SBOM and Source Code Review: Complementary Pillars of Software Security

I’ve seen this confusion a lot: people lump Source Code Review (SCR)/SAST and SBOM into the same bucket. Some swear by code reviews and assume that’s enough. Others think SBOM is the shiny new replacement. Both ideas are off the mark. 

They’re not competitors. They solve different problems. And in today’s messy, interconnected software world, you need both. 

Think of it like building a house. You can check whether the walls are straight (that’s SCR). But what if the bricks themselves are weak? That’s where vulnerabilities in third-party libraries—remember Log4j or OpenSSL? – come in. You can’t just ignore the materials. SBOM is the tool that tells you what those materials are made of. 

What Source Code Review Really Does 

SCR is the old-school but still essential practice of going through your own code. It’s where you find things like: 

• Sketchy input validation 

• Passwords hardcoded into the app 

• Insecure functions hanging around 

• Broken authentication or authorization logic 

• Data handling mistakes that could leak information 

Sometimes you run automated or manual scans but the goal is always the same: cleaner, safer, easier-to-maintain code. 

But here’s the catch: SCR only looks at your code. And today’s software? It’s rarely just yours. For a deeper dive into how Source Code Reviews work in practice, check out our Source Code Review Services

SBOM in Simple way 

An SBOM is basically the ingredient label for your software. It tells you exactly what’s inside your code —open-source bits, proprietary code, third-party libraries, all of it. With that list in hand, you know: 

• The names and versions of components 

• Which ones already have known vulnerabilities 

• What licensing rules they bring along 

• Where your supply chain exposure sits 

And here’s the real win: SBOMs are generated automatically. So, when a new zero-day pops up in the headlines, you don’t waste days asking, “Are we even using this library?” You already know.  

Comparative OverviewBelow table lists the comparison between SCR and SBOM

Why Both Matter 

Modern software is stitched together with in-house logic and outside components. If you only check one side, you’re leaving blind spots wide open. 

Using both SCR and SBOM together means you can: 

• Get to know Complete supply chain risks 

• Respond faster when new vulnerabilities are announced 

• Keep up with growing regulatory pressure 

Also Pairing SBOM with Penetration Testing gives organizations a complete picture—from internal logic flaws to real-world exploit risks.

Final Thoughts 

SBOM doesn’t replace code review. And code review doesn’t make SBOM irrelevant. Together, they form a solid foundation for secure development. 

And as DevSecOps becomes the default way of building software, tools like SBOMApp are making it painless to generate SBOMs, plug them into CI/CD pipelines, and stay compliant—without slowing developers down.