It is real. Approximately 4 years after its launch, the PlayStation 3's much vaunted security has finally been completely and unequivocally compromised. Within weeks, if not days, PS3 users willing to pay an exorbitant premium have the choice of copying the whole set of games they own - and any they don't - onto hard drive, surely nothing stops them from spreading them over the internet. Now you ask, just how do Sony deal with the problem? Can new firmware updates keep the platform holder one step ahead of the hackers?
As sample "PS Samurai" hardware circulates around shops and modship suppliers worldwide, further details emerge, giving us some concept of the way the system works. From that we can extrapolate the scale of the task facing Sony mainly because it embarks on what must surely be the biggest damage limitation exercise in its recent history. This attack on PStation security contains both software and hardware. A USB dongle is connected to the P3, and pressing the eject button on the console while it cold-boots causes the code on the stick to override the console's typical launch procedure. By looking at views of the XMB noticed in the now numerous YouTube videos, the dongle appears to inject elements from debug PS3 firmware onto the retail unit. The possibility to install PKG files, available only on development and test units, now works on the retail machine. From here, the key tool to "backing up" software is added to the device.
While you might not have heard of a PKG file before, the chances are that you've installed plenty of them on your Playstation 3. Almost every sort of program you download from PSN is incorporated in the PKG container. Once downloaded, the PS3 decompresses the data and installs it onto your PS3. On development and test/reviewer units, so-called "unsigned code" is routinely distributed on disc, via download or on USB flash drives in PKG format. The only real difference between this and a regular PSN download is the fact that code is not encrypted, enabling easier distribution of unfinished or review copy games (only Sony's mastering labs can encrypt, or "sign" code). The fact that the Install PKG option now appears on a retail unit gives us a strong indication as to how the new "Jailbreak" works as it's almost certainly not present in the regular firmware. It suggests that aspects of the bespoke system updates used on the debug PS3s are being injected into the memory of the retail unit. But exactly how?
There's 2 potential explanations here. For starters, whoever is behind this is extremely clever and has isolated an exploit that allows for the injection of code over the USB port. Rather more likely is the fact that USB-based tools Sony uses to test and recover PS3s with corrupt firmware have been leaked and reverse-engineered for more nefarious ends. PlayStation 3s locked into "factory service mode" have already been popping up every now and then for a long time, and the PC-side software that runs the USB dongle was leaked a while ago.
Now it appears that the hardware has also been "liberated" from Sony's repair and test labs. This may sound somewhat implausible, but in a world where PS3 Slim photos circulate months prior to the launch and final units appear in a Philippines marketplace, anything may be possible. Besides, the exact same thing happened with the tools utilized to service the PSP right before the PSP-2000 launch in September 2007. In terms of the make-up of the dongle itself, pictures posted online of the internals show a basic USB device - what seems like an innocuous 48-pin microcontroller chip on the tiny PCB and not much else. It's quite astonishing to think that the makers are requesting a colossal $130 for such a tiny piece of tech, and it's almost certain to be reverse-engineered, ripped off and duplicated by Chinese mass-suppliers within days of showing up in market.
The software side of PS Samurai is freely available to download, installs onto a debug PS3 and throws up few surprises. It's quite a basic tool that rips off almost every file on a game disc onto the internal HDD or else onto a Usb stick or hard drive. It does appear that some of the encryption Sony uses in the files is stripped away (hashes on encrypted files change drastically), however the executable still won't work without the USB dongle in place. When selecting a game to run, the machine drops back to the XMB. From here on out, we could only speculate but it's reasonable to assume that the chip then diverts all major disc functions to the device in which the game-rip lies. As a vehicle for piracy then, all bases are covered, but is this really a "jailbreak" in the form recently sanctioned by the US courts? The mere existence of the backup manager - supposedly coded with tools stolen from Sony - indicate otherwise, and if the USB dongle is indeed cloned from the platform holder's own recovery tools, any pretence of legality is surely a joke.
The inclusion of the PKG installation option does indeed imply that the likes of emulators and media players may very well be ported and installed on to the PS3. However, right now it's most likely the case that Sony's own dev tools will be required to make any type of useful application, adding to the legality quagmire. All told, it's a nightmare scenario for Sony - but you can be fairly sure that its response will likely be swift. We can easily fully expect a mandatory firmware update to emerge from its engineering labs within days of the firm dissecting the hack, doubtless rendering it useless. Damage limitation will be the key, and just like the OtherOS removal that Geohot's exploit caused, Sony will be looking to minimise the physical number of consoles available capable of running the hack by effectively upgrading them out of contention.
Assuming the memory patch theory is true, the swiftness of the response shouldn't be an issue for Sony's engineers. Changing the make-up of the modules affected might be child's play for the platform holder and it would almost certainly necessitate a higher effort for the hackers to reverse-engineer the new code and re-patch it. Additionally, on the long term, there's nothing to stop Sony from introducing new kinds of encryption and execution in the process that future games boot.
However, the properties of the USB dongle itself are probably much harder to defend against. Assuming that the product itself comes from Sony's own servicing tools, this could call for a complete, brand new revision of motherboard to successfully defeat. The entire purpose of the dongle is to restore corrupt firmware - the chances are that it has to function on a hardware level that cannot be touched by the updater. We've seen it before on Sony kit - the so-called "Pandora" battery for PSP that flips it into service mode operates on the same principle, and was just defeated by the platform holder when it revised the handheld's motherboard. Nothing could possibly be performed to protect the present devices.
Unless Sony is competent at rewriting the most basic low-level code relating to the PS3's BIOS, there's little it can do today to defeat the USB vector of attack - it's all about preventing the injected code from working. Moving forward we can expect the usual cat and mouse game between hackers and platform holder to unfold, and it's not beyond the realms of possibility that sometime soon, Sony will be able to detect users of the tool and rightfully ban them from accessing PSN, similar to the measures Microsoft continues to undertake annually against gamers who flash their DVD drives to run copied software.
The complexity of Sony's security systems suggests that it should be able to keep one step ahead, but there is nothing to stop people using the hack to prevent firmware upgrades from going down. Indeed, the chip itself is said to protect the console from executing system updates. This obviously precludes PSN access, and in the fullness of time this approach will stop newer PS3 games from running as they shall be reliant on software elements found only inside newer firmware. Considering that PS Samurai is retailing for upwards of $130, there's a really strong possibility that this may be the most expensive and short-lived hack ever made, and factoring in the simplicity of the hardware, the very high price seems almost reminiscent of a smash-and-grab raid on users intent on piracy no matter what the price. The makers of PS Samurai are charging so high price since the window of opportunity in terms of exclusivity and also the longevity of the hack itself is potentially very small.
Having said that, the actual properties of this USB stick and how future-proof its remain unknown. With mass-production of PS Samurai now in motion, and the first retail devices apparently set to ship before the month is up, Sony's engineers are doubtless preparing for the battle coming.
As spotted on: <a href=" href="http://www.ign.com">Jailbreaknews
