PS4 Hack Could Lead to Jailbreak and Homebrew Soon

For those that like a little creative control over their console gaming experience, this firmware exploit recently discovered could be right up your alley! The PlayStation 4 4.05 firmware kernel exploit opens the doors for players looking to jailbreak those shiny new systems and customize the way the console works for them.

The download itself can be found on GitHub, though if you're looking for running Homebrew - this code isn't quite there yet. Here's what you need to know about 4.05:

Summary

In this project you will find a full implementation of the "namedobj" kernel exploit for the PlayStation 4 on 4.05. It will allow you to run arbitrary code as kernel, to allow jailbreaking and kernel-level modifications to the system. This release however, does not contain any code related to defeating anti-piracy mechanisms or running homebrew. This exploit does include a loader that listens for payloads on port 9020 and will execute them upon receival.

You can find fail0verflow's original write-up on the bug here, you can find my technical write-up which dives more into implementation specifics here.

Patches Included

The following patches are made by default in the kernel ROP chain:

1. Disable kernel write protection
2. Allow RWX (read-write-execute) memory mapping
3. Dynamic Resolving (sys_dynlib_dlsym) allowed from any process
4. Custom system call #11 (kexec()) to execute arbitrary code in kernel mode
5. Allow unprivileged users to call setuid(0) successfully. Works as a status check, doubles as a privilege escalation.

Notes

• This exploit is actually incredibly stable at around 95% in my tests. WebKit very rarely crashes and the same is true with 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.
• A custom syscall is added (#11) to execute any RWX memory in kernel mode, this can be used to execute payloads that want to do fun things like jailbreaking and patching the kernel.
• An SDK is not provided in this release, however a barebones one to get started with may be released at a later date.
• I've released a sample payload here that will make the necessary patches to access the debug menu of the system via settings, jailbreaks, and escapes the sandbox.

How cool would it be to custom your PS4 to run those physical games without actually having to put the disc in. Since the coding itself doesn't include any way to defeat anti-piracy systems in place, that at least can slow down the use of pirated games used on the system.