GitHub Action for Generating Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) with HashiCorp Vault

Creating a GitHub Action that uses HashiCorp Vault to generate Software Bill of Materials (SBOMs) involves several steps. SBOMs are typically used to document the components and dependencies in your software, and Vault can be used to store sensitive information like API keys or credentials securely. Here's a high-level overview of how you might approach this:

Setting up HashiCorp Vault

1. Set up HashiCorp Vault: First, you'll need to set up and configure HashiCorp Vault with the necessary policies and access controls.

2. Create a Vault token: Create a Vault token with appropriate permissions to access secrets required for generating SBOMs.

3. Store secrets in Vault: Store the secrets needed for generating SBOMs securely in Vault.

Creating a GitHub Action

4. Create a GitHub Action: Create a new GitHub Action workflow in your repository. This can be done by creating a .github/workflows directory and adding a YAML file, e.g., generate_sbom.yml.

Configure the GitHub Action:

5. Configure the GitHub Action: Define the workflow triggers (e.g., on pushes, on a schedule, or manually).
6. Set up environment variables to securely retrieve secrets from Vault. You can use GitHub Secrets to store environment variables securely.

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - main
env:
  VAULT_ADDR: ${{ secrets.VAULT_ADDR }}
  VAULT_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.VAULT_TOKEN }}

Use Vault to retrieve secrets

7. Use Vault to retrieve secrets: Use the Vault token and the Vault API to retrieve the necessary secrets within your workflow. You can use the vault CLI tool or libraries like node-vault for Node.js or hvac for Python to interact with Vault.

- name: Get secrets from Vault
  run: |
    vault login $VAULT_TOKEN
    VAULT_SECRET=$(vault read -field=secret secret/path/to/secrets)

Generate and Publish the SBOM

8. Generate the SBOM: Depending on your specific needs, you may need to run specific commands or scripts to generate your SBOMs. This could involve analyzing your software and its dependencies. Make sure the generated SBOM is stored in a format that can be easily consumed by other tools or shared with your team.

9. Publish the SBOM: Upload the generated SBOM to a secure location, such as an artifact repository or a cloud storage service. You can use GitHub Actions to upload files to your repository, external storage, or even as GitHub releases.

Example GitHub Action Workflow

Here's an example of a simplified GitHub Action workflow:

name: Generate SBOM
on:
  push:
    branches:
      - main
env:
  VAULT_ADDR: ${{ secrets.VAULT_ADDR }}
  VAULT_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.VAULT_TOKEN }}
jobs:
  generate-sbom:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Checkout code
        uses: actions/checkout@v2
      - name: Get secrets from Vault
        run: |
          vault login $VAULT_TOKEN
          VAULT_SECRET=$(vault read -field=secret secret/path/to/secrets)
      - name: Generate SBOM
        run: |
          # Add your SBOM generation logic here
      - name: Upload SBOM
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v2
        with:
          name: sbom
          path: path/to/sbom.xml

Please note that this is a simplified example, and you should adapt it to your specific requirements and tools for generating SBOMs. Additionally, ensure that your secrets and generated SBOM are handled securely and according to your organization's security policies.