PlayStation 5 jailbreak seems inevitable as double hack reveals PS5 root keys and debug settings

Two different incidents of PlayStation 5 hacking have been reported that will justify Sony’s ongoing Bug Bounty Program and may result in big payments heading toward the successful hackers. Obviously, a PS5 jailbreak is not something Sony wants right now, especially right before the crucial holiday season. A successful jailbreak of the security systems of the PS5 would lead to the possibility of unauthorized code being run on the hardware – which generally means the use of homebrew software.

A security engineer working for Google, Andy Nguyen, posted a screenshot of a PS5 menu that includes an option for “Debug Settings” at the bottom. While this sort of access would certainly assist any group who wanted to jailbreak the PS5, it seems Nguyen has no intention of passing on his findings, stating “no plans for disclosure”. It’s possible the engineer has sent the full details to Sony, which offers up to a US$50,000 bounty for a critical level bug discovered on the PlayStation 5.

Arguably more troubling for Sony is the information coming from fail0verflow, which claims to have “all (symmetric) PS5 root keys”. It seems members of the hacking group have been scouring through update code to dig out the required keys. While this is only the first step in many to a full PS5 jailbreak there will certainly be some sweaty palms working feverishly on security-based firmware patches at SIE at the moment before further reverse engineering of code is carried out.

Check for PlayStation 5 stock on Amazon