Sony Issues Yet Another PS5 Firmware Update as Jailbreak Whac-a-Mole Continues Ahead of GTA 6 Release

Sony has released yet another PS5 firmware update as it battles to keep a lid on the homebrew community’s ongoing effort to jailbreak the console ahead of the release of GTA 6.

PS5 firmware update 26.07-14.22.00, which weighs in at 1.267 GB, released today, November 2, and we have confirmation via the patch notes that it’s security related:

• We’ve made some security fixes to the system software.

Today’s update follows just 11 days after the release of 14.20, which came on October 21 and whose patch notes did not mention security, but was widely seen as a response to recent events.

The PlayStation homebrew scene has made headlines in the last month for releasing PS5 jailbreaks for prior firmwares. For example, late September, a jailbreak that supported all PS5 consoles running firmware 7.00-13.60 sent shockwaves through the homebrew community because, at the time, it meant that all PS5s, including the PS5 Pro, that hadn't been updated within the previous week were compatible with the jailbreak. This was of huge significance for Sony and the security of the PS5, as people with a jailbroken PS5 can modify their console, potentially opening the door to video game piracy.

However, it was found that some PS5 games subsequently required the more recent 14.00 firmware in order to download updates, sparking a renewed effort to release a new jailbreak for the updated system software.

So, there is a game of Whac-A-Mole at play where the homebrew scene is working to release a new jailbreak for the latest PS5 firmware, then do it all over again when Sony releases a new firmware update designed to beef up security.

This in turn has sparked concern that if a PS5 jailbreak is made available for the firmware that is required by GTA 6, which comes out in less than a month, then it may be possible for Rockstar’s game to be pirated on PS5 and maybe even made available on PC.

One prominent member of the PlayStation homebrew community recently showed evidence of a jailbreak for the 14.10 firmware, but follow up comments suggested that dumping game executables wasn’t possible.

Some believe GTA 6 will require at least 14.20 to run — or, now, potentially 14.22. And Sony may release further security updates before November 19.

The question for Sony is whether it can do enough to eventually win this game of Whac-A-Mole with the homebrew scene. This is something of an existential crisis for Sony, which publishers and developers rely upon for the security of their PlayStation releases. But with the emergence of powerful AI models, the stakes have risen significantly.

IGN reported on a hacker who had sparked an uproar within the PS5 homebrew scene for privately reporting an exploit to Sony and cashing in on a $50,000 reward, rather than keeping it confidential for the community.