From nobody Thu Apr 2 17:16:00 2026 Received: from mailgw01.zimbra-vnc.de (mailgw01.zimbra-vnc.de [148.251.101.236]) (using TLSv1.2 with cipher ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384 (256/256 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by smtp.subspace.kernel.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 63113334C06; Tue, 10 Feb 2026 20:55:12 +0000 (UTC) Authentication-Results: smtp.subspace.kernel.org; arc=none smtp.client-ip=148.251.101.236 ARC-Seal: i=1; a=rsa-sha256; d=subspace.kernel.org; s=arc-20240116; t=1770756914; cv=none; b=GUkYeXBSpV/Sq9rO66+ENtwEH7urzAn/B8H0WOI6QPXftJtvZe7TPxRAvd+VReDbsho5oZKiDHJdIJA5jJtaqb5VTVyjVA02r6eBnv0Po5xgUrg7CLicgc2iwqZE78gxsjqK418IfQdB2MuF14Zse6NQODJsWMMh1/BXfiHUjq8= ARC-Message-Signature: i=1; a=rsa-sha256; d=subspace.kernel.org; s=arc-20240116; t=1770756914; c=relaxed/simple; bh=z46CzfEwCgubETXX+VR96PRcPHGksw4Omg2gBQOxuuQ=; h=From:To:Cc:Subject:Date:Message-Id:In-Reply-To:References: MIME-Version; b=VbCOszWEB60N5iZa+FJF54RIDt7egOT5sGFcdu10IW5EaX1Iuxpq+kZt/cKU9/M1+DCsU3qsmDj8CJV6nmHDPddfaUKRFcQ6vPoom+c3pgVzU/W0RbFoydr2WULj6YIoHfhBDCPYCWetI1noV7efWKiKobazZ0e4MtLCpva5AZY= ARC-Authentication-Results: i=1; smtp.subspace.kernel.org; dmarc=pass (p=quarantine dis=none) header.from=tngtech.com; spf=pass smtp.mailfrom=tngtech.com; dkim=pass (2048-bit key) header.d=tngtech.com header.i=@tngtech.com header.b=L83dx/cs; arc=none smtp.client-ip=148.251.101.236 Authentication-Results: smtp.subspace.kernel.org; dmarc=pass (p=quarantine dis=none) header.from=tngtech.com Authentication-Results: smtp.subspace.kernel.org; spf=pass smtp.mailfrom=tngtech.com Authentication-Results: smtp.subspace.kernel.org; dkim=pass (2048-bit key) header.d=tngtech.com header.i=@tngtech.com header.b="L83dx/cs" Received: from zmproxy.tng.vnc.biz (zimbra-vnc.tngtech.com [35.234.71.156]) by mailgw01.zimbra-vnc.de (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 143ED3FAF0; Tue, 10 Feb 2026 21:55:05 +0100 (CET) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by zmproxy.tng.vnc.biz (Postfix) with ESMTP id C1C901FA8CD; Tue, 10 Feb 2026 21:55:04 +0100 (CET) Received: from zmproxy.tng.vnc.biz ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (zmproxy.tng.vnc.biz [127.0.0.1]) (amavis, port 10032) with ESMTP id qGfmRll1i-5L; Tue, 10 Feb 2026 21:55:04 +0100 (CET) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by zmproxy.tng.vnc.biz (Postfix) with ESMTP id E81341FA952; Tue, 10 Feb 2026 21:55:03 +0100 (CET) DKIM-Filter: OpenDKIM Filter v2.10.3 zmproxy.tng.vnc.biz E81341FA952 DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=tngtech.com; s=B14491C6-869D-11EB-BB6C-8DD33D883B31; t=1770756904; bh=6roMjR2a619Wnado/gGPgnY04vOcE8DszX6XtCQQg6s=; h=From:To:Subject:Date:Message-Id:MIME-Version; b=L83dx/csSm+rleoYA5U/ayxhvLpwAgTW6X/YlBuz73WGBzYpyoXkiOb2hrPg4Rfeg BXIY9B93X+uvaYaKDNIXGeLUiUKYv+s/M6l43g7X/ZTTQQ+Ztxoh6bWkyop7n6//v0 0RPuG6CnNZGSnALQgUBGGDYSNMHei+LzPjLn184VyvHwx2koKDV5vVvIdL0HkvGaUH suq/2GJlTrTxDBqeg83EMANLP1EKEz+XXa5GIeECYwiI4mE8YMWfzOknp91qJRQiXx CQQtI2A2bpdf90Cwsp9zGxLD3oxm5VY2yZFjcmJwQhakWc2NWEvtcervQ0CxrYLCKz EnJ62VtdXLzCw== X-Virus-Scanned: amavis at zmproxy.tng.vnc.biz Received: from zmproxy.tng.vnc.biz ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (zmproxy.tng.vnc.biz [127.0.0.1]) (amavis, port 10026) with ESMTP id B0Cu17xA9G7f; Tue, 10 Feb 2026 21:55:03 +0100 (CET) Received: from DESKTOP-0O0JV6I.localdomain (ipservice-092-208-231-176.092.208.pools.vodafone-ip.de [92.208.231.176]) by zmproxy.tng.vnc.biz (Postfix) with ESMTPSA id 8BFEE1FA8CD; Tue, 10 Feb 2026 21:55:03 +0100 (CET) From: Luis Augenstein To: nathan@kernel.org, nsc@kernel.org Cc: linux-kbuild@vger.kernel.org, linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org, akpm@linux-foundation.org, gregkh@linuxfoundation.org, kstewart@linuxfoundation.org, maximilian.huber@tngtech.com, Luis Augenstein Subject: [PATCH 01/15] scripts/sbom: add documentation Date: Tue, 10 Feb 2026 21:54:10 +0100 Message-Id: <20260210205424.11195-2-luis.augenstein@tngtech.com> X-Mailer: git-send-email 2.34.1 In-Reply-To: <20260210205424.11195-1-luis.augenstein@tngtech.com> References: <20260210205424.11195-1-luis.augenstein@tngtech.com> Precedence: bulk X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org List-Id: List-Subscribe: List-Unsubscribe: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" Assisted-by: Claude Sonnet 4.5 Assisted-by: GLM-4.7 Co-developed-by: Maximilian Huber Signed-off-by: Maximilian Huber Signed-off-by: Luis Augenstein --- Documentation/tools/index.rst | 1 + Documentation/tools/sbom/sbom.rst | 206 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 2 files changed, 207 insertions(+) create mode 100644 Documentation/tools/sbom/sbom.rst diff --git a/Documentation/tools/index.rst b/Documentation/tools/index.rst index 80488e290e10..6b0319b2d334 100644 --- a/Documentation/tools/index.rst +++ b/Documentation/tools/index.rst @@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ more additions are needed here: =20 rtla/index rv/index + sbom/sbom =20 .. only:: subproject and html =20 diff --git a/Documentation/tools/sbom/sbom.rst b/Documentation/tools/sbom/s= bom.rst new file mode 100644 index 000000000000..029b08b6ad87 --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/tools/sbom/sbom.rst @@ -0,0 +1,206 @@ +.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-only OR MIT +.. Copyright (C) 2025 TNG Technology Consulting GmbH + +KernelSbom +=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D + +Introduction +------------ + +KernelSbom is a Python script ``scripts/sbom/sbom.py`` that can be +executed after a successful kernel build. When invoked, KernelSbom +analyzes all files involved in the build and generates Software Bill of +Materials (SBOM) documents in SPDX 3.0.1 format. +The generated SBOM documents capture: + +* **Final output artifacts**, typically the kernel image and modules +* **All source files** that contributed to the build with metadata + and licensing information +* **Details of the build process**, including intermediate artifacts + and the build commands linking source files to the final output + artifacts + +KernelSbom is originally developed in the +`KernelSbom repository `_. + +Requirements +------------ + +Python 3.10 or later. No libraries or other dependencies are required. + +Basic Usage +----------- + +Run the ``make sbom`` target. +For example:: + + $ make defconfig O=3Dkernel_build + $ make sbom O=3Dkernel_build -j$(nproc) + +This will trigger a kernel build. After all build outputs have been +generated, KernelSbom produces three SPDX documents in the root +directory of the object tree: + +* ``sbom-source.spdx.json`` + Describes all source files involved in the build and + associates each file with its corresponding license expression. + +* ``sbom-output.spdx.json`` + Captures all final build outputs (kernel image and ``.ko`` module files) + and includes build metadata such as environment variables and + a hash of the ``.config`` file used for the build. + +* ``sbom-build.spdx.json`` + Imports files from the source and output documents and describes every + intermediate build artifact. For each artifact, it records the exact + build command used and establishes the relationship between + input files and generated outputs. + +When invoking the sbom target, it is recommended to perform +out-of-tree builds using ``O=3D``. KernelSbom classifies files as +source files when they are located in the source tree and not in the +object tree. For in-tree builds, where the source and object trees are +the same directory, this distinction can no longer be made reliably. +In that case, KernelSbom does not generate a dedicated source SBOM. +Instead, source files are included in the build SBOM. + +Standalone Usage +---------------- + +KernelSbom can also be used as a standalone script to generate +SPDX documents for specific build outputs. For example, after a +successful x86 kernel build, KernelSbom can generate SPDX documents +for the ``bzImage`` kernel image:: + + $ SRCARCH=3Dx86 python3 scripts/sbom/sbom.py \ + --src-tree . \ + --obj-tree ./kernel_build \ + --roots arch/x86/boot/bzImage \ + --generate-spdx \ + --generate-used-files \ + --prettify-json \ + --debug + +Note that when KernelSbom is invoked outside of the ``make`` process, +the environment variables used during compilation are not available and +therefore cannot be included in the generated SPDX documents. It is +recommended to set at least the ``SRCARCH`` environment variable to the +architecture for which the build was performed. + +For a full list of command-line options, run:: + + $ python3 scripts/sbom/sbom.py --help + +Output Format +------------- + +KernelSbom generates documents conforming to the +`SPDX 3.0.1 specification `_ +serialized as JSON-LD. + +To reduce file size, the output documents use the JSON-LD ``@context`` +to define custom prefixes for ``spdxId`` values. While this is compliant +with the SPDX specification, only a limited number of tools in the +current SPDX ecosystem support custom JSON-LD contexts. To use such +tools with the generated documents, the custom JSON-LD context must +be expanded before providing the documents. +See https://lists.spdx.org/g/Spdx-tech/message/6064 for more information. + +How it Works +------------ + +KernelSbom operates in two major phases: + +1. **Generate the cmd graph**, an acyclic directed dependency graph. +2. **Generate SPDX documents** based on the cmd graph. + +KernelSbom begins from the root artifacts specified by the user, e.g., +``arch/x86/boot/bzImage``. For each root artifact, it collects all +dependencies required to build that artifact. The dependencies come +from multiple sources: + +* **.cmd files**: The primary source is the ``.cmd`` file of the + generated artifact, e.g., ``arch/x86/boot/.bzImage.cmd``. These files + contain the exact command used to build the artifact and often include + an explicit list of input dependencies. By parsing the ``.cmd`` + file, the full list of dependencies can be obtained. + +* **.incbin statements**: The second source are include binary + ``.incbin`` statements in ``.S`` assembly files. + +* **Hardcoded dependencies**: Unfortunately, not all build dependencies + can be found via ``.cmd`` files and ``.incbin`` statements. Some build + dependencies are directly defined in Makefiles or Kbuild files. + Parsing these files is considered too complex for the scope of this + project. Instead, the remaining gaps of the graph are filled using a + list of manually defined dependencies, see + ``scripts/sbom/sbom/cmd_graph/hardcoded_dependencies.py``. This list is + known to be incomplete. However, analysis of the cmd graph indicates a + ~99% completeness. For more information about the completeness analysis, + see `KernelSbom #95 `_. + +Given the list of dependency files, KernelSbom recursively processes +each file, expanding the dependency chain all the way to the version +controlled source files. The result is a complete dependency graph +where nodes represent files, and edges represent "file A was used to +build file B" relationships. + +Using the cmd graph, KernelSbom produces three SPDX documents. +For every file in the graph, KernelSbom: + +* Parses ``SPDX-License-Identifier`` headers, +* Computes file hashes, +* Estimates the file type based on extension and path, +* Records build relationships between files. + +Each root output file is additionally associated with an SPDX Package +element that captures version information, license data, and copyright. + +Advanced Usage +-------------- + +Including Kernel Modules +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + +The list of all ``.ko`` kernel modules produced during a build can be +extracted from the ``modules.order`` file within the object tree. +For example:: + + $ echo "arch/x86/boot/bzImage" > sbom-roots.txt + $ sed 's/\.o$/.ko/' ./kernel_build/modules.order >> sbom-roots.txt + +Then use the generated roots file:: + + $ SRCARCH=3Dx86 python3 scripts/sbom/sbom.py \ + --src-tree . \ + --obj-tree ./kernel_build \ + --roots-file sbom-roots.txt \ + --generate-spdx + +Equal Source and Object Trees +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + +When the source tree and object tree are identical (for example, when +building in-tree), source files can no longer be reliably distinguished +from generated files. +In this scenario, KernelSbom does not produce a dedicated +``sbom-source.spdx.json`` document. Instead, both source files and build +artifacts are included together in ``sbom-build.spdx.json``, and +``sbom.used-files.txt`` lists all files referenced in the build document. + +Unknown Build Commands +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + +Because the kernel supports a wide range of configurations and versions, +KernelSbom may encounter build commands in ``.cmd`` files that it does +not yet support. By default, KernelSbom will fail if an unknown build +command is encountered. + +If you still wish to generate SPDX documents despite unsupported +commands, you can use the ``--do-not-fail-on-unknown-build-command`` +option. KernelSbom will continue and produce the documents, although +the resulting SBOM will be incomplete. + +This option should only be used when the missing portion of the +dependency graph is small and an incomplete SBOM is acceptable for +your use case. --=20 2.34.1