The PlayStation 5 has been successfully jailbroken; firmware version 4.03 or lower required

Intrepid jailbreakers were already on the PlayStation 5's case shortly after it launched. A breakthrough was achieved in 2021 when the console's Debug menu was unlocked. Almost a year later, Twitter users @StretchEcho and @SpecterDev have successfully managed to beat Sony's security via a WebKit exploit.

The hack and the corresponding Python files are available to download on Spectre Dev's GitHub page. It only works on PlayStation 5 consoles running firmware version 4.03 or lower. The jailbreak runs on both variants of the console and needs to be executed via a PC/Mac. One user tried running it on version 4.50 and it resulted in kernel panic. Even on the correct version, it doesn't work every time and might be needed to be run a few times.

The exploit isn't nearly as perfect as some of the older PlayStation 4 patches, as it doesn't allow code to be executed on the console. One can, however, still write data to the hard drive and access the Debug menu. End users might not find this update intriguing, but it'll allow developers to dig deep into the PlayStation 5's innards, allowing for the development of unofficial patches, emulation for older consoles and maybe even a 60 FPS version of Bloodborne.

Buy the PlayStation 5 Horizon Forbidden West bundle on Amazon