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Microchip Makeover Village


Reballing Process

Identification of Faulty BGA Chips

Initially, the faulty BGA chips on the PCB (Printed Circuit Board) are identified. These chips might have issues like broken solder balls or poor connections.

Removal of the BGA Chip

  1. Heating: The BGA chip is carefully heated using a rework station to melt the existing solder.
  2. Lifting: Once the solder is molten, the chip is gently lifted off the PCB.

Cleaning and Preparation

  1. Chip Cleaning: Residual solder is removed from the chip using a solder wick or soldering iron.
  2. PCB Cleaning: The PCB area is also cleaned to remove old solder and flux residues.

Reballing

  1. Applying Flux: Flux is applied to the chip’s pads to improve soldering quality.
  2. Stencil Placement: A stencil that matches the BGA pattern is placed over the chip.
  3. Solder Ball Placement: New solder balls are placed into the stencil openings.
  4. Heating: The assembly is heated, causing the solder balls to melt and attach to the chip’s pads.

Re-Attaching the BGA Chip

  1. PCB Preparation: Flux is applied to the PCB pads.
  2. Alignment: The reballed chip is precisely aligned with the PCB pads.
  3. Reflow Soldering: The PCB is heated, reflowing the solder and forming new solder joints between the chip and the PCB.

Use Cases

Role of Reballing in Hardware Pentesting

  • Access to Secured Chips: Reballing can be used to remove secured or encrypted chips from a device, enabling penetration testers to bypass hardwired security measures.
  • Analysis of Embedded Systems: After removing chips via reballing, pentesters can analyze the firmware or embedded software to identify vulnerabilities in the system’s lowest levels.
  • Reverse Engineering: Reballing allows for the extraction and replacement of microchips, facilitating deeper analysis without permanently damaging the hardware.
  • Custom Firmware Loading: Reballing enables the loading of custom firmware onto a device, useful for testing how the device behaves under modified or unexpected fi
  • Circumventing Physical Security Mechanisms: Reballing helps in circumventing physical security mechanisms by allowing controlled removal and reattachment of components.
  • Failure Analysis: Reballing allows pentesters to replace suspected faulty components, aiding in failure analysis and vulnerability identification.