The PlayStation 5 has officially been jailbroken. And not just insomuch as a savvy hacker has discovered a potential exploit or entry point but, as of right now, the general public can execute it on their PS5 consoles at home.
Plus, you just know that when Lance McDonald is excited about something the hacking community has done, it’s pretty big:
It's… beautiful.
The PlayStation 5 has been jailbroken. pic.twitter.com/54fvBGoQGw
— Lance McDonald (@manfightdragon) October 3, 2022
So how did this happen, you ask? That’s a very good question, and one we’re not terribly qualified to answer in detail, but it goes something like this.
PlayStation, in partnership with a program called Hacker One, currently offers payouts of varying amounts to “ethical hackers” for submitting reports disclosing vulnerabilities they discover in PlayStation’s hardware and software systems. One such hacker, who goes by TheFloW, disclosed on September 21, 2022 that an exploit existed – one that apparently already existed on the PlayStation 4 before the new console had even been released – that would allow kernel access on the PS5.
In very broad terms, having kernel-level access means that hackers can gain full control of the PS5 firmware which in theory should allow them to do all sorts of things from unlocking system-level restrictions to applying custom patches and mods to games or running unsigned software like homebrew applications and (of course) pirated games.
Following TheFloW’s report, which again is publicly accessible and contained the information needed to make this exploit happen, it took mere days for the hacking community at large to produce a working exploit, which you can see in action in Lance’s tweet above.
While this exploit only works on consoles running version 4.03 firmware or below and doesn’t currently allow pirated games to be run on the PS5, or do much else of note at this early stage, it opens a massive door for the homebrew community going forward – both the constructive and illicit sides of it.
While we’re not prepared to link directly to anything, if you’d like to know more or (gasp) risk your hardware and/or banishment by trying the exploit for yourself, it’s just a few search engine keywords away.
