Some
hints at a potential PS4 hack form popular group Fail0verflow just came
to my attention. This is just at the rumor level at this point and
could turn out to be something entirely different, but the evidence is
quite compelling.
I was just contacted with a link to the CCC Wiki, indicating that Marcan, one of the main members of Team Fail0verflow (known for having hacked the Wii U, and, before that, the PS3), will be having a talk at the CCC event this year. The talk is entitled: “Console Hacking 2015: Penguins on Aeolia”
So how does this point to a PS4 hack? Well, let’s rewind a bit.
Every year a bunch of hackers meet at the CCC and talk about hacking and security. Console hacking, every year, is a big part of the conference. This year, Smealum will be there to talk about his work on the 3DS, and apparently fail0verflow will be here too.
CCC is big, back in the days, Tyranid also explained the PSP Prometheus project at the CCC. The Prometheus project resulted in what is known today as the Pandora batteries for PSP, a way to mod the PSP batteries so that the PSP will enter “maintenance mode” and make it possible to install custom firmwares and downgrades.
That screenshot is from their presentation at the CCC in 2010, when they explained how they had hacked the PS3.
Defeating the PS3 encryption was definitely not Fail0verflow’s only successful hack. They were also the first ones to run unsigned code on the Wii in 2007, and hacked the Wii U two years ago.
So in general, when these guys have a presentation at the CCC, you know something heavy is going to happen.
Fail0verflow had announced earlier on the CCC wiki that they would be hosting an event to talk about console hacking in general, hinting more at some Wii U follow up and existing hacks than anything else.
This new entry in the Wiki however indicates a full presentation from Marcan. And it strongly hints at a PS4 hack, specifically, installing Linux on the PS4.
Looking at the content of the talk again, we see: Console Hacking 2015: Penguins on Aeolia – To boldly go where no penguin has gone before.
What do we make of this? Well, it’s going to be a presentation about console hacking (duh), and it’s probably going to be about installing Linux (penguins). Because the presentation states “where no penguin has gone before”, it is safe to assume we’re talking of one of the new generation consoles (Wii U, XBO, or PS4).
The last, and probably most crucial part of the title, is “Aeolia”.
WTH is Aeolia? Well, digging into the PS4 Dev Wiki (thanks John!), we find lots of references to Aeolia in the PS4 Boot process log. At this point, it is now very likely that Marcan’s talk is going to be about installing Linux on the PS4.
Now, the talk is short (5 minutes), so Fail0verflow will probably only showcase that they have Linux running on the console, without going into details of the hack. That part might, or might not, happen next year.
It’s unclear at this point if this PS4 Jailbreak will be running on the latest firmware, or 1.76 and below just like the most recent announced PS4 Kernel exploit. So, do you think this will be a huge reveal, or just some kind of troll?
Many thanks to John who sent me the wiki link!
I was just contacted with a link to the CCC Wiki, indicating that Marcan, one of the main members of Team Fail0verflow (known for having hacked the Wii U, and, before that, the PS3), will be having a talk at the CCC event this year. The talk is entitled: “Console Hacking 2015: Penguins on Aeolia”
So how does this point to a PS4 hack? Well, let’s rewind a bit.
What is the CCC?
Wikipedia tells us: The Chaos Communication Congress is an annual conference organized by the Chaos Computer Club. The congress features a variety of lectures and workshops on technical and political issues related to Security, Cryptography, Privacy and online Freedom of Speech.Every year a bunch of hackers meet at the CCC and talk about hacking and security. Console hacking, every year, is a big part of the conference. This year, Smealum will be there to talk about his work on the 3DS, and apparently fail0verflow will be here too.
CCC is big, back in the days, Tyranid also explained the PSP Prometheus project at the CCC. The Prometheus project resulted in what is known today as the Pandora batteries for PSP, a way to mod the PSP batteries so that the PSP will enter “maintenance mode” and make it possible to install custom firmwares and downgrades.
Who are Fail0verflow?
Fail0verflow are the group who hacked the PS3. You might remember the screenshot below:Defeating the PS3 encryption was definitely not Fail0verflow’s only successful hack. They were also the first ones to run unsigned code on the Wii in 2007, and hacked the Wii U two years ago.
So in general, when these guys have a presentation at the CCC, you know something heavy is going to happen.
Penguins on Aeolia == Linux on PS4?
Aeolia, the Floating Island
This new entry in the Wiki however indicates a full presentation from Marcan. And it strongly hints at a PS4 hack, specifically, installing Linux on the PS4.
Looking at the content of the talk again, we see: Console Hacking 2015: Penguins on Aeolia – To boldly go where no penguin has gone before.
What do we make of this? Well, it’s going to be a presentation about console hacking (duh), and it’s probably going to be about installing Linux (penguins). Because the presentation states “where no penguin has gone before”, it is safe to assume we’re talking of one of the new generation consoles (Wii U, XBO, or PS4).
The last, and probably most crucial part of the title, is “Aeolia”.
WTH is Aeolia? Well, digging into the PS4 Dev Wiki (thanks John!), we find lots of references to Aeolia in the PS4 Boot process log. At this point, it is now very likely that Marcan’s talk is going to be about installing Linux on the PS4.
Now, the talk is short (5 minutes), so Fail0verflow will probably only showcase that they have Linux running on the console, without going into details of the hack. That part might, or might not, happen next year.
It’s unclear at this point if this PS4 Jailbreak will be running on the latest firmware, or 1.76 and below just like the most recent announced PS4 Kernel exploit. So, do you think this will be a huge reveal, or just some kind of troll?
Many thanks to John who sent me the wiki link!
Linux on PS4: More confirmation bubbling up from the scene
We revealed yesterday that Fail0verflow might have a surprise for the scene at the end of the year: They probably have Linux running on the PS4.
Our article apparently triggered some reaction from the scene, as we’re now receiving more and more data confirming that our guess was indeed true (I want to thank John once again for pointing me to this information yesterday).
Since we revealed the upcoming “Penguins on Aeolia” presentation from Fail0verflow and how it means they have Linux running on PS4, people have shared more confirmation with me:
Zecoxao, who’s very close to the PS3/PS4 dev scene, shared a screenshot on Twitter,, showing some reverse engineering work on what appears to be PS4 system files:
More and more compelling evidence is showing up that we’ll see Linux running on the PS4 this year. Please keep in mind that no release date has been hinted. Fail0verflow, although they did hack the Wii U 2 years ago, never released their Wii U files. It is likely the same could happen for the PS4.
Earlier today, PlaystationHax shared a screenshot of a dump of the PS4 filesystem root. But our understanding is that the Filesystem dump and Fail0verflow’s work are not directly related.
Since we revealed the upcoming “Penguins on Aeolia” presentation from Fail0verflow and how it means they have Linux running on PS4, people have shared more confirmation with me:
Zecoxao, who’s very close to the PS3/PS4 dev scene, shared a screenshot on Twitter,, showing some reverse engineering work on what appears to be PS4 system files:
@frwololo i hope that is confirmation enough for you
— José Miguel (@zecoxao) December 23, 2015
People also contacted me to let me know that Fail0verflow had posted a suggestive screenshot on their twitter account last week:
pic.twitter.com/4ZjufJrV2p — fail0verflow (@fail0verflow) December 16, 2015
More and more compelling evidence is showing up that we’ll see Linux running on the PS4 this year. Please keep in mind that no release date has been hinted. Fail0verflow, although they did hack the Wii U 2 years ago, never released their Wii U files. It is likely the same could happen for the PS4.
Earlier today, PlaystationHax shared a screenshot of a dump of the PS4 filesystem root. But our understanding is that the Filesystem dump and Fail0verflow’s work are not directly related.
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