Case study

SYNA8002: reconstructing a ThinkPad fingerprint reader's SPI protocol

The SYNA8002 investigation reconstructs the SPI transport, secure-channel setup and image capture path of the fingerprint reader in a ThinkPad X1 Tablet Gen 3. It includes a Python userspace driver and fprintd-compatible adapter; the author reports successful GDM login on one tablet, with a correlation matcher and an existing Windows-derived pairing key.

Targets: Protocol
Category: Independent reconstruction cases
Relationship: Independent reconstruction project
Sources reviewed: 2026-11-06
Evidence class: C2 code & docs, no demo or download

Stars: 1
Last commit: 2026-11-09
Language: Python
License (GitHub): MIT

GitHub data as of 2026-11-10

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Evidence

Observed: Code and documentation observed; no download method or demo found.
Checked: 2026-11-08

How evidence classes are assigned

Requirements & limits

Prerequisites: ThinkPad X1 Tablet Gen 3 with a SYNA8002 SPI sensor, a python-validity checkout, and the sensor's host private key and session config blob extracted from the user's own Windows installation.
Limits: Virgin-sensor pairing is unimplemented; the matcher is not authentication-grade, based on the author's small impostor sample.
License: MIT License.

Cite

BibTeX

@misc{x1-tablet-gen3-fingerprint-case,
  title = {{SYNA8002: reconstructing a ThinkPad fingerprint reader's SPI protocol}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://github.com/sandbranch/x1-tablet-gen3-fingerprint}},
  url = {https://github.com/sandbranch/x1-tablet-gen3-fingerprint},
  urldate = {2026-11-06},
  note = {Awesome REA entry: \url{https://awesomerea.org/resources/x1-tablet-gen3-fingerprint-case/}}
}

Plain text

SYNA8002: reconstructing a ThinkPad fingerprint reader's SPI protocol. https://github.com/sandbranch/x1-tablet-gen3-fingerprint (accessed 2026-11-06). Awesome REA entry: https://awesomerea.org/resources/x1-tablet-gen3-fingerprint-case/

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About this entry

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Primary sources

README.md GitHub · sandbranch/x1-tablet-gen3-fingerprint · Revision f1fbd64
PROTOCOL.md GitHub · sandbranch/x1-tablet-gen3-fingerprint · Revision f1fbd64