PlayStation 4 now has a jailbreak that might eventually work on PS5

[Cal Jeffrey]

In brief: PlayStation hackers have dealt a huge jailbreaking blow to the PS4 with the release of "pOOBs4" on Monday. The kernel-level exploit only requires a network connection and a USB drive. After running, the console should be open to installing homebrewed games and backup copies of existing titles.

The kernel exploit was discovered and developed by a group of Playstation hackers, including SpecterDev, ChendoChap, and Znullptr, with help from Sleirsgoevy (webkit browser exploit) and TheFloW (who discovered the filesystem bug). After running the crack, a PS4 or PS4 Pro can receive payloads from a PC such as custom firmware, copied games, or homebrewed titles.

Specter teased the jailbreak on Sunday with a tweet allegedly showing a version 9.00 PS4 running custom firmware (below). Znullptr confirmed that the exploit worked a few hours later. The team then released pOOBs4 on GitHub Monday morning.

PlayStation 4 jailbreaking is nothing new, but two things make this one special.

9.👀 (awesome work by chendochap & @Znullptr) pic.twitter.com/ME12bLyu3C

— Specter (@SpecterDev) December 13, 2021

First, it runs on firmware 9.00, which only launched last September. Since then, there has only been one other update (9.03), which dropped on December 1. Most PS4 jailbreaks exploit much older firmware versions.

For example, before pOOBs4, the latest jailbreak required users to be running firmware 7.55, which Sony released in August 2020. Having an exploit only two versions deep and with the newest firmware only two weeks old opens up a much larger crowd that can easily crack their PS4s.

Second, it looks like the kernel exploit should also work on the PlayStation 5. The exploit sprung out of the file system bug that TheFloW used to pwn all of the PS5's root keys last month. However, they have not created a PS5 version yet because—get this—the lead developer has not been able to buy one yet, so we'll have to reserve our excitement until he can finally land a console. Maybe he should read my guide to beating the scalpers.

If you are interested in playing anything you want on your PS4, check out ChendoChap's GitHub page for instructions on how to pull off the jailbreak. Keep in mind that this will allow the PS4 to run pirated software, which is illegal, so play at your own risk.

Image credit: Solomon203 (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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https://www.techspot.com/news/92630-playstation-4-now-has-jailbreak-might-eventually-work.html

 

[Dimitriid]

This might be a pretty neat way to get a capable little PC: if it can eventually be made to run Linux or even Windows 10 (Which it should: it's x86 hardware and AMD gpu so it should be eventually possible to get drivers for it) then I might get one and use it as a neat living room PC gaming machine: it's still better than any current GPU and might still be more cost effective than a potential DDR5 + RDNA 2 APU solution from AMD in 2022/23 which I expect might be coming, but not soon.

 

[Trapped Nowhere]

Almost didn't expect it to be posted here since the previous jailbreak, or any of the subsequent ones didn't get posted

 

[Shadowboxer]

Crypto miners are licking their lips at the prospect of cracking the PS5.

 

[BigRedPDX]

I just sold my PS4 Pro... I needed too, for rent, so I really had no choice in the matter. I do have my PS5 though. Let's get that jailbroken.

 

[Avro Arrow]

Hmmm... I haven't used my PS4 in over a year. This would be an interesting thing to try on something that I'm not afraid of destroying.

 

[Kosmoz]

However, they have not created a PS5 version yet because—get this—the lead developer has not been able to buy one yet, so we'll have to reserve our excitement until he can finally land a console.

If this is true, it's really funny... but somehow I think is just a "polite" excuse for some other reason(s).

The PS jailbreak community is pretty big and I find it highly unlikely that someone did not "help" him with a PS5 to accomplish this.