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Hacking group says it has found encryption keys needed to unlock the PS5


DudeAsInCool

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Decrypting the PS5 kernel doesn't involve opening the hardware like this, but it still serves as a good visual metaphor for how the system is now being "exposed."

Enlarge / Decrypting the PS5 kernel doesn't involve opening the hardware like this, but it still serves as a good visual metaphor for how the system is now being "exposed." (credit: Sony / YouTube)

Hacking group Fail0verflow announced Sunday evening that it had obtained the encryption "root keys" for the PlayStation 5, an important first step in any effort to unlock the system and allow users to run homebrew software.

The tweeted announcement includes an image of what appears to be the PS5's decrypted firmware files, highlighting code that references the system's "secure loader." Analyzing that decrypted firmware could let Fail0verflow (or other hackers) reverse engineer the code and create custom firmware with the ability to load homebrew PS5 software (signed by those same symmetric keys to get the PS5 to recognize them as authentic).

Extracting the PS5's system software and installing a replacement both require some sort of exploit that provides read and/or write access to the PS5's usually secure kernel. Fail0verflow's post does not detail the exploit the group used, but the tweet says the keys were "obtained from software," suggesting the keys didn't need to make any modifications to the hardware itself.

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  • 8 months later...

A careful examination of the firmware will allow Fail0verflow to reverse-engineer the code and create custom firmware. I think that's where it's going to happen. Remember that this will also require using some kind of exploit to read and write data at the PlayStation 5 kernel level. Fail0verflow deliberately does not disclose information about the exploit involved. Still, the grouping in the tweet notes that it is about "getting the keys from the software. This means that the keys do not need to make any changes to the hardware. But I wonder how to find a hacker to do such a thing, or did they handle it themselves?

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