🔍 Read the full analysis: Hidden Implants In Three Safe 5 Wallets: What Trezor’s Fix Changes on ThorstenMeyerAI.com
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TL;DR
Trezor confirmed that three Safe 5 hardware wallets sold through former reseller CryptoBilis contained an extra circuit board that copied recovery words and passphrases displayed on the device. The company says firmware 2.13.1 blocks the implants it identified, but cannot protect recovery information captured before installation; Trezor reports no customer fund losses so far.
Trezor has confirmed implants in three Safe 5 hardware wallets bought through CryptoBilis, a former authorized reseller in Southeast Asia. The extra circuit board copied recovery words and passphrases shown on the device and transmitted the captured information over a mobile network, according to Trezor; the company says its firmware 2.13.1 update blocks the implants it found, but cannot protect information collected before the update.
Trezor said on November 12 that its lab examined one Safe 5 after an owner reported an extra circuit board, and that two more affected devices were identified from photographs provided by their owners. The three wallets are individual devices of the Safe 5 model, purchased between August 20 and September 23 through CryptoBilis’s Tokopedia and Shopee stores or directly from the reseller. Trezor had removed CryptoBilis from its reseller network on October 9.
According to Trezor’s analysis, the board sits between the wallet’s main board and screen. It copies information displayed there, including recovery words shown when creating a backup or entering words to restore a wallet, and a passphrase if one appears. The implant encrypts the captured data and sends it to a server controlled by the attackers over a mobile connection; if it cannot connect, Trezor says, it stores the data and tries again later.
Trezor says the implant does not alter the device’s firmware or its Secure Element, the dedicated security chip. Firmware version 2.13.1, released November 11 for the Safe 7, Safe 5, Safe 3 and Model T, blocks the implants identified by the company on devices running the update. Trezor says none of the three owners has reported losing funds. Forty-eight CryptoBilis customers have come forward, and their devices are being checked; the source material does not say that all 48 devices were found to be affected.
Trezor Safe 5 implant · how it works
What the hidden board copies, and what the fix stops
How Trezor describes the implant it found in three Safe 5 wallets bought from CryptoBilis, and what firmware 2.13.1 changes.
Inside the device (schematic)
mobile network
Step by step
- 1Recovery words appear on the screen, when a wallet backup is created or a wallet is restored
- 2The extra board copies them, and a passphrase if one is shown. Firmware and Secure Element stay unchanged
- 3It encrypts the data and sends it over the mobile network. No connection: it keeps the data and retries
- 4Firmware 2.13.1, released Nov 11: stops the implants found so far from capturing anything
Confirmed
3 Safe 5 devices, bought Aug 20 – Sep 23, 2026 from CryptoBilis
Being checked
48 CryptoBilis buyers came forward; no tampering found at other resellers in the region
Funds lost
None reported so far, Trezor says
Source: Trezor, “Our CryptoBilis investigation: what we found and what we’ve changed”, Nov 12, 2026; Trezor firmware changelog (2.13.1, released Nov 11, 2026). Schematic drawing, not the real board layout.
Graphic: Powered by Thorsten Meyer AI
Why Recovery Words Were Exposed
The incident targets information that can give someone access to a wallet, rather than relying on a change to the device’s normal software. A recovery phrase can be used to restore access to funds on another wallet, while a passphrase may add another layer of protection. If either was copied by an implant, updating the original device cannot make that already captured information secret again.
Trezor’s account also points to a supply-chain risk: the reported tampering happened before affected devices reached their owners. Because the implant leaves the firmware and Secure Element unchanged, checking those components alone would not necessarily reveal this kind of physical addition. That is an implication of the described design, not a separate finding attributed to Trezor. For customers, the confirmed reseller and purchase path matter as much as the model name.
The reported absence of fund losses is a status update, not proof that captured information was never accessed or could not be used later. Trezor says affected owners should treat a backup captured before the fix as potentially exposed. The distinction matters because the firmware update addresses future capture by the identified implant, not the security of information it may already have sent.
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From Reseller Warning to Lab Confirmation
The case emerged amid an investigation involving CryptoBilis and another wallet maker. Trezor says Ledger began investigating fund losses among customers who had purchased hardware wallets from CryptoBilis on October 9. Ledger later confirmed physical tampering in some devices. In an October 15 statement, Ledger described it as “an attack on the distribution channel after the devices left our control.” That finding concerned Ledger devices; it is separate from Trezor’s later confirmation of implants in three Safe 5s.
CryptoBilis was also an authorized Trezor reseller, and Trezor removed it from its network on October 9. On October 28, a Trezor customer in Indonesia reported an extra board in a Safe 5 bought from CryptoBilis through Tokopedia. Trezor issued a warning on October 30 before its lab had examined the device, saying it acted on the report to avoid leaving customers exposed while awaiting confirmation. The lab confirmed the implant on November 12, alongside two more cases identified through owner photographs.
Trezor says every other device it has checked showed no evidence of tampering, and its checks of devices from other regional resellers found none. The company is working with SEAL 911, the Security Alliance’s emergency response service. It also says it has cut its reseller network by about 80%, although the supplied material gives no further detail on the timing or criteria for that reduction.
““It only listens.””
— Trezor
What Checks Have Not Established
The full extent of the incident remains unknown. Trezor has identified three implanted Safe 5s, but the 48 CryptoBilis customers who have come forward are still having their devices checked. The available information does not establish how many devices were sold, how many may have been altered, how long the operation ran, or who was responsible for it.
Trezor says none of the three owners has lost funds, but it has not reported whether attackers accessed or used the captured data. It is also unclear whether the implants successfully transmitted information from each device, what information may have been collected, or whether any customers beyond the three confirmed cases had their recovery details exposed. Trezor’s statement that other checked devices and devices from other regional resellers showed no evidence of tampering applies to the devices it examined, not necessarily every device in circulation.
The source material does not provide independent technical findings confirming Trezor’s analysis, a public identification of the attackers, or an account of any law-enforcement investigation. Firmware 2.13.1 is described as blocking the implants Trezor has found; the company’s account does not establish that it detects or blocks every possible hardware modification.
Checks and Customer Guidance Continue
Trezor says it is checking devices from customers who have come forward and working with SEAL 911. Owners who bought a device from CryptoBilis should follow the company’s published instructions and contact Trezor to have their device assessed; the source material does not give a deadline for completing the checks or a final count of affected units.
Owners should install firmware 2.13.1 on supported models, while recognizing that the update cannot reverse any earlier capture. Trezor’s stated warning means a recovery backup shown on a potentially affected device before the update should be treated as possibly exposed. The supplied source does not specify a full recovery procedure for those owners, so they should use current guidance directly from Trezor rather than assume the firmware update alone resolves past exposure.
The next confirmed milestones are the outcome of the outstanding device inspections and any further findings Trezor releases about the scope of the tampering. Until those checks are reported, the confirmed count remains three implanted Safe 5 wallets, with no reported fund losses among their owners.
Key Questions
How many Trezor wallets were confirmed to contain implants?
Trezor confirmed three individual Safe 5 devices. The finding does not mean three different wallet models were affected.
What did the implant capture?
According to Trezor, it copied information shown on the wallet’s screen, including recovery words during backup creation or wallet restoration, and a passphrase if displayed. It encrypted the data and tried to send it over a mobile network.
Does firmware 2.13.1 protect information captured earlier?
No. Trezor says the update blocks the implants it identified from capturing information on devices running the firmware, but cannot protect a backup captured before installation.
Have the affected owners lost funds?
Trezor says none of the three owners has reported losing funds. That does not establish whether captured information was accessed or whether the investigation has identified every affected device.
Are all CryptoBilis customers known to have affected wallets?
No. Trezor says 48 CryptoBilis customers have come forward and their devices are being checked. It has confirmed three implanted Safe 5s; the supplied information does not give the final result of the remaining inspections.
Source: ThorstenMeyerAI.com
