Skip to content
Spacehuhn Docs
Blog

Blog

Change USB VID & PID on Digispark

Why you should change the USB IDs

Section titled “Why you should change the USB IDs”

You can make the Digispark appear as any USB device by setting the USB IDs to a custom value, and I’ll show you how. But first, why would you?

It’s particularly useful for BadUSB pentests where you don’t want it to appear as a Digispark but as a generic USB Keyboard or an Apple device so that macOS doesn’t open the keyboard setup assistant. You might also require a USB device with a particular vendor or device ID for testing and developing products.

Whatever your reasons are, you can spoof the IDs to anything you want. Websites like devicehuhnt.com have a database that you can search for registered USB devices.

In the tutorial below, I will make the Digispark appear as an Apple keyboard so that it can be used for BadUSB attacks on macOS. But you are free to change the values to whatever you like.

How to do it

Section titled “How to do it”

You have to edit the USB Product ID (PID) and Vendor ID (VID) deep in the Arduino Digispark files.

  1. In Arduino, open File > Preferences

  2. Click on the Path at the bottom (it’s a shortcut)

    Arduino IDE Path setting

  3. Open packages > digistump > hardware > avr > 1.7.5 (or other version number) > libraries > DigiKeyboard

  4. Make a copy of usbconfig.h and call it usbconfig_BACKUP.h in case you need to undo the changes

  5. Open usbconfig.h in a text editor

  6. Replace lines as explained below

You can download an already modified usbconfig.h here to save you time. Otherwise, continue below.

USB VID

Section titled “USB VID”

To set 05AC as USB VID (Apple), replace #define USB_CFG_VENDOR_ID 0xc0, 0x16 with

#define USB_CFG_VENDOR_ID 0xAC, 0x05

USB PID

Section titled “USB PID”

To use 0250 as USB PID (Apple Aluminium Keyboard with ISO layout), replace #define USB_CFG_DEVICE_ID 0xdb, 0x28 with

#define USB_CFG_DEVICE_ID 0x50, 0x02

Vendor Name

Section titled “Vendor Name”

To set the vendor name to Apple, replace #define USB_CFG_VENDOR_NAME 'd','i','g','i','s','t','u','m','p','.','c','o','m' with

#define USB_CFG_VENDOR_NAME     'A','p','p','l','e'

and replace #define USB_CFG_VENDOR_NAME_LEN 13 with

#define USB_CFG_VENDOR_NAME_LEN 5

Device Name

Section titled “Device Name”

To set the device name to Keyboard, replace #define USB_CFG_DEVICE_NAME 'D','i','g','i','K','e','y' with

#define USB_CFG_DEVICE_NAME     'K','e','y','b','o','a','r','d'

and replace #define USB_CFG_DEVICE_NAME_LEN 7 with

#define USB_CFG_DEVICE_NAME_LEN 8

How to flash ESP32 or ESP8266 from your Browser

Did you know you can flash .bin files onto ESP32 and ESP8266 boards using your web browser? I made a simple web app to simplify the process. Here’s how it works.

ESP Web Tool

Section titled “ESP Web Tool”

ESPWebTool Homepage

  1. Open esptool.spacehuhn.com
  2. Click Connect and select the serial port of your ESP board
  3. Upload your .bin file(s)
  4. Click Program

I made it as simple as possible, and it works with any project, including my ESP8266 Deauther. The default upload speed is set to 115200 baud, but you can adjust the settings on the home page to increase the upload speed.

This makes recreating projects so much more accessible. Instead of fighting with Arduino IDE, esptool, or other software, all you need is a compatible browser (which you probably already have)!

Not sure which port to connect to?

Section titled “Not sure which port to connect to?”

Easy! Click connect on the website and then plug in your board. Whatever port pops up in the list is what you’re looking for.

You might want to check the cable and USB port if no port pops up. Or maybe you’re missing the drivers for your device:

🔗 CH340/CH341 Drivers: http://www.wch-ic.com/downloads/CH341SER_ZIP.html
🔗 CP210x Drivers: https://www.silabs.com/developers/usb-to-uart-bridge-vcp-drivers
🔗 FTDI Drivers: https://ftdichip.com/drivers/

Browser Compatibility

Section titled “Browser Compatibility”

Web Serial browser compatibility chart

Compatibility is the biggest problem with the web serial terminal right now. At the time of writing this, only Chrome, Edge, and Opera support the Web Serial API needed to make this work.

This makes me sad as a long-time Firefox user, but I’m not the only one. There’s a lot of ongoing discussion about this in the Mozilla Community.

Phone or Tablet users are also out of luck for now. Only desktop browsers are supported at the moment. I hope it’s just a matter of time until more browsers add support for the Web Serial API.

Alternatives

Section titled “Alternatives”

Of course, my tool isn’t the only one that can do this. In fact, it’s based on the wonderful esp-web-flasher. But the idea to make a tool like this was inspired by esptool-js.

So if you don’t like my implementation, you can try these solutions, too. Like the projects above, mine is also open source: https://github.com/spacehuhntech/espwebtool

And if you’re looking for non-web-based solutions to flash .bin files:

Connection failed?

Section titled “Connection failed?”

Make sure to set the baud rate to 115200 in the settings. Higher baud rates allow faster upload speeds, but they can also introduce connection issues.

If that doesn’t help, check out this blog post about common ESP8266 and ESP32 errors: /blog/espcomm/

And if you run into other issues, try using a different flashing tool/method. This will at least tell you if it’s an issue with esptool.spacehuhn.com or with something else. Finally, in case you do find a bug, please leave a comment down below.

How Bad USBs work

A BadUSB can hack a computer in a matter of seconds, but how is that even possible? Let’s explore this fascinating topic.