Gerry Palmers Games 10.03.2022 23:Oct PM EDT

PlayStation 5 Jailbreak Exposed, Making Users Access Debug Menus, Install Unauthorized Games

A supposed jailbreak on the PlayStation 5 was revealed with its experimental IPV6 kernel exploit that makes use of a Web kit vulnerability, a game console modder named SpecterDev announced Monday.

It is quite apparent that the jailbreak seems extremely limited. It can only work on PS5 consoles with firmware version 4.03, which was released in October 2021 and has since been replaced with version 4.50 in December 2021. According to the exploit's creator, however, it is possible to apply the jailbreak to PS5 consoles with earlier firmware.

With updated PS5s, users won't be able to try the exploit. But even then, installing the jailbreak only works one-third of the time you try it.

Jailbreaking is when modders or system modifiers make reverse-engineering on closed hardware, and this prohibited activity is often utilized to unlock debug menus and allow the use of unauthorized software.

What Jailbreak Allows Users to Do with PlayStation 5

What can users do with this newly revealed jailbreak? It seems they can access the system's debug menu, Engadget revealed in a report. Users could also install games from outside the PlayStation Store, previous versions of popular games, and also pirated titles, but they can not run sideloaded games.

The jailbreak gives users access to the debug menu as well as the ability to install a PS4 PKG file or a backup of a game.

Armed with the jailbreak, modders were able to install games from previous versions of the console, such as the PS4 demo "P.T." of the defunct "Silent Hill."However, these modders could not actually start playing the game since such sideloaded files can't be run. And, of course, "P.T." is not backward compatible on the PS5, and this makes it even more impossible to run.

Why Jailbreak Won't Be in Widespread Use

Such jailbreaks will seem to be unlikely in widespread use anytime soon because of their limitations and that Sony could ban modders' accounts. On top of that, such jailbreaks could brick the console at a time when it still isn't super easy to buy one. Still, such jailbreaks may provide hackers and modders means to build more robust jailbreaking tools.

However, this will be viewed as the first step for fellow modders and hackers, who will likely attempt to build on the entry point. Jailbreaking can have your PlayStation Network account banned and the warranty voided from any damage to the console as a result of the activity.

All the top game console companies lock down the hardware and penalize people who circumvent their systems. Microsoft had a program against mod chips, Nintendo has had hackers locked up, and Sony filed a high-profile case against hacker George Hotz during the PS3 era. And Sony may soon be up in arms against this new PlayStation 5 jailbreak from modder SpecterDev.