PlayStation 3 Jailbreak - Wikipedia

Removal of limitations from the PlayStation 3

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PlayStation 3 Jailbreak was the first USB (Universal Serial Bus) chipset that allowed unauthorized execution of code, similar to homebrew, on the PlayStation 3. It works by bypassing a system security check using a memory exploit (heap overflow) which occurs with USB devices that allows the execution of unsigned code.

Exploit

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The underlying exploit and inner workings of the PlayStation 3 Jailbreak have been entirely reverse engineered[1] and reimplemented through the open source PSGroove.[2]

Through analysis of USB traffic to and from the PS3 Jailbreak, it was found that the device induced a heap overflow in kernel-space memory to trigger execution of untrusted code.[1]

Legality

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Sony had taken a few steps to prevent the jailbreak of the PlayStation 3, and has associated the action as a form of copyright infringement.[3][4] In eastern European countries, no action has ever been taken to condemn such cases.

The cases listed below are lawsuits Sony filed in courts to prohibit the sales and imports of circumvention devices that would jailbreak the system.

• PS3 Jailbreak remains banned for importation, distribution, or sale in Australia under a permanent injunction by the Federal Court.[5]
• Sony lost a lawsuit in December 2010 in Barcelona against the seller of PS Jailbreak. The sales and imports of the product were deemed legal within Spain, and Sony was ordered to pay damages for attempting to block them.[6]
• In January 2011, Sony filed a lawsuit against George Hotz for leaking the encryption keys for the PlayStation 3. The case was settled in April 2011, with Hotz agreeing to a permanent injunction preventing him from circumventing any Sony product again.[7] The court also approved that Sony’s lawyers could obtain the IP addresses of visitors to Hotz’s website.[8]

See also

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• PlayStation 3 homebrew
• Game backup device
• Modchip
• Privilege escalation
• George Hotz
• PlayStation 3 system software
• EdDSA

References

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1. ^ a b "PSJailbreak Exploit Payload Reverse Engineering - PS3 Developer wiki". www.psdevwiki.com. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
2. ^ "PSGroove - PS3 Developer wiki". www.psdevwiki.com. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
3. ^ "Sony launches legal action against PlayStation hackers". BBC News. January 12, 2011. Retrieved January 22, 2026.
4. ^ bio, See full. "Sony banning PlayStation 3 hackers for life". CNET. Retrieved January 22, 2026.
5. ^ "PSJailbreak banned in Australia". MCV. Retrieved November 30, 2025.
6. ^ Mark_Raby (December 18, 2010). "Powned: Sony ordered to pay restitution to PS Jailbreak seller in Spain". gamesradar. Retrieved November 14, 2021.
7. ^ "Sony and Hotz settle hacking case". BBC News. April 12, 2011. Retrieved November 14, 2021.
8. ^ Kravets, David. "Judge Lets Sony Unmask Visitors to PS3-Jailbreaking Site". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved November 14, 2021.

v t e PlayStation 3
Sony Interactive Entertainment
Hardware	Technical specifications Models Cell (microprocessor) RSX 'Reality Synthesizer'
Accessories	PlayStation Eye PlayStation Move PlayTV Torne Sixaxis DualShock 3
Software	System software OtherOS Remote Play XrossMediaBar Life with PlayStation PSGL
Network	PlayStation Network 2011 outage PlayStation Home PlayStation Now Qore FirstPlay VidZone
Games	A–C D–I J–P Q–Z Best-selling games PS Minis PS one Classics Japan North America PAL region PS2 Classics Classics HD NEOGEO Station TurboGrafx-16 games Cancelled games
Media	PlayStation Blog Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine PlayStation: The Official Magazine PlayStation Official Magazine – UK PlayStation Official Magazine – Australia
Related	Zego Folding@home PlayStation 3 cluster PlayStation 3 Jailbreak Kevin Butler
Predecessor: PlayStation 2 Category Successor: PlayStation 4

v t e Embedded systems
General terms	ASIC Board support package Bootloader Consumer electronics Cross compiler Embedded database Embedded hypervisor Embedded OS Embedded software FPGA IoT Memory footprint Microcontroller Single-board computer Raspberry Pi SoC
Firmware and controls	Firmware Custom firmware Proprietary firmware Closed platform Crippleware Defective by Design Hacking of consumer electronics Homebrew (video games) iOS jailbreaking PlayStation 3 Jailbreak Rooting (Android) UEFI Vendor lock-in
Boot loaders	U-Boot Barebox
Software libraries	uClibc dietlibc Embedded GLIBC lwIP musl
Programming tools	Almquist shell BitBake Buildroot BusyBox OpenEmbedded Stand-alone shell Toybox Yocto Project
Operating systems	Linux on embedded systems Linux for mobile devices Light-weight Linux distribution Real-time operating system Windows IoT Win CE
Programming languages	Ada Assembly language CAPL Embedded C Embedded C++ Embedded Java MISRA C MicroPython
Lightweight browsers List of open-source hardware Open-source robotics