PS Vita Firmware Update Slams Door Shut on Recently Discovered Exploit

On August 26, 2019, self-proclaimed “Vita hacker” Andy The Flow Nguyen released a new PS Vita exploit to jailbreak Vitas operating on firmwares 3.65-3.71. Called h-encore², is the “fourth public” jailbreak for the handheld. It allows jailbreakers to make “kernal- and user-modifications, change the clock speed, install plugins, run homebrews, and much more.” Nguyen only released it yesterday, announcing it on Twitter.

And then, Sony shut the Vita exploit down faster than, well, really anything it has ever done before with a new firmware update.

Welp, Sony doen’t want to see us having fun. They just released FW 3.72 which blacklisted the userland exploit.

— Andy Nguyen (@theflow0) August 27, 2019

All Sony has said regarding the new firmware update (for a decidedly “dead” device, I must add) is that the update provides additional improvements on operation stability. It could be just a coincidence that Sony dropped the update right after Nguyen released his exploit, but it’s a pretty darn good one if so.

After all, Sony wouldn’t want to allow homebrews on their device, even if the company no longer producing games for it. Running a homebrew allows users to gain access to pirated Vita games. Sony has all the motivation in the world to shut that down as quickly as possible.

However, who said you had to update your Vita to the latest firmware? You’ll have to in order to play any current games bought legally, but chances are, jailbreakers using a homebrew aren’t interested in getting games the legal way in the first place.

I do joke that Sony has stopped supporting the handheld, but the PS Vita is still incredibly popular in Japan. It’s how many prefer to play their RPGs and visual novels, especially for the latter. For the popularity and platform support in Japan alone, Sony has every inkling to shut down any exploits as fast as possible.

[Source: Twinfinite]