{{Short description|Removal of limitations from the PlayStation 3}} {{Use mdy dates|date=September 2022}} {{Use American English|date=September 2022}} {{Update|date=May 2023}} thumb|alt=USB dongle for PlayStation to jailbreak the system.|A PS Jailbreak USB dongle '''PlayStation 3 Jailbreak''' was the first USB (Universal Serial Bus) chipset that allowed unauthorized execution of code, similar to homebrew, on the PlayStation 3. It works by bypassing a system security check using a memory exploit (heap overflow) which occurs with USB devices that allows the execution of unsigned code.<ref name="Engadget-PSJB">{{Cite news |last=Murph |first=Darren |date=August 19, 2010 |title=PS Jailbreak USB dongle promises homebrew, game backups on every PS3 firmware |url=https://www.engadget.com/2010-08-19-ps-jailbreak-usb-dongle-promises-homebrew-game-backups-on-ever.html |access-date=2024-09-15 |website=Engadget}}</ref>
== Exploit == The PS Jailbreak device, first announced by an Australian retailer in August 2010, exploited a flaw in the PlayStation 3's USB device handling to execute arbitrary code in kernel space.<ref name="Engadget-PSJB" /><ref name="Ars-PSJB">{{Cite news |last=Cheng |first=Jacqui |date=August 23, 2010 |title=PS Jailbreak: Sony's claim to be "hack proof" was wrong |url=https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2010/08/ps-jailbreak-sonys-claim-to-be-hack-proof-was-wrong/ |access-date=2024-09-15 |website=Ars Technica}}</ref>
The underlying exploit and inner workings of the PlayStation 3 Jailbreak were reverse engineered<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=PSJailbreak Exploit Payload Reverse Engineering - PS3 Developer wiki |url=https://www.psdevwiki.com/ps3/PSJailbreak_Exploit_Payload_Reverse_Engineering |access-date=2023-08-08 |website=www.psdevwiki.com}}</ref> and reimplemented through the open source [https://github.com/psgroove/psgroove PSGroove].<ref>{{Cite web |title=PSGroove - PS3 Developer wiki |url=https://www.psdevwiki.com/ps3/PSGroove |access-date=2023-08-08 |website=www.psdevwiki.com}}</ref><ref name="Wired-PSGroove">{{Cite news |last=Anderson |first=Nate |date=August 27, 2010 |title=PSGroove: open source PS3 jailbreak goes live |url=https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2010/08/psgroove-open-source-ps3-jailbreak-goes-live/ |access-date=2024-09-15 |website=Ars Technica}}</ref>
Through analysis of USB traffic to and from the PS3 Jailbreak, it was found that the device induced a heap overflow in kernel-space memory to trigger execution of untrusted code.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="Ars-PSJB" />
==Legality== Sony took steps to prevent jailbreaking of the PlayStation 3, treating the practice as a form of copyright infringement.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2011-01-12 |title=Sony launches legal action against PlayStation hackers |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-12171423 |access-date=2026-01-22 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=bio |first=See full |title=Sony banning PlayStation 3 hackers for life |url=https://www.cnet.com/culture/sony-banning-playstation-3-hackers-for-life/ |access-date=2026-01-22 |website=CNET |language=en}}</ref>
The cases listed below are lawsuits Sony filed in courts to prohibit the sales and imports of circumvention devices that would jailbreak the system. *In August 2010, Sony obtained an interim injunction from the Federal Court of Australia banning the sale, distribution, and importation of the PS Jailbreak device in Australia.<ref>{{cite web |title=PSJailbreak banned in Australia |url=https://www.mcvuk.com/business-news/psjailbreak-banned-in-australia/ |website=MCV |access-date=2024-09-15}}</ref> *Sony lost a lawsuit in December 2010 in Barcelona against the seller of PS Jailbreak. The sales and imports of the product were deemed legal within Spain, and Sony was ordered to pay damages for attempting to block them.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mark_Raby |date=December 18, 2010 |title=Powned: Sony ordered to pay restitution to PS Jailbreak seller in Spain |url=https://www.gamesradar.com/powned-sony-ordered-to-pay-restitution-to-ps-jailbreak-seller-in-spain/ |access-date=November 14, 2021 |website=gamesradar |language=en}}</ref> *In January 2011, Sony filed a lawsuit against George Hotz for leaking the encryption keys for the PlayStation 3. The case was settled in April 2011, with Hotz agreeing to a permanent injunction preventing him from circumventing any Sony product again.<ref>{{Cite news |date=April 12, 2011 |title=Sony and Hotz settle hacking case |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-13047725 |access-date=November 14, 2021}}</ref> The court also approved that Sony's lawyers could obtain the IP addresses of visitors to Hotz's website.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kravets |first=David |title=Judge Lets Sony Unmask Visitors to PS3-Jailbreaking Site |language=en-US |work=Wired |url=https://www.wired.com/2011/03/geohot-site-unmasking/ |access-date=November 14, 2021 |issn=1059-1028}}</ref>
==See also== <!--========================{{No more links}}============================ | PLEASE BE CAUTIOUS IN ADDING MORE LINKS TO THIS ARTICLE. Wikipedia | | is not a collection of links nor should it be used for advertising. | | | | Excessive or inappropriate links WILL BE DELETED. | | See Wikipedia:External links & Wikipedia:Spam for details. | | | | If there are already plentiful links, please propose additions or | | replacements on this article's discussion page, or submit your link | | to the relevant category at the Open Directory Project (dmoz.org) | | and link back to that category using the {{dmoz}} template. | ======================={{No more links}}=============================--> * PlayStation 3 homebrew * Game backup device * Modchip * Privilege escalation * George Hotz * PlayStation 3 system software * EdDSA
==References== {{reflist}}
{{PlayStation 3}} {{Embedded systems}}
Category:Hardware restrictions Jailbreak Category:Video game hardware