Veterans of the PSP homebrew scene will no doubt cheer when they hear this piece of news. Recalling a bit of PSP history, a group called Team PS3HAX has discovered a potential TIF exploit on the Playstation 3 that may allow for the execution of unsigned code. In English: you’ll be able to run anything homebrew coders write for the system, including tools that execute backups of games off of your hard drive.
The exploit works via a special TIF image file that crashes the PS3 when opened. When the PS3 attempts to open the file, it succumbs to what’s known as a buffer overflow error. The image file is larger than the PS3 expects and overwrites parts of the PS3’s code stack that direct the CPU of the PS3 to the next bit of code to execute. Hackers can then enter their own code and point the CPU to it, opening up the system to do anything the hacker wants. Those executing homebrew on version 1.5 firmware PSPs are actually using a nearly identical hack to this one.
Should this exploit come to fruition, we could be looking at the start of serious PS3 homebrew, something that would massively add value to the system. However, it would also open the doors to piracy by allowing PS3 owners the same ability to boot downloaded copies of games that has caused Sony to constantly seek to destroy the PSP homebrew scene. No doubt, Sony would begin releasing firmware updates to remove the vulnerabilities immediately after substantiation of the exploit. It’s unfortunate that the prevalence of piracy would lead Sony to seek to destroy all of homebrew, despite all of the awesome pieces of software amateur coders pour their effort into producing.
You can see the original forum post on the exploit and a video of it in action at the PS3HAX webpage
