Seven months after Sony and NJ-based jailbreak guru George Hotz made nice over a highly-publicized PlayStation 3 crack, hackers continue to tinker with the console. The latest breakthrough comes from the French hacker Mathieulh, who managed to decrypt PS3 firmware 3.73's lv0.
Those hoping for a public release shouldn't hold their breath.
Mathieulh was quick to boast about his victory over security. After uploading proof of his successful decryption, he taunted Sony via Twitter.
"Feel free to check these lv0 build dates, they are the real ones. So much for security," he wrote the company. "If any of your engineers wanna meet, the beer is on me!"
Last week, Mathieulh took credit for a leaked metldr exploit which hacking forum PS3crunch called a potential "golden ticket" for unfettered access to Sony's system. And while he willingly posted a tutorial for that workaround, the hacker isn't feeling so generous with his latest feat.
"I won't be posting keys, I won't be posting dumps and I won't be saying how it was done," he said. "Time to work gentlemen."
His work could potentially offer piracy-related applications, former PS3 hacker and current VoIP researcher Youness Alaoui (AKA KaKaRoToKS) told MyCE via email. The expert admitted that without firsthand experience with Mathieulh's work he could only really speculate on the possibilities.
"He has an exploit to decrypt any lv0, which means he can access the latest loader modules that have been hidden in lv0," explained Alaoui. "This should allow him to get the latest public (ed. - emphasis his) keys in order to decrypt the latest firmwares and the latest games."
Alaoui added that he doesn't believe the breakthrough allows for jailbreaking PS3s previously updated to firmware 3.7.
Despite the interest (or maybe because of it), Mathieulh has moved on. "I am done talking about lv0 decryption," he said. "Feel free to resume this talk once it becomes public and people can verify the strings I posted."
Last month, a USB dongle called "True Blue" was released for the PS3 that allows systems to run pirated software and unsigned code.
To Sony's dismay, PS3 hacking is alive and well. (via Dashhacks)
