PS3 hacked

[Fritz88]

http://geohotps3.blogspot.com/

I think it's the same dude who hacked the iPhone 3GS

Hello hypervisor, I'm geohot
I have read/write access to the entire system memory, and HV level access to the processor. In other words, I have hacked the PS3. The rest is just software. And reversing. I have a lot of reversing ahead of me, as I now have dumps of LV0 and LV1. I've also dumped the NAND without removing it or a modchip.

3 years, 2 months, 11 days...thats a pretty secure system

Took 5 weeks, 3 in Boston, 2 here, very simple hardware cleverly applied, and some not so simple software.

Shout out to George Kharrat from iPhoneMod Brasil for giving me this PS3 a year and a half ago to hack. Sorry it took me so long

As far as the exploit goes, I'm not revealing it yet. The theory isn't really patchable, but they can make implementations much harder. Also, for obvious reasons I can't post dumps. I'm hoping to find the decryption keys and post them, but they may be embedded in hardware. Hopefully keys are setup like the iPhone's KBAG.

A lot more to come...follow @geohot on twitter

[Fritz88]

Originally Posted by bishop_74

Why?

Comment from another forum

The reason to hack these systems is to set them free to run any software people choose to write for them. Some people want the hacks so they can play pirated games, but the real win is opening up a platform for homebrew gaming.

The original Xbox was the first system that really got cracked open for homebrew. It was just a Pentium 3 700 with 64mb of memory. Once it was hacked, people wrote emulators for it so it was possible to play any game for any system predating the Sega Dreamcast (it didn't have the cpu power for newer systems). It also could run all of the DOS/486/Pentium era PC games. Hackers wrote tools to back up games to the hard disk and play them from there - handy for piracy, but also a lifesaver if you have kids that scratch discs relentlessly.

Then someone decided to write a media center application for it and XBMC was born - one of the best open source projects outside of the linux kernel, apache, and samba. Total media compatibility and control along with an interface that all of the commercial media centers still fall well short of matching.

And of course one can run linux on these systems once they are hacked as well. The PS3 shipped with very shitty linux support (so Sony could get tax breaks in the UK) - the hypervisor prevents linux from running in anything other than VESA mode. If this hack allows linux full access to the graphics hardware, then it's over.

With the original Xbox, the price was $150, and two hours of softmodding (no chips required) for a portable media center capable of 480p that would run thousands of games and connect to any entertainment center. That price is still unbeatable. Mini-Atom PCs like the Asrock Ion 330HT are about as close as you can get, for around $350.

The PS3 is a much more powerful machine. It should be capable of emulating everything except for Xbox 360 games, it can play all disc formats that matter, and it can output the highest definition possible. If unlocked like the original Xbox, it'll be unbeatable features for the price. They are selling for $299 - the cheapest supercomputer in history.

Really, it's about doing what you want with hardware you own. The console vendors have never allowed their machines to live up to their full potential, either because they are too stupid to think of it, or too afraid of nebulous legal liability.