The PS5 hacking scene just took a big leap forward

<a href="https://www.resetera.com/threads/the-ps5-jailbreak-is-here-and-its-looking-good-mvg-firmware-dependent-and-development-still-ongoing.809940/” rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank”>For a few years now, the PS5 hacking community has been chipping away at various exploits that let users fully jailbreak their locked-down console. For the most part, though, those exploits have only worked with years-old versions of the PS5’s frequently updated firmware, making them less than useful for many everyday users.

That changed Tuesday with the release of the new Relapse exploit, which works with any PS5 up to firmware version 13.6 (released in July). That means jailbreaking is now possible on any PS5 that was last updated before the mid-September release of firmware version 14.00.00.

The so-called Relapse exploit makes use of a long-known WebKit vulnerability in the PS5’s hard-to-access web browser, escalating from there to gain write access to the PS5 kernel and install an ELF loader to streamline the running of arbitrary code. The new method is also a lot more efficient than previous PS5 jailbreak exploits, which could hang the system for 50 minutes per attempt.

While PS5 hacking aficionados have taken pains to avoid updating their console firmware for a while now, newcomers to the scene had previously been forced to track down older, unupdated consoles on the secondary market. The overall availability of exploitable PS5 hardware is now greatly expanded.

The improved firmware compatibility for this latest exploit is also particularly important because most PS5 games require the console to be updated to the latest firmware version available at the time of their release (an online database is keeping track of those game-level firmware requirements). That means this new exploit is compatible with many more titles, including digital copies of legit purchases made exclusively for the purposes of personal backup.

Aside from those game backups, jailbroken PS5s can also run homebrew apps like emulators and unofficial “60 fps” mods for legacy PS4 games. Developers also continue to work on a full Linux implementation for PS5, though that can currently only be installed on systems with the relatively ancient firmware version 7.61 or earlier.

Kyle OrlandSenior Gaming Editor
Kyle OrlandSenior Gaming Editor
Kyle Orland has been the Senior Gaming Editor at Ars Technica since 2012, writing primarily about the business, tech, and culture behind video games. He has journalism and computer science degrees from University of Maryland. He once wrote a whole book about Minesweeper.