PS5 jailbreak could happen after hacking group discovery

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Root keys and debug menus have been uncovered

PlayStation 5
(Image credit: Sony PlayStation)

A PS5 jailbreak might be on the way as a group of hackers claim to have decrypted the PS5, allowing for significant future changes to the console.

FailOverflow, a hacking group that also found its way into the PS3 several years ago, recently tweeted what they claim are PS5 'Root Keys' - tools hackers can use to decrypt files. With the root keys available, users could attempt to reverse-engineer the console's software, making exploits accessible and allowing unsigned (and unauthorized) code to run on the system.

A second incident over the weekend saw another Sony hacker, Andy Nguyen, suggest that he had managed to access the debug settings - normally only available to developers - on a retail PS5. Nguyen said he had "no plans" to distribute his method, however.

FailOverflow hasn't explained its working either, but the group does say that it won't be easy for Sony to close the potential vulnerability - in a response to a query on Twitter asking whether the root keys could be 'rotated' easily, the group simply replied 'No'.

These steps are significant, but they don't mean that the PS5 has been entirely broken open. It's possible that Sony will take some action to fix the leaks. If that's not the case, however, these hacks could eventually result in the console being fully 'jailbroken', which could have significant consequences down the line. When the PS3 was jailbroken, users were able to copy games from their discs to the console's hard drive, downgrade their system software, and run emulated software, although the practice is unauthorized. 

Your hardware probably won't change any time soon, so here are some upcoming PS5 games to check out instead.

Ali Jones
Ali Jones
Managing Editor, News

I'm GamesRadar's Managing Editor for news, shaping the news strategy across the team. I started my journalistic career while getting my degree in English Literature at the University of Warwick, where I also worked as Games Editor on the student newspaper, The Boar. Since then, I've run the news sections at PCGamesN and Kotaku UK, and also regularly contributed to PC Gamer. As you might be able to tell, PC is my platform of choice, so you can regularly find me playing League of Legends or Steam's latest indie hit.