PlayStation user nets $50,000 after reporting PS5 exploit in lesser-known rewards scheme

PlayStation has paid a user a hefty sum of cash after they helped report a critical exploit wreaking havoc on consoles.

In case you missed it, PlayStation 5 consoles are being successfully jailbroken with exploits Sony is desperate to put down.

Console jailbreaking is nothing new, but in today’s all-digital landscape, it’s as serious of an issue as ever. There’s even concerns that it’ll net a bunch of PlayStation 5 owners a copy of Grand Theft Auto VI for free, as if Rockstar Games didn’t have enough to deal with fending off Cyberleek.

In a new post by PS Store DB on X, it appears that one PlayStation 5 user has played a pivotal role in helping the company identify how consoles are being exploited, netting them a generous $50,000.

You might not be aware, but companies like PlayStation often put out bounties for those who can identify and inform on the biggest cheats, exploits and hacks.

An official website called PlayStation HackerOne compiles all of the latest requests and what reward will be offered for them.

The rewards are pretty sweet. Even helping identify low-risk exploits can earn you $250-$2.499 so if you’re willing to snitch, you’ll be rewarded handsomely.

Critical risks are where you’ll earn sums like $50,000 and while the latest reward doesn’t identify the solved problem, it was almost certainly tied to the jailbroken PlayStation 5 consoles.

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How PS5 consoles are being broken

Without getting too technical, the method stems back to the Hypervisor. This is part of the PlayStation 5’s operating system that essentially ensures the console is being used properly.

Hackers are finding new and creative ways to bypass the Hypervisor and it’s only becoming easier through the use of AI.

Once bypassed, the PlayStation 5 is essentially a blank piece of tech that you can tweak to your preference, which is how people are playing games they don’t own or otherwise shouldn’t have access to.

This obviously comes with a lot of risk and you should by no means attempt to replicate this on your own console.

It’ll forfeit any warranty you have with the console and you’ll never be able to take it online again, as once it connects to PlayStation’s servers, it can be easily hardware banned, along with any of your connected profiles.

Of course, if you do know a way of jailbreaking your console, you might be able to report it to Sony and get rewarded just like the above user did.

Rest assured though, this hardware craze isn’t a widespread epidemic, and it’s not a risk to you, your console or your future games as long as you’re not doing anything wrong, or interacting with anyone who is.

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