The new PS4 firmware has only been out for a short time but it appears it has already been exploited. Luca Todesco shared an screenshot of a bug in the 5.0 firmware on Twitter. If the name Luca Todesco sounds familiar it’s because he is an active member in the iOS jailbreaking community. In fact, he was an integral part in the recent iOS 10.2.1 jailbreak. Apparently the guy just loves jailbreaking things. Now, just a couple weeks after the release of the new firmware, it appears a PS4 5.0 jailbreak is on the horizon.
Of course, this jailbreak isn’t quite ready for prime time. On Twitter, Todesco replied to some users and clarified that he has found the bug but still needs to exploit it. From the looks of it, this bug has been present in several versions of PS4 firmware. Either Sony is unaware of the bug (unlikely) or they are having trouble patching it without causing further issues in the software.
A PS4 5.0 jailbreak would be huge news for PS4 owners. It opens up the possibility for users to install unsigned software to the system. Remember the homebrew apps that were available for Wii? This would be like that but on steroids. Emulators, unsigned indie games, and more would all be possible. Of course, the risk in a PS4 5.0 jailbreak is that Sony takes the step of identifying and blocking all jailbroken consoles from PlayStation Network. The obvious way around that would be to have one console for jailbroken software and one non-jailbroken console for gaming online. Kind of a big investment for some but it would be well worth it if you think you would make good use of the freedom of a jailbroken PS4.
It will be interesting to see how long it takes for this bug to be exploited and a PS4 5.0 jailbreak released. Presumably Sony will be scrambling to release an updated version of their firmware that closes the exploit. If you have auto software updates turned on then you may want to disable that feature for the time being if you think you might want to jailbreak your PS4. It’s not hard to downgrade your firmware but if you can avoid that time consuming task then you will save yourself valuable gaming time for enjoying emulators and homebrew software.
Are you a PS4 owner? Does this prospect of a potential PS4 5.0 jailbreak on the horizon have you excited or do you not give much thought to installing unsigned software? Let me know your thoughts below!
