Software Downgrader & More Incoming! Could SuperSlim be hacked?
It was nearly 7 years ago since we have seen a PS3 Official Firmware Exploited (3.55 being the last), which predates many PS3 models and thus why those later Slim & SuperSlim models could never install Custom Firmware (CFW) and/or Downgrade. However that could all change as a team of three have been developing a new project (4.81 OFW Exploit) called PS3Xploit. The "Unhackable PS3 models" will be a term of the past, but the exploits not quite there yet but the possibility of a HENkaku (vita) style hack is very plausible. Currently the exploit has allowed for access to enable Flash dumps on all consoles, Then Write access to Flash, unhackables (25xx +) will not be able to write but all previous PS3 will so that means Goodbye Hardware Flashers and Hello Software Flashers. The team is consisting of psx-place's very own @bguerville, @esc0rtd3w and W form the team behind PS3Xploit.
The theory behind the project started off when bguerville was looking through some of the webkit source code (for unrelated research) and stumbled on a discovery how the PS3 could be attacked with his findings. As time passed the team formed and an idea became a full-fledged project in development, A request came to temporary remove the said discussion as the idea spawned a project with alot of potential. Sadly this is not ready for release quite yet (but soon), while we know it is working there is additional development needed to make this complete. The team has a goal of 2018 (Q!) target for the release of the exploit.
The theory behind the project started off when bguerville was looking through some of the webkit source code (for unrelated research) and stumbled on a discovery how the PS3 could be attacked with his findings. As time passed the team formed and an idea became a full-fledged project in development, A request came to temporary remove the said discussion as the idea spawned a project with alot of potential. Sadly this is not ready for release quite yet (but soon), while we know it is working there is additional development needed to make this complete. The team has a goal of 2018 (Q!) target for the release of the exploit.
Recently team member esc0rtd3w announced the tentative release date on another forum and it seemed some were so grateful they decided to intrude and breach his MEGA account and leak what they thought was the exploit or a key component but was only a small puzzle piece of the entire thing and quite useless by itself. While the good news it did not harm the project or discourage the development team behind Ps3Xploit. However esc0rtd3w did lose some personal files and also the community lost the huge collection of NoPSN Apps for the PS3. But don't cancel those subscription service's just yet, as esc0rtd3w is in the process of re-uploading the collection, you can follow the progress here .
Also, I have been personally told by the team that some of the details being reported elsewhere are not 100% accurate, but rest assured we have first-hand information about this upcoming exploit and we will set the record starlight and keep you flowing with the facts as they become available. bguerville has provided us with some details about this release and also tell us about what they plan to release first and that is coming in the next 24 hours in the form of a IDPS Dumper for 4.81 (All PS3 Models).
Also, I have been personally told by the team that some of the details being reported elsewhere are not 100% accurate, but rest assured we have first-hand information about this upcoming exploit and we will set the record starlight and keep you flowing with the facts as they become available. bguerville has provided us with some details about this release and also tell us about what they plan to release first and that is coming in the next 24 hours in the form of a IDPS Dumper for 4.81 (All PS3 Models).
I started investigating the ps3 webkit about 6/7 months, but at the time, it was only to gather information, I had no idea I would eventually be the one working on it!
End of August, I gave the information I had to esc0rtd3w & expected he would work on it alone. However, he knew nothing about webkit exploitation & he started to collaborate with W. By hijacking webkit, we inherit its privileges which means we are root & we get access to lv2 syscalls. However the ps3 OS is protected by NX (No eXecute is the bsd/linux equivalent of DEP on Windows), no address randomisation though. Executing our own payload is made impossible by NX but we can still execute code despite NX using ROP (Return Oriented Programming).
The principle is simple, select snippets from the system code (snippets like these are called gadgets) & assemble them so execution jumps from one gadget to the next until the task we planned is done. It requires providing values/parameters & offsetting to each gadget instruction as well...
First week of September, I joined their effort & 2 weeks later we had ROP execution.
From that moment, I have been doing all the ROP development work alone while the other 2 helped with testing & researching (and debugging for esc0rtd3w).
Right now I have 2 ROP chains ready, one for idps dumping & the other for flash memory dumping.
- The idps dumper is about to get released.
- The flash dumper will be released later.
The next part of the job is to modify the flash dumper into a flash writer.
When that is done & released, ps3 hardware flashers will have become mostly obsolete.
FYI, the idps dumper should work on any nor/nand model of ps3. Same goes for the flash memory dumper.
It was tested ok on superslim.
Once the ROP work above is finished , there is much more to be done & hopefully more releases to come...
The Current Status :
For now the main project we are working on will not jailbreak all consoles.
It will enable flash dumps from all consoles but flash write only to all consoles up to 25xx so consoles that are are not cfw compatible will not really benefit just yet, except for dumping flash & idps but not for JB.
For those with cfw compatible consoles on ofw, once flash is overwritten with a db ofw copy, a user can reboot then install the cfw of their choice. Hardware flashers being then obsolete.. You could also overwrite the flash memory in more recent consoles but that would result in a brick due to metldr2.
It's only after that flash management project is done, in hopefully March that we will begin working on exploiting lv2. If we get the results we wish, we should be able to make a TaiHEN type of hack for all consoles including superslims.
Once lv2 is exploited, I am not sure yet how far I will take it, whether I will also try to take on lv1.. Or leave it for someone else to build on by releasing a fully commented & dev friendly version... We will see how things go, ......
However, even without lv1, direct access to lv2 functions using the right parameters would allow us to run homebrews (except those needing lv1 peek/poke) & backups without problems along with many other things.
It was tested ok on superslim.
Once the ROP work above is finished , there is much more to be done & hopefully more releases to come...
The Current Status :
For now the main project we are working on will not jailbreak all consoles.
It will enable flash dumps from all consoles but flash write only to all consoles up to 25xx so consoles that are are not cfw compatible will not really benefit just yet, except for dumping flash & idps but not for JB.
For those with cfw compatible consoles on ofw, once flash is overwritten with a db ofw copy, a user can reboot then install the cfw of their choice. Hardware flashers being then obsolete.. You could also overwrite the flash memory in more recent consoles but that would result in a brick due to metldr2.
It's only after that flash management project is done, in hopefully March that we will begin working on exploiting lv2. If we get the results we wish, we should be able to make a TaiHEN type of hack for all consoles including superslims.
Once lv2 is exploited, I am not sure yet how far I will take it, whether I will also try to take on lv1.. Or leave it for someone else to build on by releasing a fully commented & dev friendly version... We will see how things go, ......
However, even without lv1, direct access to lv2 functions using the right parameters would allow us to run homebrews (except those needing lv1 peek/poke) & backups without problems along with many other things.
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