Software Composition Analysis (SCA) via SBOM
What Is
Software Composition Analysis (SCA)?
Software Composition Analysis (SCA) is a proactive security approach that identifies, tracks, and manages all open-source and third-party components within a software application.
A common tool in this process is the Software Bill of Materials (SBOM), which provides a detailed inventory of software dependencies. This visibility allows organizations to detect known vulnerabilities, support compliance efforts, and reduce supply chain risks.
With today’s software often built on open-source and third-party components, SCA plays an important role in identifying risks and improving overall software resilience.
How It Works:
A Three-Step Process
What it does:
✔ Creates a detailed inventory of all components, including:
- Open-source libraries
- Third-party software packages
- Proprietary dependencies
✔ Captures metadata such as version numbers, licenses, known vulnerabilities (if available), and direct dependencies.
✔ Provides a detailed auditable snapshot of the software’s composition, which can serve as a basis for further analysis and documentation.
Why it matters:
- Transparency: Know exactly what’s inside your software.
- Regulatory Compliance: Mandated by security standards such as NIST, ISO 27001, and IEC 62443, SBOMs are increasingly required to ensure software transparency and supply chain accountability.
- Risk Management: Prevent supply chain attacks caused by hidden dependencies.
What it does:
✔ Matches your SBOM against trusted vulnerability databases (CVEs, NVD, OSS Index).
✔ Delivers a consolidated view of your software components and their known security vulnerabilities.
✔ Identifies outdated or risky dependencies, license conflicts, and potential weak points across your dependency tree.
✔ Helps prevent cascading failures by analyzing both direct and transitive components.
Why it matters:
- Reduces exposure time to known vulnerabilities in widely used libraries.
- Ensures compliance with software licensing terms (GPL, MIT, Apache, etc.).
- Helps uncover risks introduced by external code before they can be exploited.
What it does:
✔ Suggests targeted actions—patching, upgrading, or replacing vulnerable components—based on current risk data.
✔ Helps assess compatibility and minimize disruption within your software stack, reducing the risk of breaking changes.
✔ Supports continuous monitoring to stay informed as new vulnerabilities emerge, including alerts related to potential zero-day threats when indicators become available.
Why it matters:
- Mitigates the risk of security breaches linked to unpatched dependencies.
- Helps avoid unexpected downtime and last-minute fixes in production.
- Supports compliance with open-source licenses, helping avoid potential legal exposure.
