A software bill of materials (SBOM) is a structured inventory of the software components in a product or service. It can list libraries, packages, versions, and relationships between components, helping teams see what is included in systems they build or deploy.
In cybersecurity, an SBOM helps defenders determine whether a newly disclosed vulnerability affects their environment and verify that a patch updated the right component. For infrastructure such as NGINX, teams can compare component and version records with vendor advisories, then confirm the deployed product and configuration before acting. SBOMs support patch prioritization and risk tracking, but do not replace configuration review or validation that fixes are running.