Trezor has disclosed a hardware-level vulnerability affecting the TROPIC01 Secure Element chip used in its Trezor Safe 7 wallet, while stressing that user funds, PINs and wallet backups remain protected. The disclosure follows an independent audit by Ledger Donjon, Ledger’s security research team, and further analysis by Tropic Square, the maker of the TROPIC01 chip.
Trezor Says Safe 7 Funds Safe After Chip Flaw
Trezor said the issue affects only the TROPIC01 Secure Element chip, one of three independent physical security layers in the Trezor Safe 7. The company said the flaw does not provide access to users’ PINs, funds or wallet backups, and does not mean the device has been hacked. “Your funds are safe. This vulnerability cannot give an attacker access to your PIN, funds or wallet backup in Trezor Safe 7, which has never been hacked,” Trezor wrote in its disclosure.
The company emphasized that private keys and wallet backups are not stored on the TROPIC01 chip, a design choice intended to avoid a single point of failure. Trezor also said compromising the chip alone would not be enough to bypass the remaining protections on the device. “The vulnerability concerns only the TROPIC01 Secure Element chip, one of three physical, independent security layers. Compromising TROPIC01 alone is not enough to give access to the PIN, which is the final layer of protection for your funds.”
Trezor said users do not need to take any action and that day-to-day use of the Safe 7 is not affected. Because the issue targets the chip at the hardware level, the company said a full fix cannot be pushed remotely through a firmware update, though Tropic Square has been working on a new batch of chips that addresses the reported vulnerability. Trezor also said the flaw cannot be used to create tampered Safe 7 devices with persistent malicious firmware, meaning it does not introduce a supply-chain attack threat to Trezor.
Ledger Donjon Audit Finds TROPIC01 Weakness
The vulnerability was identified after Tropic Square provided a TROPIC01 chip to Ledger Donjon for an independent audit. Ledger Donjon reported a successful laser fault-injection attack against the chip, which enabled extraction of a subset of secrets protected by TROPIC01. Trezor said Tropic Square’s engineering team then built on Donjon’s findings and identified a complex method to extract one additional secret affecting the chip’s PIN-related functions.
Trezor described the attack as highly complex and dependent on physical access and specialist lab capabilities. An attacker would need possession of the device, disassembly and desoldering, backside decapsulation, a custom board, expensive measurement and positioning equipment, a laser fault-injection setup and deep technical expertise. “If this attack occurred, the device would still be secured by two additional layers of physical security. The PIN and wallet backup would remain inaccessible to an attacker.”
The disclosure also served as a public statement of Trezor’s open-security position. The company said it chose TROPIC01 for the Safe 7 because its open architecture allows researchers to audit the chip and identify weaknesses. “We’re releasing this news proactively, not because anyone’s funds are at risk, but because this is how open-source security should work. Transparency is non-negotiable.” Trezor added that phishing remains the greater external risk for most users and reminded customers that the company will never contact them by phone or ask for a wallet backup.
The TROPIC01 disclosure gives hardware wallet users a rare look into the trade-offs of open chip security: vulnerabilities can be found and published, but their real-world impact depends on the broader device architecture. In this case, Trezor says the Safe 7’s layered design prevents the flaw from exposing funds, PINs or backups, while Tropic Square works on revised chips addressing the hardware issue.
AI Transparency Note: This article was prepared with the assistance of an AI system based on the sources listed and was reviewed, edited, and approved by a human editor before publication. All quotes, data points, and factual claims are intended to be grounded in the cited source material; however, errors cannot be ruled out entirely.