Hackers have released a new PS4 jailbreak for firmware version 9.00. Titled “pOOBs4”, the jailbreak takes advantage of a filesystem bug in the 9.00 firmware update. Notably, the kernel exploit used to make this jailbreak also affects PS5 consoles, meaning we may be getting a jailbreak for the PS5 in the near future.
The jailbreak works through using an existing WebKit exploit, which hacker TheFlow0 found earlier this year. Exploiting WebKit — the engine that popular web browsers such as Google Chrome and Safari are based on — allows hackers to execute code under the guise of a regular application.
However, this is only the first step in jailbreaking a PS4 console. The second step requires hackers to find a vulnerability in the console’s kernel — the core of the console’s operating system. Doing so would open up the doors to homebrewing and other kernel-level modifications. Previously, hackers had only found kernel vulnerabilities up until firmware 7.55. If you wanted to jailbreak a PS4 with a firmware version later than that, however, you were out of luck. That is, of course, until now.
Alright, was just a joke about caturday.
The exploit is legit, and as a bonus:
The kernel exploit affects Playstation5 as well!
(no, ps5 is not ready or being released, the lead developer does not currently have a ps5 console)— Z (@Znullptr) December 13, 2021
Earlier in November, hacking group fail0verflow made a breakthrough after finding the console’s root keys. This allows hackers to begin the search for firmware vulnerabilities. What exactly this means for the future of PS5 homebrewing is unclear. While the lead developer of the new PS4 9.00 jailbreak currently doesn’t have access to a PS5 in order to test kernel vulnerabilities, it seems like it’s only a matter of time before they find one.
[Source: Twitter]
