SBOMs & Open Source Compliance in Embedded Linux

Know what’s running inside your box before regulators and attackers do.

In a world increasingly defined by connected devices, from industrial controllers and smart cameras to routers and medical equipment, knowing exactly what software is running inside your systems is no longer optional. It's essential.

Software Bill of Materials (SBOMs) and open source compliance have emerged not just as technical or legal necessities, but as strategic pillars for secure, sustainable, and scalable device manufacturing.

Why SBOM Needs HBOM for True Supply Chain Security

While SBOM tracks the components of software, a Hardware Bill of Materials (HBOM) details the physical elements inside a device. In the IoT and embedded Linux world, these two are inseparable. Security and compliance demand full visibility into both software and hardware stacks. HBOM complements SBOM by exposing hidden risks in third-party chipsets, undocumented firmware or rogue components that could introduce vulnerabilities or violate regulations. For organizations relying on Linux-based IoT devices, aligning SBOM and HBOM is critical to achieving true supply chain transparency and regulatory compliance.

Do you truly know what’s running inside your box, before regulators demand answers or attackers exploit the unknown?

The Embedded Blind Spot

Unlike cloud environments or enterprise endpoints, embedded Linux systems have long operated under the radar of in depth visibility and compliance practices. The pressure to meet performance, time-to-market and cost targets often sidelines in-depth software provenance checks.

Today that landscape is changing aggressively:

• Government mandates (US Executive Order 14028 aka Executive Order on Improving the Nation's Cybersecurity, EU Cyber Resilience Act) now require SBOMs for regulated products

• Attackers are targeting firmware and supply chains, exploiting known vulnerabilities in open source components that often remain unpatched in devices

• Device buyers are demanding transparency, especially in sectors like healthcare, automotive, critical infrastructure and defense

Embedded Linux, with its rich ecosystem of drivers, libraries, and services, is often stitched together from dozens of open source projects. It is basically a double-edged sword. Its openness accelerates development but also opens the door to unmanaged risks.

Ignorance Isn't Bliss, It's Liability

The price of not knowing what's in your firmware isn’t just theoretical. Here a few examples:

• Supply chain incidents, utilizing backdoors, SSH Backdoor

• Cardiac devices can be hacked by exploiting severe vulnerabilities or hijacking medical devices via backdoors

These are not isolated cases, they are early signals of a systemic reckoning in how embedded systems are built and maintained.

SBOM | From Checkbox to Compass

An SBOM is more than a list, it is your software DNA.

It is how you:

• Map dependencies and transitive risks

• Track and patch CVEs proactively

• Verify license obligations and avoid IP litigation

• Enable secure software update pipeline.

• Build customer trust with transparency and supportability

In the embedded Linux world, this means tracking everything from kernel modules and BusyBox utilities to third-party Python scripts and proprietary drivers.

Example Use Case:

A smart camera vendor integrates OpenSSL for encrypted video streaming. Without an SBOM, they miss CVE-2022-0778, a DoS vulnerability. With an SBOM-driven pipeline, the vulnerability is flagged automatically during a build, patched and logged for compliance before release.

Open Source Compliance | Beyond Legal Safety Nets

Open source compliance is often misunderstood as a legal formality. But in embedded development, it's tightly interwoven with security, reliability and supportability.

Key steps to embed compliance:

1. Automate SBOM generation in CI/CD pipelines using tools like SPDX, CycloneDX, FOSSology or Yocto’s license scanner

2. Establish a clear license policy: what is allowed, what is not and under what conditions

3. Validate supplier SBOMs and require them as part of your vendor contracts

4. Maintain provenance tracking across firmware updates and version branches

Vision | From Reactive to Resilient

A future perspective:

• Every firmware release are shipped with a digitally signed SBOM

• Support teams can quickly query which customers are affected by a new CVE

• Regulatory audits take minutes, not weeks

• Your brand is known not just for features, but for trust and transparency

This is not a utopian ideal, it is an emerging industry standard. Companies that embrace SBOMs and open source compliance now will be tomorrow’s leaders in the secure device economy.

Recommendations for Device Makers and Developers

1. Start SBOM integration today, don’t wait for regulations or incidents

2. Invest in open source governance tooling in the design cycle at an early stage

3. Treat SBOMs as living documents, not one-off artifacts

4. Align security and legal teams to create cross-functional compliance strategies

5. Educate engineering teams on open source obligations and risks

Conclusion | Know Your Box, or Someone Else Will

In embedded development, the race is no longer just to deliver functionality. It’s to deliver secure, transparent and accountable software.

SBOMs and open source compliance are not burdens, they are competitive differentiators.

In the era of connected everything, your box is no longer just hardware. It's a contract, between your engineering team, your customers, your regulators and increasingly, your adversaries. So, what’s running inside your box?