Ledger security card

[calkob]

How does the Ledger security card work?  is it a different card in every box and what happens should it be lost?

[hilariousandco]

Yes, it's personal to your device and if you lose it you can create a new one with the QR code. If you lose that you're screwed though. You could just get the newer Nano S version of it which doesn't require the card but uses a button on the device instead.

[calkob]

I take it that the seed is compatible with other software? so should ledgerwallet shit it's self and never work again i can reclaim my bitcoin else where, say like electrum?

[hilariousandco]

Yes.

[Cereberus]

Yes, it's personal to your device and if you lose it you can create a new one with the QR code. If you lose that you're screwed though. You could just get the newer Nano S version of it which doesn't require the card but uses a button on the device instead.

So let me get this straight. If my Ledger HW.1 breaks down and I lose my security card too , and if I buy a new Ledger HW.1 I cannot restore my old HW.1 bitcoins through my seed because each device has a unique security card ? Or I can restore my bitcoins in my new HW.1 wallet and can use the new security card of this new wallet to send and receive the coins ?

[hilariousandco]

You can just restore your coins from the seed. I'm not sure whether you can do it directly on the device or not but you could just restore them in another wallet then send to your new ledger.

[Cereberus]

You can just restore your coins from the seed. I'm not sure whether you can do it directly on the device or not but you could just restore them in another wallet then send to your new ledger.

Phew, glad to hear that, I am not keep that much , about 4 Bitcoins in total in my Ledger but they are very dear to me. I will restore them in another wallet and then send to my new Ledger if anything happens to my actual Ledger. Thanks.

[calkob]

You can just restore your coins from the seed. I'm not sure whether you can do it directly on the device or not but you could just restore them in another wallet then send to your new ledger.

Phew, glad to hear that, I am not keep that much , about 4 Bitcoins in total in my Ledger but they are very dear to me. I will restore them in another wallet and then send to my new Ledger if anything happens to my actual Ledger. Thanks.

Ok so the question was if you lose your security card and your hardware breaks,  yes you can just use the seed on the new ledger hardware, but if you dont have access to the security card then i think you are screwed, as you can see your bitcoin but cant move them,  correct me if i'm wrong this is my understanding.

this makes the security card and the QR that allows you to get another one very important to secure as well.

[Cereberus]

You can just restore your coins from the seed. I'm not sure whether you can do it directly on the device or not but you could just restore them in another wallet then send to your new ledger.

Phew, glad to hear that, I am not keep that much , about 4 Bitcoins in total in my Ledger but they are very dear to me. I will restore them in another wallet and then send to my new Ledger if anything happens to my actual Ledger. Thanks.

Ok so the question was if you lose your security card and your hardware breaks,  yes you can just use the seed on the new ledger hardware, but if you dont have access to the security card then i think you are screwed, as you can see your bitcoin but cant move them,  correct me if i'm wrong this is my understanding.

this makes the security card and the QR that allows you to get another one very important to secure as well.

Yes it is like that. But in order to avoid that, with the seed of your broken ledger your can restore your bitcoins to a different wallet compatible with that seed like electrum. Then you can buy a new ledger and move your coins from Electrum to your new Ledger. This is the correct answer.

[calkob]

You can just restore your coins from the seed. I'm not sure whether you can do it directly on the device or not but you could just restore them in another wallet then send to your new ledger.

Phew, glad to hear that, I am not keep that much , about 4 Bitcoins in total in my Ledger but they are very dear to me. I will restore them in another wallet and then send to my new Ledger if anything happens to my actual Ledger. Thanks.

Ok so the question was if you lose your security card and your hardware breaks,  yes you can just use the seed on the new ledger hardware, but if you dont have access to the security card then i think you are screwed, as you can see your bitcoin but cant move them,  correct me if i'm wrong this is my understanding.

this makes the security card and the QR that allows you to get another one very important to secure as well.

Yes it is like that. But in order to avoid that, with the seed of your broken ledger your can restore your bitcoins to a different wallet compatible with that seed like electrum. Then you can buy a new ledger and move your coins from Electrum to your new Ledger. This is the correct answer.

Right i get it, thanks for the reply

[loupiote]

Some news on this old subject:

https://sites.google.com/view/loupiote2-crypto-recovery/home/ledger-hw-1-with-lost-security-card-and-lost-seed-successful-btc-recovery

- Short version / TL;DR:

Client has BTC secured by an old Ledger HW.1 hardware wallet, but lost their Security Card and their seed phrase. They still have their unlocking PIN.

The Ledger HW.1 hardware wallet, released in 2014 in the early days of the Ledger Company, is a screenless USB dongle supporting only BTC. Its Security Card feature provides an additional challenge-response layer of protection, preventing unauthorized transactions when the dongle is connected and unlocked.

Without the Security Card or recovery seed phrase, BTC secured by the HW.1 was considered irrecoverable.

However, in 2022, Ledger revealed a firmware vulnerability allowing reassignment of a new Security Card through brute-forcing responses to challenges:

https://donjon.ledger.com/lsb/017/

Note: This vulnerability applies only to older screenless Ledger devices (HW.1, Nano). Modern devices (Nano S, X, S+ etc.) are unaffected.

Using this vulnerability, we successfully exploited the HW.1’s firmware to brute-force responses and reassign a new Security Card in our test HW.1 dongle.

This technique will allow recovery of our Client's BTC.