We know that all big-brand game consoles are in high demand currently. But this doesn’t mean they are ideal. For instance, recently, a security engineer found a major vulnerability on the PlayStation. The bug is related to how the Blu-Ray discs work on the game console. What’s interesting is that the vulnerability exists in several hardware generations.
At least the last two generations have a bug. As said, the vulnerability relates to the approach of the system of handling Blu-Ray discs. Because of the approach, it opens the door to custom code.
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This sounds quite odd because Sony has been always known for its secure codes of the PlayStation. Moreover, it systematically pushes out patches and doesn’t allow owners from modifying the consoles. Of course, the Japanese company does this for its own interest, that is, to prevent cheating and piracy. Plus, it doesn’t allow homebrew developers to make custom PS5 software.
However, now, according to security engineer Andy Nguyen, the PlayStation 4 and 5 systems allow the attackers to make changes in the code. He also said that theoretically, the vulnerability should exist on the PlayStation 3 as well.
After the announcement, the modding community began actively discussing the bug even comparing it with the FreeDVDBoot hack for PlayStation 2. For those who are unaware, FreeDVDBoot enables games to be run off “burned” backup discs. And it doesn’t require any modifications.
Generally talking, modding is important as it allows for preserving games. We mean physical media does not last forever. However, Sony consistently tries to stomp out attempts at modding. Say, it has removed Linux from the PS3 all the way back in 2010. It enabled modding the core system software. But even after the Linux removal, hackers found ways to crack the system.