Despite Sony’s recent efforts to crack down on piracy, a group of programmers have managed to create a publicly released jailbreak, or ‘hack’ for PlayStation 5 users. Once applied, the jailbreak, dubbed “PS5 Relapse Exploit,” effectively allows PlayStation 5 owners to download anything to their consoles, even if that software is unauthorized by Sony. The main developer behind the exploit, who goes by the name ntfargo on GitHub, has noted the following disclaimer regarding the legality of their actions, along with thirteen other recognized contributors:
This project is intended for educational and security research purposes only. It does not endorse piracy, unauthorized access, or misuse of commercial devices. Use it only on devices you own or are authorized to test, and comply with applicable laws and regulations.
The software is provided as-is, without warranty. You assume the risks of using it, including system instability, data loss, and account bans. The maintainers accept no liability for resulting damage.
The jailbreak works by taking advantage of an exploit chain, which is “a two-stage security vulnerability” in most versions of code for the PlayStation 5. Once the exploit chain is disabled, console owners have free reign over what games they download and play on their system, regardless of licensing rights. Some supporters of the jailbreak have shared that they believe it is a natural and creative response to Sony’s statement from the end of August, where company representatives explained that players are purchasing digital game licenses that can be revoked at any time, rather than purchasing ownership of games.
The Relapse Exploit is not completely foolproof, however. Ntfargo notes that the code is only supported on systems running firmware 7.00 through 13.60. This means that PlayStation 5 users who would like to run the exploit, but have already updated to September 14th’s 14.00 update, are unable to do so. They also note that the “Webkit may need several attempts,” and “the kernel exploit may hang or panic the console.” If this happens, users are instructed to “reload the page if the browser stalls” or “reboot before trying again.” As of September 29, 2026, Sony has not made an official statement regarding this jailbreak, and it is unclear whether they will acknowledge the situation in the future.
