PS4 Jailbreak Possible with Newly Identified Exploit

PS4 Jailbreak is now possible – Thanks to a new exploit identified by researchers.

We have always believed gaming consoles to be most well-protected devices but it is about time manufacturers like Sony take notice of security protections in their devices. Seems like troubles for Sony are about to resume with the New Year since PlayStation 4 (PS4) has become vulnerable to a range of exploits. Reportedly, developer SpecterDev has published online a fully-functional kernel exploit for PS4’s firmware version 4.05, hinting at the fact that the complete jailbreak of the console is now much closer than we have been expecting.

For your information, jailbreak lets users change and remove restrictions on any smartphone or an electronic device, which has been placed by the operator or manufacturer. This can lead to the installation of unauthorized or pirated software and games as well as third-party apps. The PS4 is vulnerable to jailbreak even though the system has its own firmware and a dedicated operating system but since it has the option of installing GNU/Linux distros, therefore, the ability can be used for exploitation.

It is worth noting that about two months ago, technical details of kernel exploit were released by TeamFail0verflow and now Specter has identified a flaw in the version 4.05 that allows arbitrary code to be run on PS4 making the console prone to homebrew software and pirated games. The new exploit has been named ‘namedobj’ and it lets users run arbitrary code on PS4 along with facilitating jailbreaking and kernel level alterations to the system. The released exploit contains a loader that can listen to a payload whenever it is received and then executes the code automatically.

Previously, TeamFail0verflow got Linux running on the PS4 hardware and now the latest feat from Specter has come up with the even more powerful exploit. Although developers haven’t included the tools required to run homebrew software or to jailbreak the console so as to deflect the legal team of Sony modders can easily run arbitrary code on the device by simply listening for payload through port 9020.

The developer has noted that this is just a ‘test payload’ that can be used after ‘the kernel exploit runs that jailbreaks and patches the kernel to allow access to debug settings, just needs to be netcatted to the loader via port 9020.’

The developers have also specified that the released kernel exploit doesn’t contain code that violates the PS4’s anti-piracy system and execution of homebrew software but it can help other developers to create their own jailbreaks and exploits.

Developer Specter also warned that the exploit was found to be stable at 95% of tests.

‘This exploit is actually incredibly stable at around 95% in my tests. WebKit very rarely crashes and the same is true with the kernel. I’ve built in a patch so the kernel exploit will only run once on the system. You can still make additional patches via payloads,’ wrote Specter.