Famous for jailbreaking Apple gadgets running on iOS 9, 19-year-old Luca Todesco showed the tech world again his skills in hacking by jailbreaking the newly released Nintendo Switch. However, the Italian teen did not hack the game console intentionally.
Proof of concept
The aim of Luca Todesco was to prove he could access the system of Switch and run any arbitrary code on the game console. The hacking method he used, the same as what Luca Todesco uses on iOS 9 devices, would allow any jailbreaker to change the interface of the console as well as its functionalities and the whole system, according to Droid Report.
The Italian youth merely uses the same bug in the iOS 9’s browser software and applies it on the Nintendo Switch. The method would make the code that Luca Todesco encrypted to become available. These are stuff which allows the code to be applied to the switch through a browser.
Hidden Webkit browser
The Nintendo Switch console utilizes a hidden WebKit browser needed whenever the console needs to be connected to a Wi-Fi network. The switch’s browser is not always linked to the main operating system of the switch that permits players to send commands to the console which affect its basic functions.
Luca Todesco, who rolled out the Yalu iOS 10.1.1 jailbreak in late December, posted his exploits with the Switch in the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures website.
Another hacker, Stefan Esser, is close to releasing an iOS 10.2 jailbreak. Like the Italian teen, Esser has gained fame in the jailbreaking scene because of his successful hacks.
Nintendo Switch games
When the Nintendo Switch became available on March 3, it came with the game “The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.” Other games scheduled to debut on the console include the Nintendo game “Mario Kart 8” Deluxe version.
The teen hacker named the exploit of the Nintendo Switch CVE – 2016 – 4657. It is so easy to practice with any gadget which runs on the WebKit’s unprotected version. In his tweet, Luca Todeco said that what he did is not entirely a jailbreak method. He did not equate the hack with pirated games for the switch.
