Both the nonCFW PlayStation 3 hacking and iOS Bootrom hacking scenes seemed dead for quite a long a time but thanks to groundbreaking developments namely the release of HAN/PS3HEN and checkm8, things changed immediately. In this article, we’ll be looking at the release of PS3HEN 2.4.0 and the significant progress that talented iOS developers have been doing with checkm8.

PS3 News: PS3HEN 2.4.0 released with DLC/PSX RAP support, notable fixes and more

For many years, PlayStation 3 consoles whose minimum FW version was 3.60 or higher were totally unhackable even if one didn’t mind using a hardware flasher to downgrade the firmware.

PS3HEN 2.4.0 brings numerous subtle additions that may prove useful to some.

However, with the advent of PS3HAN, these consoles got limited hacks and then with PS3HEN’s release in April, more CFW-esque features became available.

Earlier this week, PS3HEN 2.4.0 got released, which continues the trend of frequent updates, and this update brings along:

• Support for VSH patches and the ability to disable RIF signature checks
• RAP support for DLC and PS1 games was added
• Hitching of PlayStation 1 titles on mismatched TV video systems (PAL on NTSC for example) was fixed
• NPDRM Type 2 games are now loaded faster
• An issue in which users got stuck downloading games from PSN has been fixed
• Other minor updates, including the shrinking of Stage2, which can be viewed in the link below
• If you’re thinking about running PS3HEN on FW 4.85 (with HFW 4.85.1), it’s good to note that PS3HEN was updated to support FW 4.85 with version 2.3.2

To view PS3HEN 2.4.0’s changelog, follow this link & to get it on your system, you may use the online updater or follow the installation instructions found here. Esc0rtd3w’s Twitter can be follow for the latest developments about PS3HEN

iOS Jailbreaking News: Luca Todesco (@qwertyoruiopz) and others doing significant progress with checkm8 – checkra1n hacking/jailbreaking tool potentially coming soon

For those out of the loop, axi0mX released a groundbreaking bootrom exploit called checkm8 around two weeks ago. This exploit, which uses an unpatchable vulnerability found in the bootrom of A5-A11 iOS devices, allows the execution of unsigned code at a very low-level thus making the creation of jailbreaks much easier since the boot process can be modified.

Checkm8 is currently doing wonders thanks to the work of big names such as Luca Todesco, s1guza, nullpixel, xerub and ih8sn0w

Over the last few days, Luca Todesco and other prominent iOS developers have been making lots of headway with the power that the checkm8 exploit gave them and these things include:

• Control of the framebuffer at a low level which allows for printing text on screen & custom boot logos
• Usermode code execution, the ability to obtain tfp0 and getting past AMFI
  • Dynamic patch finding is being used to do this which means that offsets are found on the fly thus reducing the work needed to port tools/hacks using checkm8 to other vulnerable devices
• It is now possible to set the nonce generator via DFU mode thus making nonce setters effectively redundant
  • A concise tutorial on how this can be done is found here
  • Only the iPhone 5S and A10/A10X devices are supported as of right now
• Downgrading the iPhone 5S (and soon, other compatible A7 devices) to iOS 10.3.3 as this version is still being OTA signed for certain devices.
  • A tutorial can be found here.
• According to this tweet, checkra1n might be the name of an upcoming jailbreak tool which we may be seeing in the near future considering the progress that’s currently going on

Without a doubt, the things above are all pretty exciting and Luca Todesco said that some tools will be released as soon as a couple of known bugs are fixed. With this in mind and the vast amount of people working with Luca, we might see an iOS 13 jailbreak in the coming weeks which is truly reminiscent of the limera1n days!

Conclusion

On a concluding note, interesting times are ahead for A5-A11 devices so grabbing a refurbished iPhone 8 Plus or iPhone X might be a good idea if you want to upgrade from an old device on a budget while still enjoying the latest jailbreak developments to the fullest.