Crackers this week claimed to have successfully ripped out the latest Sony PlayStation Portable firmware and replaced it with an earlier version of the code containing fewer anti-piracy features.

The procedure exploits a recently discovered buffer overflow exploit which allows code to be incorporated into image data. When the PSP attempts to display the picture, it writes data beyond the space reserved for the image and into memory used by executable code. The code inserted into the picture file is then run.

The software, posted on the internet yesterday, forces the PSP to run Sony’s firmware 1.5 updater, replacing firmware 2.0 with the older code.

One poster joyfully claimed the console is now “wide open”. The new crack allows PSP to run home brew applications and pirated games.

Source: The Register