PlayStation 5 Jailbreak Is Now Available For Daring Gamers, Here It Is In Action

All the major game console makers try their best to lock down the hardware, and they don't take kindly to people working to circumvent their systems. Microsoft had its program against mod chips, Nintendo gets hackers locked up, and Sony had a high-profile case against noted hacker George Hotz in the PS3 era. Another Sony dispute may be brewing as modder SpecterDev has released a jailbreak for the PlayStation 5. The tool is still early and limited, but it could eventually allow gamers to run homebrew software and pirate games.

The jailbreak relied on a flaw in the 4.03 kernel, which is enabled by a known exploit in the WebKit browser engine. The tool is only confirmed to work on the 4.03 kernel, which is a year old, but it might work on older firmwares as well. It won't work on newer versions, though, as Sony has already patched the WebKit flaw.

Game streamer Lance McDonald shared a video of the exploit in action, which provides access to the system debug menu. The exploit also unlocks the ability to install a PS4 PKG file, which is a full game backup. However, that's about as far as anyone will get right now. The PS5 hypervisor does not currently allow this unauthorized software to run. The jailbreak is also unstable right now, working only about 30% of the time. Reliability and functionality could be improved through further development, though.


With more work, it could be possible to not only read and write custom code, but also execute it. Once that happens, it would be possible to run games that you've backed up or homebrew software. That's a legal gray area, but the other side of jailbreaking is piracy, which is plainly on the wrong side of the law.

PS5 piracy could be possible if the 4.03 kernel exploit is developed further. Sony has a few tools at its disposal to combat this, including lawsuits. However, the risk of widespread PS5 piracy is low this time. Since the PlayStation 5 doesn't support firmware downgrades, most people won't have access to the year-old firmware used in the exploit. If you've been pining for a PS5 jailbreak, this is something to watch, but it's not the answer to your prayers.