In September 2024, Raspberry Pi doubled the prize for its first RP2350 Hacking Challenge from $10,000 to $20,000 and extended the deadline to the end of 2024. That challenge targeted a secret in the chip’s one-time-programmable (OTP) memory. It has since concluded: Raspberry Pi reported four valid submissions and said it paid the full $20,000 prize to each. A separate RP2350 challenge is listed as open until 31 October 2026, but it targets AES side-channel attacks instead.
What Raspberry Pi changed in September 2024
Raspberry Pi extended the deadline for its first RP2350 Hacking Challenge to the end of 2024 and raised the prize from $10,000 to $20,000. The company announced the change after the initial deadline passed without a successful break being reported. The extension and doubled prize applied to that original challenge, not to a single bounty that remains open today. Raspberry Pi’s announcement framed the effort as a public test of chip security, describing its approach as “security through transparency.”
What the original RP2350 challenge asked researchers to do
The target was a protected 128-bit secret in RP2350 OTP memory, specifically row 0xc08, protected by OTP_DATA_PAGE48_LOCK1 and secure boot. OTP means one-time-programmable: it is not ordinary application data, and programming or locking it changes device state. The challenge setup used a Pico 2 board configured with a custom secret. Its repository warns that enabling security and writing or locking OTP cause persistent, irreversible changes to the test device. The original challenge repository is therefore relevant to researchers setting up a dedicated test board, not a reason to experiment on a device containing keys or data they need to preserve.
How the first challenge ended
Raspberry Pi later reported four valid submissions and said it paid the full $20,000 amount to each successful entrant. According to the company, all four attacks required physical access, though the attacks differed in intrusiveness. Its results discussion said the submissions showed that glitch detection was less effective than it had estimated, that reliably injecting multiple faults amid timing uncertainty was difficult, and that laser fault injection involved meaningful cost and complexity. These are Raspberry Pi’s conclusions from this challenge; they do not establish that every RP2350 configuration is vulnerable in the same way. The results announcement describes the outcome.
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- The Raspberry Pi Pico is a beginner-friendly microcontroller board that uses MicroPython to give you a taste of the Internet of Things and microcontrollers. The RP2040 is a well-designed microprocessor that can be utilized in almost any Internet of Things project. It has enough power to complete the task quickly.
- 【Raspberry Pi RP2040 Microcontroller】Raspberry Pi Pico features Dual-core ARM Cortex M0+ processor, flexible clock running up to 133 MHz. With 264KB of SRAM, and 2MB of on-board Flash memory.Supports up to 16 MB of off chip flash memory via a dedicated QSPI bus
- 【Multiple Software Support】Pico has rich and complete software support, it comes with a complete Rasberry Pi official C/C++ SDK, Micropython SDK.The programming and burning of Pico need to be carried out on the computer. Supported operating systems and computers include:Raspberry Pie with Raspberry Pi OS,Other platforms equipped with Debian based Linux system Computer with MacOS, Computers with Windows, etc.
- 【Rich Hardware Interface】Raspberry Pi Pico has 30 GPIO pins, 4 pins for analog signal input and 26 × multi-function GPIO pins, 2 × SPI, 2 × I2C, 2 × UART, 3 × 12-bit ADC, 16 × controllable PWM channels.USB 1.1 supported by host and device, The installation mode can be flexibly selected by users to facilitate welding with other development boards.
- 【Build Project in Tiny Size】Only 2.1cm*5.1cm ( as small as your thumb). Pico has been designed to use either soldered 0.1" pin-headers or can be used as a surface-mountable 'module'.
Is there an RP2350 bounty open now?
Yes, but it is a distinct second challenge, not a reopening of the OTP-secret contest. As listed by Raspberry Pi on 4 October 2026, the second RP2350 Hacking Challenge is open until midnight UK time on 31 October 2026, unless a winning entry is received first. Its $20,000 prize is separate from the 2024 bounty. Because the challenge can end early or its terms can change, check the official page for current status before relying on the deadline. Raspberry Pi’s second-challenge announcement and the challenge repository provide the rules and updates.
How the two challenges differ
| First challenge | Second challenge | |
|---|---|---|
| Target | A protected 128-bit secret in OTP memory. | AES key material used by RP2350 secure boot. |
| Attack focus | Recovering the OTP secret through chip attacks; Raspberry Pi said the accepted attacks required physical access. | Side-channel analysis, including power, electromagnetic, or timing approaches, to reduce the effective AES key length enough to make payload decryption viable. |
| Prize | $20,000 after Raspberry Pi doubled the original $10,000 prize in September 2024. | $20,000 for this separate challenge. |
| Status and deadline | Concluded; Raspberry Pi reported four valid submissions. | Listed open until midnight UK time on 31 October 2026, unless a winning entry arrives earlier. |
In a February 2026 update, Raspberry Pi said it had modified the second challenge environment after no winner: it removed randomization of memory access and operation order, as well as timing jitter. The repository also offers an emulated implementation for virtual power-analysis experimentation. Those changes relate to the second challenge environment; they should not be read as a description of the first challenge or of every production RP2350 implementation. The official repository contains the challenge materials.
Rank #2
- RPi Pico 2 W Microcontroller Board (pre-soldered header (color-coded)), Based on Official RP2350 Chip, Dual-core & Dual-architecture Design. Upgraded hardware from Pico 2 with wireless communication, onboard antenna, features 2.4GHz 802.11n WIFI and Bluetooth 5.2.
- Adopts unique dual-core and dual-architecture design: dual-core Arm Cortex-M33 processor and dual-core Hazard3 RISC-V processor, flexible clock running up to 150 MHz.
- Onboard Infineon CYW43439 wireless chip, supports WIFI 4 wireless and Bluetooth 5.2.
- 520KB of SRAM, and 4MB of on-board Flash memory.
- Castellated module allows soldering direct to carrier boards. USB 1.1 with device and host support. Low-power sleep and dormant modes. Drag-and-drop programming using mass storage over USB.
What the bounty does—and does not—show
The first contest produced concrete findings about attacks against a particular challenge setup and prompted Raspberry Pi to share what it learned. It does not by itself quantify the security of all RP2350 devices or show that an ordinary software-only attack can retrieve protected secrets. The later contest addresses a different problem: whether side-channel observations can reveal enough AES key material to undermine secure-boot payload decryption. A Pico 2 is related hardware because it uses RP2350 and featured in the first challenge setup, but owning a board is neither a requirement for understanding the news nor, by itself, a side-channel analysis lab.
Quick Recap
Best Value
- Compatible models: Raspberry Pi Pico / Pico H / Pico W / Pico WH / Pico 2 / Pico 2 W (NOT included in this kit)
- GPIO status LED: LED on if GPIO outputs / inputs high level, LED off if GPIO outputs / inputs low level
- Independent LED: The status LED is driven by the chip instead of the GPIO so the GPIO will not be affected
- Terminal block and header: Connect to all pins of the main board, 2.54 mm (0.1 inch) pitch
- Pin name: The name of each pin is printed next to it
Rank #4
- RPi Pico 2 microcontroller board (with yellow Pre-Soldered Header) is powered by Official RP2350 microcontroller chip, with unique dual-core and dual-architecture design, running up to 150 MHz, embedded 520KB of SRAM and 4MB of on-board Flash memory, as well as 26x multi-function GPIO pins
- Adopts unique dual-core and dual-architecture design: dual-core Arm Cortex-M33 processor and dual-core Hazard3 RISC-V processor, flexible clock running up to 150 MHz
- 520KB of SRAM, and 4MB of on-board Flash memory
- 26 × multi-function GPIO pins. 2 × SPI, 2 × I2C, 2 × UART, 3 × 12-bit ADC, 24 × controllable PWM channels
- Castellated module allows soldering direct to carrier boards. USB 1.1 with device and host support. Low-power sleep and dormant modes.
Rank #3
- Latest Version: Higher core clock speed, double memory, more powerful Arm cores, optional RISC-V cores (compared to the 1 series) (This W version has onboard wireless LAN and Bluetooth)
- Switchable Cores: Allows users to choose between dual industry-standard Arm Cortex-M33 cores and dual open-hardware Hazard3 cores
- Compatibility: Delivers a significant performance boost, while retaining software- and hardware-compatible with the 1 series
- Detailed Tutorial: Provides step-by-step guide with MicroPython, C and Processing (Java) Code (The download link can be found on the product box) (No paper tutorial)
- Example Projects: Each project has schematics, wiring diagrams, complete code and detailed explanations (Need extra items)
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