Programmers got PSP games running on the PlayStation Portal, then “responsibly reported” the exploit so it could be patched

The latest PlayStation Portal update has supposedly addressed an exploit that allowed PlayStation Portable (PSP) games to be emulated natively on the streaming handheld.

This is according to a recent X / Twitter post by Andy Nguyen that was first spotted by VGC. An employee at Google, Nguyen previously claimedthat they were part of a small team that was able to get PSP games running offline on the PlayStation 5 peripheral via some hacking and the open-source emulator PPSSPP.

Now, however, Nguyen says that the exploit they used to get the software installed and running has been patched after they “responsibly reported the issues to PlayStation.” This alleged change comes as part of the latest PS Portal software update, version 2.0.6.

Gooey0210,

Fun fact, Nguyen is a family name

It’s the most popular family name in Vietnam, 30-39%

ma11en,

There’s a clue in the text as his first name is Andy.

Gooey0210,

Second, second to be precise

In Vietnamese the family name goes first, so Nguyen Andy 😂

redcalcium, (edited )

This proves that ps portal is actually could be a capable handheld. Shame, it probably got enough processing power to run vita games. It has an adreno 610 gpu, which is much more powerful than vita’s gpu.

wizardbeard,

This is normal MO for Alex, and follows computer ethics guidelines for someone attaching this stuff to his real identity. He’s very active in this scene, especially in recent years with Sony hardware.

Also, keeping gaming devices on old firmware to wait is an incredibly normal requirement for cracks and homebrew stuff.

Sony has a pretty good bug bounty program. He’ll usually report it to Sony, post something on social media telling people to hold off on updating firmware past the vulnerable level, and then it’s up to Sony to fix what is a legitimate security issue. You wouldn’t want a rogue developer hiding something in a game and turning your device into part of their botnet. Once Sony confirms it’s a legitimate vulnerability, he gets paid the bounty, Sony patches the exploit, and the details of the vuln are released and homebrew tools follow shortly after.

Everyone is acting like if he didn’t report it to Sony, and instead released it directly to the open internet, they’d somehow magically never know. That’s complete and utter delusion.

The only time stuff like this hits the open net and doesn’t get patched anyway is when devices are past the end of support, or if the vulnerability is so deep into the design or hardware that it can’t be patched.

Wii exploits rely on issues with the physical chips themselves that can’t be patched in software. Same with 3DS. PSPs rely on exploits in the recovery/factory mode/menu functionality, some of which was intentionally held back from release until after Sony stopped caring. I’m pretty sure the exploits with first gen Switches rely on a hardware flaw as well.

Point being, if you released this as a hacking tool first, Sony still patches it. The only thing you do is maybe delay their patch by a short few weeks, ruin any professional reputation connected to the identity used to release it, put yourself in the crosshairs of potentially life ruining legal trouble as they try to unmask your real identity, and miss out on a cool payout.

There’s people who have been arrested for this shit for years and fined such crazy amounts of money that they will never pay it off. Stupid, but not worth the fucking risk when you can just do it this way.

starman2112,
@starman2112@sh.itjust.works avatar

Are you suggesting that the majority of the comments in this thread are from people who have no idea what they’re talking about? On Lemmy? Unheard of!

taanegl,

haha I break ps portal haha here take the vulnerability don’t sue me

Dasnap,
@Dasnap@lemmy.world avatar

I’m really confused by the guy’s responses to people. Like he seems to think that it’s somehow not possible to tell people before letting Sony know directly first or something? He then tells people that it’s fine they just need to avoid updating their firmware, before discovering that it’s impossible to avoid that when you first boot the device from factory…

“It’s only a few weeks of difference!” he says when he of all people should know that’s an age in the modding scene.

hydroptic,

The Portal is such a weird device. I really don’t understand why anyone would want one, but it’s not like I’m the arbiter of what’s useful and what’s not

Omegamanthethird,
@Omegamanthethird@lemmy.world avatar

I’d be interested if it was cheaper or could double as a PSP/Vita.

hydroptic,

or could double as a PSP/Vita.

Not anymore it can’t

Gooey0210,

PS Vita was superb

Omegamanthethird,
@Omegamanthethird@lemmy.world avatar

It would have been without the proprietary memory card that never went cheap. I still need to mod my PSTV to make it usable.

Gooey0210,

Was there any? I don’t remember I remember only memory cards for games, but I already had everything on the psn account and PS+

Omegamanthethird,
@Omegamanthethird@lemmy.world avatar

The memory sticks for downloading games. I think the biggest was a 64 GB one that was like $200. But this was well after micro SD cards became super cheap and games were bigger than they were on the PSP.

Gooey0210,

Damn, I really can’t remember any 🥲

BruceTwarzen,

I really thought that they are just gonna sell non of them. Apparently there is a market.

stevestevesteve,

“Responsible reporting” is for security vulnerabilities… It’s extremely hard for me to believe that jailbreaks like this should be considered security vulnerabilities, especially if it’s something local-only or otherwise limited to something only the owner of the device would feasibly be able to do.

Does anyone believe the portable is actually a more secure device now than it was before this patch?

CosmoNova,

I believe it‘s less secure now because it‘s future became more uncertain. How can we be sure it won‘t become a glorified brick the moment servers shut down?

Zagorath,
@Zagorath@aussie.zone avatar

Unfortunately, the way that jailbreaks are done is by exploiting actual security vulnerabilities. So yes, responsibly reporting them is the right thing to do.

Our ire here should be for Sony, for not supporting this through an official safe method. Not for security researchers just doing security research.

CorrodedCranium,
@CorrodedCranium@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

I’m not surprised. TheFloW has done this before with PS4/5 exploits . A lot of players don’t update their firmware in the hopes they’ll be able to run something like HEN.

narc0tic_bird,

Yeah, let’s make sure all exploits are patched before the device inevitably becomes obsolete in a couple of years, so we can throw it away and buy the next version instead of not being wasteful.

haui_lemmy,

Hit the nail on the head. People who report jailbreaks are the same ones who reported their neighbors in soviet eastern germany.

CosmoNova,

That‘s a terrible comparison. The incentives and stakes are on very different levels.

haui_lemmy,

So what? Both are traitors to their fellow humans. Obviously, the outcome is different but I dont see why youre making a fuss about it.

Vilian,

it’s a fucking tablet wtf

haui_lemmy,

same for you. no reason to go ballistic. chill out.

Vilian,

me? you compared bug reporting a “tablet” that has less utility that a tablet and weaker than a tablet with traitors of soviet union, anyone who wants to buy a device to play emulated games gonna buy a steam deck not that

haui_lemmy,

Yeah you. Blocked.

notaviking,

Your right, I don’t think anyone actively cares about Soviet eastern Germany anymore

BruceTwarzen,

That thing came out of the gates obsolete

FiniteBanjo,

I’ve never even heard of it TBH.

Blackmist,

It is bizarre that Sony have a whole game streaming platform, and their game streaming device that does literally nothing else won’t connect to it.

Deceptichum,
@Deceptichum@sh.itjust.works avatar

Fuck Andy Nguyen.

ReallyActuallyFrankenstein,

Excuse me, waiter, this take is too hot.

CorrodedCranium,
@CorrodedCranium@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

Didn’t they produce a lot of content in the Vita modding scene?

starman2112,
@starman2112@sh.itjust.works avatar

My understanding is that this is basically a “hey guys I let Sony know about this exploit, so you should totally make sure your systems stay fully up to date so that when details on how to use this exploit are released, you won’t be able to use it”

Sarcasm italicized

Blizzard,

In my culture that is considered a dick move.

casmael,

In my dick, that’s considered uncultured

sugar_in_your_tea,

My dick is in your mom’s culture. ^(sorry, couldn’t resist)^

FiniteBanjo,

If you’ve got culture growing in your dick then you should see a physician and ask for a referral to a specialist.

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