New PS5 exploit unlocks root privileges, read/write memory access
Enlarge / Hackers are getting closer to fully unlocking user control of the PS5 hardware. (credit: Sony)
Long-time console hacker and exploit developer SpecterDev has released a PS5 exploit that can give users root privileges and read/write access to large chunks of system memory. While this exploit can't be used to actually execute arbitrary code just yet, it represents an important step toward getting homebrew code running on the console.
The exploit, released this weekend, makes use of a FreeBSD vulnerability in the system OS that was reported to PlayStation's HackerOne bounty program in January (a very similar vulnerability on the PS4 was reported to PlayStation in 2020). Making use of the exploit relies on setting up a fake DNS server on your local network such that accessing the PS5's on-screen manual (which is loaded via the system's hidden web browser) points instead to a page on your local PC.
From there, the exploit uses an error in how the PS5's browser implementation handles memory locking while setting IPv6 socket headers. While the details get pretty technical, the exploit essentially sets up a race condition to access that exposed socket header memory before it's fully locked. That small bit of access is then used as a hook to start reading and writing arbitrary data into large areas of the PS5's memory via an RPC server on the host machine.