMs from a unified inventory:
- Generate SBOMs from call graphs tracing software dependencies
- Store and control access to SBOMs from one platform
- Produce SBOMs in SPDX and CycloneDX formats
- Analyze and visualize dependencies risks
Verdict: Endor Labs consolidates and analyzes SBOMs sources for transparency.
Website: Endor Labs
Conclusion
SBOMs serve as a critical inventory detailing the ingredients underlying modern software.
As software supply chain attacks threaten industries, SBOMs provide the transparency to secure your environment. They also assure licensing compliance and component integrity.
Multiple solutions have emerged offering specialized capabilities around SBOM generation, management and utility.
For comprehensive workflow coverage, we recommend Scribe Security as an automated platform for creating, managing and sharing SBOMs with both internal and external stakeholders.
SBOMs are becoming mandatory across industries. Now is the time to evaluate options and implement an SBOM solution fitting your needs.