The latest cybersecurity news has shaken the gaming community as attackers are reported to steal PS5 root keys and exploit the kernel computer program, which revealed a wide vulnerability within its gaming consoles.
Security experts have found two vulnerabilities on the PS5 consoles that expose them to attackers who can control their basic features once exploited.
The exploit reports were published on Twitter last week by a prolific PlayStation jailbreaker group, FailOverFlow, that disclosed potential security threats against the gaming giant.
From FailOverFlow’s tweet, they initially posted a screenshot that shows the PS5 firmware symmetric root keys with a caption, “Another one bites the dust.” The first tweet was then followed by another one which they claimed to have acquired all symmetric PS5 root keys, adding that the root keys, including the per-console root key, are obtainable via software if people look hard enough.
Analysts have found the tweet a challenge for other aspiring hackers to access decrypted firmware files.
Another hack, also posted on Twitter by a security engineer, was reported against PlayStation5. The notorious threat actor TheFlow could access its Debug Settings menu, which shows that he successfully obtained a PS5 kernel exploit.
According to reports, the Debug Settings menu is typically found on testkit devices. It can only be accessed by development and quality assurance teams in installing package files on the Sony PS5. However, the researchers explained that the menu could be enabled on retail consoles by patching flags found at specific firmware addresses at Runtime.
Some analysts were made to think if the PS5 is even possible to be secured.
A public-interest technologist said that the two found vulnerabilities had established threat actors to install pirated games and run emulators within the gaming device. The hackers who have hacked into the PS5 have made it possible for the device to be jailbroken. The decrypted firmware by FailOverFlow’s root keys can let hackers reverse-engineer the PS5 software and develop all sorts of hacks, such as installing pirated games, be executed.
Moreover, it is believed that a hack-proof computer system will ever be possible for now, especially if the system is physically being freely-exploited and manipulated by all threat actors around. The best example of this situation is the Sony PS5.
