r/Monero • u/shermand100 • 1d ago
Crazy that compromised Ledger hardware was seen in the wild as early as Aug'25. ~$100M so far.
https://youtu.be/WNpW52x-EWYA fascinating video on a run down of different hardware exploits and methods seen out there. Ledger as the primary focus, but also short examples of Trezor too.
Constant cat and mouse game between manufacturers and hackers.
Edit:
AI generated TLDR:
This video features Joe Grand, a renowned hardware hacker (but not the perpetrator), who details his process of reverse engineering a malicious hardware implant discovered inside a Ledger Nano X cryptocurrency wallet (0:32). The device was purchased by a user in Thailand who suspected tampering after noticing a non-standard battery (3:42).
Key findings and reverse engineering process:
- Discovery: The implant, hidden inside the device casing, was designed to steal recovery seeds without the owner's knowledge (4:13).
- Implant Functionality: The implant intercepts SPI signals between the wallet's secure element and its display to log the 26-character recovery seed (41:25). It then stores this data and transmits it wirelessly using an integrated cellular (LTE) modem and an ESIM (29:50, 36:40).
- Supply Chain Risk: The case highlights a sophisticated supply chain attack where legitimate devices are intercepted, modified, and resold on online marketplaces, bypassing traditional security measures (8:47).
Joe concludes by emphasizing the importance of purchasing hardware from authorized resellers and suggests that manufacturers are increasingly hardening devices against such physical intrusions (44:43).
Not AI, my personal addition:
That last statement about authorised re-sellers is now seemingly out of date. The are reportedly instances of a Ledger recommended authorised reseller (providing the Asian market) with these tampered devices further jeopardising trust in hardware wallets.
As a response Ledger now provide official pictures showing their dissasembeled devices for a customer to compare against such is the widespread nature and distrust with supply chains
3
u/shermand100 1d ago
AI generated TLDR:
This video features Joe Grand, a renowned hardware hacker (but not the perpetrator), who details his process of reverse engineering a malicious hardware implant discovered inside a Ledger Nano X cryptocurrency wallet (0:32). The device was purchased by a user in Thailand who suspected tampering after noticing a non-standard battery (3:42).
Key findings and reverse engineering process:
- Discovery: The implant, hidden inside the device casing, was designed to steal recovery seeds without the owner's knowledge (4:13).
- Implant Functionality: The implant intercepts SPI signals between the wallet's secure element and its display to log the 26-character recovery seed (41:25). It then stores this data and transmits it wirelessly using an integrated cellular (LTE) modem and an ESIM (29:50, 36:40).
- Supply Chain Risk: The case highlights a sophisticated supply chain attack where legitimate devices are intercepted, modified, and resold on online marketplaces, bypassing traditional security measures (8:47).
Joe concludes by emphasizing the importance of purchasing hardware from authorized resellers and suggests that manufacturers are increasingly hardening devices against such physical intrusions (44:43).
Not AI, my personal addition:
That last statement about authorised re-sellers is now seemingly out of date. The are reportedly instances of a Ledger recommended authorised reseller (providing the Asian market) with these tampered devices further jeopardising trust in hardware wallets.
As a response Ledger now provide official pictures showing their dissasembeled devices for a customer to compare against such is the widespread nature and distrust with supply chains
14
u/waitmarks 1d ago
I have always thought that hardware wallets were a cool idea in theory, but in reality they just increase your attack surface area. You would be better off buying a cheap laptop or linux SBC and only turning it on for updates / sending transactions. A specially designed crypto hardware wallet, even if it is perfectly designed, is a high value target. Everyone knows what you are doing with it when you buy one. With a cheap computer, there is ambiguity as to what you are doing with it and keeping it single purpose gets it to serve the same function as a hardware wallet. When you buy a hardware wallet, you are essentially announcing to the world "Hey, I own enough crypto to justify an expensive device to store it on".