Ledger Nano S firmware release notes

Firmware version 2.0.0

Released 4 May 2021

Firmware version 2.0.0 brings a redesigned onboarding flow, several user experience improvements, and support for Ethereum 2.0. Please find more information about this update in our blog post.

Before you update:

• Make sure you have updated Ledger Live through the notification banner or downloaded the latest version of Ledger Live. Note that the update to firmware version 2.0.0 is only available from Ledger Live version 2.26.1.

A new onboarding flow

• Added screens before the recovery phrase display and after the recovery phrase confirmation to underline the importance of the recovery phrase.
• Simplified the recovery phrase confirmation: choose each word of the recovery phrase among four suggested words.

New features and ETH 2.0 support

• From the dashboard, hold both buttons for 3 seconds to access device settings. 
• Added new device settings, allowing you to lock your device and uninstall apps directly from your device.
• Added support for the seed derivation algorithm EIP2333, allowing you to securely sign a deposit contract transaction for Ethereum 2.0 on your device.

Better user experience

• A progress bar is displayed on the device screen when installing applications.
• Added separate settings for the PIN lock and the screensaver.
• Starting from the next firmware update, the Firmware Upgrade Identifier will no longer be displayed.

Firmware version 1.6.1

Released 11 August 2020

Firmware version 1.6.1 brings several user experience improvements and additional cryptographic support. Please find more information about this update in our blog post.

Before you update: 

• In some rare cases, your device may be reset during the update. You will then have to restore it from your recovery phrase.

Better user experience

• No need to disconnect and reconnect the USB cable during firmware updates. Bootloader mode is now automatically launched to update the MCU firmware.
• Significantly reduced the delay when (un)installing multiple apps in My Ledger.

Other changes

• Added cryptographic support for the BLS12-381 curve.
• Fixed functionality to switch between library contexts.

Firmware version 1.6.0

Released 13 November 2019

Firmware version 1.6.0 includes security and cryptographic enhancements, many user experience improvements, increased app storage capacity, and bug fixes. Please find more information about this update in our blog post.

Before you update:

• Uninstall all apps if your device currently has version 1.3.1 or 1.4.2. Don't worry, this does not affect your assets and you can reinstall them later.
• Linux users must add new udev rules. Learn more
• In some rare cases, your device may be reset during the update. You will then have to restore it from your recovery phrase.

Security enhancements

• Hardening PIN code entry by randomizing the order of digits and symbols to mitigate a potential attacker from counting button clicks to guess the PIN code.
• Added screen jitter and partial screen inversions so that a potential attacker cannot guess the screen contents through a power consumption analysis. Learn more
• Starting from next firmware updates, the microcontroller (MCU) will be updated by the Secure Element, further increasing the security of the update process and improving the user experience.

Better user experience

• An entirely new user interface that brings app capacity back to where it was with version 1.4.2. Users will now always press either the left or right button to select an item, and press both buttons simultaneously to validate instead of validating or canceling with either right or left button.
• Significant improvements to the setup and restore procedure including additional instructions and more user-friendly flows. 
• Added a Privacy setting that will later replace the Public key export approval setting in Bitcoin-based apps and that enables connections to Samsung Blockchain SDK through a cookie.
• Removed the options to rotate or invert the screen to make the firmware smaller and not to conflict with the new partial screen inversions.
• Fixed a capital S looking more like a number five.

Bug fixes

• Fixed a bug in WebUSB support on Windows by correcting faulty WinUSB descriptors.
• Fixed a USB bug that reset the device in a few specific configurations.
• Fixed device detection problems on Windows by having a different USB Product ID for each activated interface.
• Fixed the device from timing out when connecting to a browser via U2F.
• Fixed a glitch that rendered text incorrectly in some applications.

Thank you to all Ledger Beta Testers that helped test the firmware

Firmware version 1.5.5

Released 16 January 2019

Firmware version 1.5.5 features important security improvements, new cryptographic algorithms and additional functionalities.

To update your device, please refer to our step by step guide. More information about this update can be found in our blog post.

Your 24-word recovery phrase is not required to update. Please do make sure your recovery phrase is within reach, as a precaution.

New cryptographic algorithms

• New hashes: BLAKE2b and Groestl
• New signatures: Schnorr with Zilliqa scheme
• New derivation scheme: Bip32-ed25519

Security improvements

• Redesign of crypto library implementation
• Improved MCU genuine check
• Increased PIN code resistance to hardware and side-channel attacks

Additional features

• WebUSB enabled on Dashboard
• Enabled installing multiple apps at once
• Improved memory management after deleting apps

Firmware version 1.4.2

Released 17 April 2018

The firmware 1.4.2 update brings several user experience and minor security improvements.

• User Pin code's start number is now always randomized
• Each recovery word's first letter is now always randomized
• Improvement of the interaction between microcontroller (MCU) and secure element to remove confusing error message
• Verification & checks of installed applications
• Improved dashboard responsiveness

To update your device, please refer to our step-by-step guide. 

Firmware version 1.4.1

Released 6 March 2018

Ledger Nano S firmware 1.4.1 brings several functional changes, new UX features as well as a few important security improvements. With firmware 1.4, you’ll be able to install many more applications on your Ledger Nano S! More information in our blog post.

New features

• Introduction of app dependencies to increase the number of apps that can be loaded simultaneously.
• Screen lock management: A long press of 3 seconds on both buttons will lock the screen.
• To ensure that the user has correctly backed up the 24-word recovery phrase, all words must now be confirmed during the onboarding.
• Several other optimizations including some cache optimizations to make the device faster.

Security and OS improvements

• The policy to load 3rd party apps slightly evolved. The custom Certification Authority (CA) management is now only available under recovery mode. It is intended to make malware applications less attractive to promote for inexperienced users.
• Apps are now split in 3 segments (code, data, installation parameters). Two different hashes are computed (code + data and code + data + installParams), allowing the user to verify the data loaded even for apps which have secret data.
• U2F tunnel is now supported for APDUs in the dashboard and also in the SDK. It’ll make it possible to support all communication protocols with a single interface and avoid using the “Browser Support” options. U2F tunnel is very convenient to interface with web applications.
• The SDK now offers another primitive for comparing memory pointers securely (memcmp).

Cryptographic support

New supported Elliptic Curves:

• SEC curves (SECP384R1, SECP521R1),
• Brainpool Curves (P256R1, P320T1, P320R1, P384T1, P384R1, P512T1, P512R1)
• ANSSI Curve (FRP256v1),
• Edwards Curves (Ed448), and
• Goldilocks’s curve (Curve448).

Firmware version 1.3.1

Released 28 February 2017

New in this version

• PIN codes are now up to 8 digits
• Change your PIN without resetting the device
• Auto-lock device when inactive
• Plausible deniability with secure passphrase entry
• Reset your device from the Settings app
• Support for personal certificates

Bug fixes

• Better USB 3.0 compatibility
• Security fixes

Warning

Updating your firmware will erase your applications and device configuration. Your recovery phrase is required to restore your accounts after the upgrade. Do not proceed without it.

Firmware version 1.2

Released 18 October 2016

The Ledger team has released the 1.2 firmware update for Ledger Nano S, unleashing a set of new features and integrations. More information in the blog post.

Overview

• Passphrase support for plausible deniability or seed backup protection (compatible with BIP39)
• Alternative duress PIN
• Shuffle PIN option
• Token & basic contract support (data field) for Ethereum
• MyEtherWallet integration on Chrome and Opera without third party extensions
• Support for GreenAddress & Greenbits (Android, desktop coming soon)
• Litecoin support
• Ledger Manager: application & firmware updates