After nearly two years on the market, modders have been able to jailbreak the PlayStation 5. While this is exciting news for some, the exploit is still in its infancy which means there is still a lot of work to be done to make it stable. The news was announced by security researcher SpecterDev, who has, in the past, released firmware exploits for the PlayStation 4. The new experimental WebKit-based kernel exploit currently works with firmware version 4.03 for the PlayStation 5. It is not compatible with newer firmware versions, though it is possible that it will be backported to older ones.
According to the GitHub page, the exploit was created using previous work by the TheFloW, otherwise known as Andy Nguyen, who has in the past contributed to exploits for the PlayStation 4 and is better know for his contributions to the PlayStation Vita community. The new exploit will grant users root access and also to the console’s debug menu. With both of these options unlocked, those that are curious are now free to tinker with the console’s inner workings. For the time being, due to the limitations of the exploit, users will be able to install but not run PKG files.
It’s… beautiful.
The PlayStation 5 has been jailbroken. pic.twitter.com/54fvBGoQGw
— Lance McDonald (@manfightdragon) October 3, 2022
If you’re curious about the exploit, but you don’t have a PlayStation 5 to test it on, you can check out the video above. Modder Lance McDonald showcases the exploit by going through the installation process, showing off the debug menu, and installing a PKG file for a game. But the video concludes prior to the modder running the game because, as mentioned before, that is not possible at this time. But, this is just the first step, and now, with the gates open and the research available to the public, it will only be a matter of time before more and more exploits for the console start surfacing. Sony will no doubt be keeping an eye on this. There are still a number of limitations though, according to SpecterDev:
- The exploit is unstable and doesn’t work all of the time. It will take several attempts to get it to run properly, and once it does, make sure you exit using the circle button instead of the PlayStation button.
- The exploit provides read and write access, but no execution access. This means it’s not possible to run applications currently, though memory manipulation is currently possible.
In light of this news, it might be an interesting time to pick up the new console, but Sony has recently announced that it was raising the price of its consoles in some regions. While this was a surprise to many, the company stated that it was a “necessity” due to global inflation and currency fluctuations having to do with exchange rates.
XDA Senior Technical Editor Adam Conway‘s take: While this exploit is currently limited in nature, it is often the case that this additional access gained on an older firmware version can open the door for exploits in later versions of the firmware, or can at least show modders some of the secrets of how things work under the hood. The same happened on the Nintendo 3DS, where exploits found in older firmware versions allowed modders better access to the inner workings of the system. From there, the floodgates were opened, even if it took some time.
If you have a PlayStation 5 on a newer firmware version and you want to emulate games or run homebrew, don’t lose hope just yet. As the PlayStation 5 scene advances, efforts on older versions will help further an overall understanding of the console’s inner workings. There are still things that modders don’t understand about the system yet, which is why even this exploit is so limited. With time, understanding of the system will only grow.
Source: GitHub
Via: Lance McDonald (Twitter)
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