Decoding the SBOM Confusion

Software Bills of Materials (SBOMs) were created to make software transparent. They list every open-source and third-party component inside an application, helping teams track dependencies and assess risk.

Regulations such as Executive Order 14028 in the United States and the EU Cyber Resilience Act require organizations to maintain SBOMs as part of their security and compliance efforts.

However, research in 2025 showed that even when SBOMs meet official standards, they can still produce inconsistent or incomplete results. The reason is that SBOMs describe what is installed—not what is actually running.

The Challenge: Incomplete or Inconsistent Data

Multiple studies in 2025 examined several SBOM generation tools and found significant differences in their output. Each tool followed its own interpretation of SBOM standards, resulting in inconsistent or incomplete data.

Key challenges identified include:

1. Missing dependencies contain active threats: 4.97% of undisclosed dependencies harbored known vulnerabilities, leaving software exposed to exploits that security teams couldn't detect or patch.
   
   
2. Nearly 1 in 3 SBOMs are incomplete: IBM's 2025 analysis of over 25,000 SBOMs revealed that 7,907 failed to disclose direct dependencies, creating dangerous blind spots in vulnerability management.

3. Cross-tool incompatibility: Carnegie Mellon's study of 21 different SBOM generation tools found "significant variance" in results, with each tool producing dramatically different component inventories for identical software.
   
   
4. Average of 6+ missing components per SBOM: Non-compliant SBOMs averaged 6.18 missing dependencies each, making accurate risk assessment nearly impossible for security teams.

These problems make it difficult for organizations to depend on SBOM data for real-time security decisions.

The Root Cause: Static Data in a Dynamic World

Containers and microservices change frequently. New images are built every day, and dependency updates happen automatically. Since an SBOM is generated at a single point in time, it quickly becomes outdated. It cannot easily reflect the live state of running software, where most security decisions need to happen.

As a result, teams using SBOMs alone often face a gap between what they document for compliance and what actually exists in their production environments.

RapidFort’s Approach: Turning Visibility into Action

RapidFort addresses this gap by combining software inventory, runtime observation, and automated hardening into one continuous process. Instead of stopping at what is listed, it analyzes what is running, identifies unnecessary components, and safely removes them. This approach helps reduce vulnerabilities and ensures compliance evidence matches real-world conditions.

1. Runtime Bill of Materials (RBOM)

An RBOM extends the idea of an SBOM by showing which components are actively used at runtime. RapidFort’s platform captures runtime behavior to distinguish between code that executes and code that remains idle. This insight allows teams to focus remediation on the components that truly matter while improving consistency across tools.

2. Curated Near Zero CVE Images

RapidFort provides Curated Near Zero CVE Images that serve as secure, optimized base images for containerized workloads. They remove unnecessary packages, apply verified patches, and align with common security benchmarks such as STIG, CIS, and NIST guidance. These curated images are rebuilt regularly to ensure up-to-date compliance integrity.

3. Automated Hardening Pipeline

Using RBOM visibility, the RapidFort platform can automatically detect and remove unused components from applications and containers. This process can remediate a large portion of known vulnerabilities without any changes to application code.

The Result: Verified, Measurable Security

By connecting runtime visibility with automated hardening, RapidFort delivers results that can be measured and proven:

• Up to 95% of CVEs remediated automatically by identifying and removing unused components — without any changes to source code.
  
  
• Up to 90% reduction in container attack surface, achieved by eliminating unnecessary packages, binaries, and dependencies.
  
  
• Continuous alignment with frameworks such as FedRAMP, NIST SP 800-70, STIG, and CIS benchmarks, supported by regularly rebuilt and validated base images.

These outcomes translate into fewer vulnerabilities to patch, faster compliance validation, and stronger runtime assurance across containerized environments.

The Takeaway

SBOMs have advanced transparency across the software supply chain, but visibility alone does not equal security. Modern environments require continuous validation, removal of unnecessary components, and evidence that reflects runtime reality.

RapidFort bridges this gap by connecting SBOM data, runtime insights, and automated hardening into a single, integrated process that transforms information into practical, measurable security improvements.

Build transparency that proves itself. Choose RapidFort.

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