Chainguard

The security of a company’s software supply chain has become one of the critical factors in modern software development and IT environments. Applications often consist of hundreds of components, dependencies, and external libraries, many of which originate from open-source communities and are subject to rapid change. Potentially, any of these components can pose a risk to entire environments if their origin, integrity, or up-to-date status cannot be transparently traced. At the same time, legal requirements and industry regulations such as NIS2 and DORA, along with the demand for SBOMs and signed artifacts, are increasing the pressure on companies to consistently secure their development and supply chains. A lack of transparency, outdated images, or unpatched vulnerabilities (CVEs) can not only cause security breaches but also lead to compliance violations and operational risks. 

Chainguard addresses these challenges with a holistic approach to securing your software supply chain. Its portfolio includes minimalist, hardened, and CVE-free container images, as well as SLSA 3-compliant libraries and hardened VM images. All artifacts are rebuilt daily, fully signed, delivered with transparent SBOMs, and continuously scanned for security risks. This creates a trustworthy and consistently updated foundation for modern development and production environments. 

Companies are increasingly facing the challenge of making their software supply chain secure, transparent, and compliant. The following obstacles repeatedly come to the fore:  

• Outdated or insecure (base) images that contain known CVEs
• Lack of traceability regarding the origin of dependencies and whether they have been tampered with
• Missing or incomplete SBOMs, which complicate the implementation of regulatory requirements (e.g., NIS2, DORA)
• Dependencies on non-transparent open-source builds, whose security status is often unclear
• Increasing restrictions on formerly public software catalogs

Chainguard provides highly secure and minimalist container images that are updated daily, delivered CVE-free, and accompanied by complete SBOMs and end-to-end signatures. As a result, these images create a reliable, compliance-ready foundation for cloud-native applications and Kubernetes workloads. Depending on requirements, FIPS-validated variants are also available, which particularly support deployment in regulated and security-critical environments. In addition, Chainguard offers secure and SLSA-compliant libraries as well as hardened VM images.

• Significantly reduced attack surface through minimalist and hardened artifacts
• CVE-free images through daily updates and continuous security patches
• Greater transparency through reproducible builds, cryptographic signatures, and complete SBOMs
• A unified and trusted source for all required dependencies
• Improved build security and robust protection against supply chain attacks
• A secure foundation for containers, libraries, VM images, and cloud-native workloads
• Simplified compliance requirements under NIS2, DORA, ISO 27001, and BSI guidelines