PS5 Hacker ZNullPtr has shared some status update and some promising hope regarding the PS5 hack status, in a tweet today.

PS5 Kernel exploit. Where are we now?

A PS5 Kernel was implemented and released late last year. Unfortunately, the scene has discovered that the PS5 is more secure than the PS4, and a Kernel exploit (combined with a usermode entry point) is not enough for a Jailbreak. Multiple hackers have been working under the hood to try and break Sony’s latest console, in particular its infamous hypervisor. ZNullPtr had a donation drive to get access to hardware that is similar to the PS5, in order to look deeper into the PlayStation’s internals.

All of this was months ago, and the hacking scene has been very quiet about the Kernel exploit since then, with Mast1c0re taking over the newsfeed.

ZNullPtr updates the scene on PS5 Hack status

ZNullPtr broke the status quo today, coming to twitter to share he is working on a “process for homebrew” for the PS5:

Everyone has been upset about lack of updates.
I get it. however there is no straightforward solution..

While others have been looking into full control of the PS5. I have worked on a solution that will allow ‘some’ progress now. A real process for homebrew.

More updates soon.

— Z (@Znullptr) April 11, 2023

This is of course a very lightweight update, with no promise or any date commitment, but the prospect of Homebrew on the console gives me some hope for the PS5 scene.

Of course, reading between the lines, it’s easy to infer that there is no breakthrough involved here: If the hypervisor had been hacked, or some other major security component of the PS5 had been compromised, Z’s tweet would probably be much more positive and possibly less precise. Here, by mentioning specifically “a process for homebrew”, we can assume he’s talking about refining the existing exploits, possibly implementing a homebrew environment using the libraries that can be accessed through the existing Kernel hack.

Still, this is pretty exciting, and hopefully this can take the PS5 to some fun times with homebrew games and utilities.

Stay tuned.