🔒 Air-Gapped / Offline Auditing Guide

February 18, 2026 · View on GitHub

This guide details the secure protocol for using AIsbom in air-gapped, offline, or high-compliance environments (e.g., Industrial OT, Defense, Critical Infrastructure).

Security Note: This method uses a Standalone Binary. It requires zero external dependencies (no Python, no pip, no internet access on the target machine), eliminating the risk of "Supply Chain Injection" attacks during installation.

1. The "Sneaker-Net" Protocol

To audit an air-gapped machine ("Zone B") without connecting it to the internet, follow this strictly unidirectional workflow:

  1. Zone A (Online): Download the binary and verify its cryptographic signature (Secure Workstation).
  2. Transfer: Copy the verified binary to a secure transfer medium (e.g., Encrypted USB, Diode).
  3. Zone B (Air-Gapped): Execute the scan on the sensitive target.
  4. Egress: (Optional) Bring the text-based sbom.json report back to Zone A for analysis.

2. Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Download & Verify (Zone A)

On your internet-connected workstation, navigate to the Latest Release and download the binary matching your Target architecture.

Target OSFile Name
Linux (x86_64)aisbom-linux-amd64
macOS (Intel)aisbom-macos-amd64
macOS (Apple Silicon)aisbom-macos-arm64

Critical: Verify the Chain of Custody Before transferring, verify the SHA256 checksum matches the one published in the Release Notes.

# MacOS / Linux
shasum -a 256 aisbom-linux-amd64

# Output must match the published hash EXACTLY.
# Example: 92ed9666a9ae62aeae74e78f689e048ba294f05d3164f97f74806b2546249a1e

Step 2: Execution (Zone B)

Mount your transfer medium on the air-gapped target. No installation is required; the binary runs in place.

Linux

# 1. Make executable (if permissions were lost during transfer)
chmod +x ./aisbom-linux-amd64

# 2. Run Scan
./aisbom-linux-amd64 scan /path/to/model_directory

macOS (Gatekeeper Fix)

Admonition: macOS marks downloaded binaries with a "Quarantine" attribute. On an offline machine, you cannot "Right Click -> Open" to bypass this. You must strip the attribute manually.

# 1. Make executable
chmod +x ./aisbom-macos-arm64

# 2. Fix "Unidentified Developer" / Gatekeeper block
xattr -d com.apple.quarantine ./aisbom-macos-arm64

# 3. Run Scan
./aisbom-macos-arm64 scan .

Step 3: Analyzing Results

The tool produces two outputs:

  1. Risk Table (Standard Out): Immediate, human-readable feedback on the terminal.
    • 🔴 Critical: Pickle bombs, malicious opcodes.
    • 🟡 Warning: High-risk imports.
  2. SBOM Report (sbom.json): A CycloneDX JSON file generated in the working directory.
    • This file is static plain text. It is safe to egress back to "Zone A" for ingestion into your central vulnerability dashboard.

3. Why this matters

By using the standalone binary, you avoid:

  1. PyPI Typosquatting: You never run pip install.
  2. Dependency Confusion: No internal/external repo confusion.
  3. Runtime Modification: The binary is immutable.

This ensures that the security tool itself does not introduce new attack vectors into your critical environment.