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Random freezes, missing sound and display glitches usually trace back to one bad driver. Find and replace yours safely.Free scan · under a minuteA debug screen gave hardware researcher Benjamen Lim a clue to a smartwatch’s network traffic. By tracing firmware code and reaching programming contacts through the watch’s charging adapter, he changed the server address and port and reported that the modified watch connected to a server he controlled. The project concerned a particular undocumented geolocating watch; its exact retail model is unconfirmed, and the result does not establish how common similar weaknesses are.
What the smartwatch revealed
Hackaday reported on July 4, 2024, that Lim received several undocumented brand-X watches. A debug screen displayed an unfamiliar IP address and port. That was a starting clue, not proof by itself of what the watch sent or who operated the server. Lim’s later, detailed project account describes the hardware and the steps he used to investigate it.
Lim identified an nRF52832 Bluetooth-enabled controller, an ESP8285 Wi-Fi chip, and a SIMCOM cellular IC. He says the Wi-Fi chip scanned nearby access points to support urban triangulation, while the main controller communicated with the cellular module over UART. The watch also contained a LiPo battery and two antennas. These details describe the device in his project, not a specification for smartwatches generally.
How he reached the firmware
The unusual access route ran through the watch’s physical contacts. Lim found SWDIO and SWCLK programming pads on the board, aligned with pogo pins beneath the front cover. Those connected through gold watch-face contacts and the supplied charging adapter to the adapter’s microUSB D+ and D− pins. Rather than finding a conventional external programming header, he connected a J-Link debugger through the adapter.
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Lim used nrfjprog to dump code and RAM. He reports that the firmware on this watch was neither read-protected nor write-protected. That finding applies only to the device he examined; other watches may hide, disable, or implement programming access differently. A J-Link debugger is the directly evidenced hardware tool in this project, but Lim does not specify its exact model or establish compatibility with other devices. Anyone studying a different watch would need to verify its interface and debugger compatibility first.
Why the server address was not a simple text search
The debug screen showed an IP address, but Lim says he did not find the firmware value by searching for that address as a plain-text string. He opened the firmware in Ghidra, followed a modem command string, AT+CIPOPEN=0, and then traced an IP-address format string used by a function resembling sprintf.
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That trail led him to a RAM array and two functions that wrote to it. In one of them, he located the hardcoded address and port values. He patched six bytes—four for the IP address and two for the port—while accounting for the compiled movn operation. He also updated firmware checksums, then flashed the patch using Nordic Semiconductor’s Programmer utility. This was a device-specific reverse-engineering workflow, not a general recipe that can safely be applied to an arbitrary watch.
What happened after the patch
Lim reports that the watch communicated with the server he controlled after he flashed the modified firmware. He wrote, “I am pleased to say that it worked!” The reported outcome shows that he redirected this watch’s configured server endpoint; it does not establish what data other devices send, whether other models share the same design, or whether the watch’s original service was insecure.
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What this case does—and does not—show
- It shows a workable route into one device. Debug output, accessible programming contacts, and firmware without read/write protection gave Lim the means to inspect and alter this watch.
- It does not measure prevalence. Lim’s account and Hackaday’s report describe a project, not a survey of smartwatch security or privacy. They provide no population estimate for exposed programming contacts, unprotected firmware, or server-configuration flaws.
- It is not a product comparison. No other watch models were tested against it, so the case cannot support a ranking of brands or devices.
- Separate smartwatch research is not evidence about this watch. The 2025 WatchWitch paper concerns reverse engineering Apple Watch wireless protocols and reports security issues in its abstract; it is a different device and project, not corroboration of the brand-X watch findings.
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