Lab · Teardown
Hardware Wallet Implant Teardowns
Ledger devices bought through sales channels came with an extra board inside: it reads the recovery phrase off the screen and sends it out over a cellular link. The modification happened after the factory; the board leaves the secure element and firmware untouched, so Ledger’s authenticity check cannot see it. A similar board has been reported in a Trezor Safe 5; Trezor has not verified it.
Teardowns
- Trezor Safe 5 Implant 3D Teardown The reported board sits between the main board and the screen, reads what the screen shows and sends it over a cellular link; Trezor has not verified it.
- Ledger Stax Implant 3D Teardown The implant board sits stacked on the main board, carrying a Nordic nRF9151 cellular module, with its antenna inside the back cover.
- Ledger Flex Implant 3D Teardown An extension flex passes the display signals to a board hidden at the end cap; a smaller battery makes room, and LTE sends the result out.
- Ledger Nano X Implant 3D Teardown Soldered to the display SPI test pads, it listens to the recovery-phrase screen, decodes it and sends it out over LTE.
Comparison
-
Trezor Safe 5
- Versions
- One report, not verified by Trezor
- Where it attaches
- An extra board between the main board and the screen; Trezor has not said how it connects
- How it gets the screen
- Reads what the screen shows; the MCU drives the screen over a 9-bit parallel bus
- How it sends
- A cellular module and an antenna
- Battery and power
- No battery: powered only while USB is plugged in
- Source
- Trezor’s 10/30 notice; stock layout from Trezor open hardware rev. G
-
Ledger Stax
- Versions
- One (A), two units
- Where it attaches
- Stacked directly on the main board, with a short flex arm ending in a small chip
- How it gets the screen
- How it gets at the screen content cannot be seen in the public photos
- How it sends
- Nordic nRF9151 (LTE-M / NB-IoT); antenna inside the back cover on coax to u.FL
- Battery and power
- The reports mention no battery swap
- Source
- Karpelès Lab’s OSINT reports (the @wentrre and @DesWeb4 units)
-
Ledger Flex
- Versions
- Two (A, B)
- Where it attaches
- No soldering: an extension flex between the display flex and the main-board connector; the board sits at the end cap
- How it gets the screen
- The extension flex passes the same display signals to the board; version B’s STM32U575 holds a whole frame (about 144 KB)
- How it sends
- LTE module and SIM; version B’s antenna lies flat over the board on u.FL
- Battery and power
- Stock about 200 mAh; version B swaps in 160 mAh
- Source
- Teardown photos: Karpelès Lab, BigFang, Ledger
-
Ledger Nano X
- Versions
- Four (A–D)
- Where it attaches
- Soldered to the display SPI test pads TP31, TP34 and TP35 on the main board
- How it gets the screen
- Listens only on CS, CLK and MOSI from the secure element to the OLED and never drives a line
- How it sends
- LTE through a pre-provisioned eSIM
- Battery and power
- Stock 100 mAh; version A swaps in 70 mAh, version D 130 mAh
- Source
- Researchers’ teardowns: Karpelès Lab, Tibane Labs, Joe Grand, Johannes
Related security research
- A deployment platform Taiwan’s developers loved was breached twice in two months, then shut down (Part 1): from one NextChat bug to an AWS root key
- A deployment platform Taiwan’s developers loved was breached twice in two months, then shut down (Part 2): a token that never expired, and what to do now
- PHP2Shell (Part 1): When the hotel keycard encoder fails, room locks don’t save you
- PHP2Shell (Part 2): Broken embargo, real attacks, and what to do now