We recently reported about the growing rumors of a PS4 Jailbreak (or, rather, a technique to run pirated games rather than a way to install a PS4 CFW) coming from Brazil.

After we investigated the initial source of this PS4 Jailbreak news, the facebook page of a small Brazilian modchip store, several things happened: The store in question pulled all information off their facebook page, claiming the high level of publicity could lead them to trouble, and a bunch of people contacted me to let me know they either knew about the technique, or had seen it in action.

More PS4 Jailbreak news coming from Brazil and the hacking scene

Hackers from the PS3/PS Vita/PS4 scene have been in touch with me to describe to me a process that is being used on PS3s to copy licenses of a game. The trick involves activating a console for an account, making a copy of its NAND with a raspberry pi, deactivating the console, then copying back the previously saved NAND.

A similar technique is also being used on the PS4, it seems. According to the hackers who have contacted me though, the tricks known for this have been patched by Sony on 2.51 and could brick the console, as mentioned recently by cfwprohpet on Playstationhax.it. The Brazilian modchip stores, however, seem to imply their technique works on 2.51.

Here’s what one commenter, Keko, from Brazil, had to say about this PS4 Jailbreak news in our comments section. The comment below aligns with most of the emails/tips I have received so far on this technique:

Hey bros! The hack is real, and it is not a real hack, but a real bypass, they are using a very simple and old technique from the MSX age, just simple rewrite eeprom, the quite and simple way to say GO. They arent decrypt or crypt anything. When sony tried to safe secure the PS4 they forgot to hardlock inside the CPU/APU the real hashcode for the bios, this is intent to not allow bios to be exchanged or rewrite, so, as they failure to do it, what the Hackers are doing is just simple running the real software inside one console, you can do it as psn/accounts, so the PS4 add $$$ game info inside the rom! So, they only need to stuff original games and matches run bios roms, so, the ROM/GAME will match and so will execute in the console. Remember that ROM can run a FOREVER SOFTWARE INSTALLED ON IT, so, all the games are REAL ORIGINAL and the PS4 arent hacked at all. The Hack is a bypass of ASM code for follow ROM/BIOS reading using a PI, YES SIMPLE AS BRAZILIAN WAY.
But all further games will depend on matches or DUMPS of BIOS/GAME, REMEMBER PS4 GAMES HAVE IT OWN HASH CODE! So, you cant decrypt it like in the PS3 default key, each game has it own key and it must match yo your BIOS coded hash, so, PS4-GAME tied forever! This only doesnt happen in a CD environment, where the hash authenticate the drive and return to PS$$$ that authenticate the BIOS and return with authenticate game, so, it is impossible to use a BYPASS in CD/SATA as no key extraction is possible in a 4 way schema.

BUT THE WAY BRAZILIAN DID IS POSSIBLE, SIMPLE AND WILL RUN!

They just simplified the way to do it!

PI is just to enable flashing/reflashing/ontimeflash/simulation of BIOS.

Only publicly know solution apparently dangerous, and patched in 2.51

Other people have contacted me with similar explanations, or to tell me they have seen the technique work on their own machine.

Cfwprophet’s explanation seems to confirm the technique. He however says that attempting this on the latest PS4 firmware (2.51) will brick your console:

1. Buy a PSN Game on Master Console and download it
2. Connect Slave Console to PSN, create Account from Master Console, activate Slave Console and download the game
3. Dump the NOR Flash of Slave Console with Tools like Teensy++ or the Pi (let us call that dump from now on ActivatedDMP)
4. Boot Slave Console, Connect to PSN and Deactivate the Console
5. Write the ActivatedDMP back to the NOR of Slave Console
6. Profit, the Process can now be repeated on any other PS4 without reaching the “three consoles max” official PSN Game Share limit

No public PS4 Jailbreak solution yet, stores in Brazil are keeping the secret to resell pirated games

Tiny electronics stores in Brazil charge somewhere between $100 and $150 to install about 10 recent games on a PS4 with their technique. They are, of course, keeping the technique a secret, in order for it to not get patched, but also so that they can run a profitable business reselling pirated games. If this is the same technique as the one described by sceners above, then it is dubious it would work on 2.51. Because of this, it is difficult to get a clear confirmation, or proof that this fully works. One can only rely on the reputation of these shops, which in general is quite high based on the reviews on the eBay-like sites where they operate.

After the “first” store to claim they had access to this PS4 jailbreak decided to keep quiet about it, a few others surfaced again in Brazil. Some stores are selling a bulk of 10 games for a fee on eBay-like marketplaces. Others are basically doing the same, and announcing they are in possession of the PS4 Jailbreak, showcasing the results for their clients. This was recently uncovered by maxconsole, who made a copy of the video on youtube to ensure it doesn’t magically disappear:

The video above is from a shop “Razer Extreme”, and the facebook comment basically states:

To Thiago Faria your PS4 is ready. I know that you not like football lol, but I added it anyway… Come this afternoon.

PS4 Jailbreak news happen on a regular basis, even if their often unclaimed or purely hoaxes. But this is not the first time we are seeing people selling pirated games on the PS4. Some of our members reported a few months ago that China has a booming market for PS4 games resellers. It seems their technique however is to buy games on a specific account, then share that account with as many people as possible, for a fee. Something that’s technically easy to understand, but also that Sony can spot and put to an end extremely easily.

It is still unclear if the technique actually works on 2.51, if it is different from the one that was described by cfwprophet and others, if it is even real, and how widespread it is. So far, most sources are coming directly from Brazil (whether they’re on facebook or other places). It’s difficult to know if this PS4 Jailbreak is really happening in Brazil, or if it’s just a bunch of pranksters capitalizing on the recent PS4 Jailbreak news from Brazil.

As it’s been stated a few times, even if the technique happens to work, it is not really a PS4 jailbreak, but apparently just a way to run pirated games.

As always, we will be keeping our PS4 Jailbreak page up to date with the latest PS4 Jailbreak news, so you can be aware as soon as a valid technique exists that doesn’t solely rely on the greed of a few pirates.