Nintendo Switch Is “Completely Compromised”, Prompt to Piracy According To Hackers

If you own a Nintendo Switch then you might have been wondering if any type of pirated games will someday be available on the console. While hackers have been having their hands on Switch for more than a year now, the company has managed to keep it safe with regular firmware updates and strong “defense walls”. What do hackers think though? Will Nintendo Switch ever get hacked?

Speaking with GBAtemp, SciresM a hacker who is part of the ReSwitched hacking group has given some information about working on Nintendo Switch to allow homebrew software. ReSwitched group reveals that they’re not piracy supporters rather than interested in “creating an engaged homebrew scene”. SciresM states about Nintendo Switch:

“I think that software-wise, Nintendo has done a really great job. Their operating system, Horizon, is a new, updated version of the OS on the 3DS — with all of the hardening that has come from the 3DS’s years of security issues. There have been a few unfortunate mistakes on their part, but by and large, HOS is extremely secure. We’ve still not seen even one traditional exploitable vulnerability in the HOS kernel, which I think speaks well of the investment Nintendo has been making into securing their platform. I think that the Switch’s biggest weakness, security-wise, is that it’s running on (and has to be designed around) the Tegra X1 hardware.”

Furthermore, he shared his experience with Nintendo Switch’s various levels of defense and how they managed to penetrate them:

” We first managed to break into the web browser’s sandbox when Schala implemented the “Pegasus” vulnerability the day after the console released, but we didn’t manage to break into the code for the OS’s system modules until Misson20000 and Schala found the winning pair of vulnerabilities in June, 2017. It’s also possible by “firmware” you mean “kernel” or “TrustZone” code, in which case the answer would be that Motezazer and I got code execution at those levels (and thus dumped their code for the first time) in November and December 2017, respectively.”

After many months of trying, ReSwitched came to the conclusion that Nintendo Switch is “completely compromised”. SciresM says:

“The Switch has been completely compromised… All current hardware can be compromised. They can mitigate vulnerabilities in newer units, though, either via a hardware revision or updating the bootrom patches written at the factory.”

Nintendo’s consoles have always been an easy target for hackers and homebrewers, however, the company seems to be taking Switch seriously. If you were hoping about getting some free games on the console through hacking you’ll be waiting for a long time, if it ever comes that is.